of Norway we were
still facing a round-
trip of almost 3,000
miles (4,828km),
plus the additional
time on ‘target’ at
the North Pole.
Before departing
from Kinloss I had
briefed the Nimrod
crews (one each
from 120 Sqn and
206 Sqn) that I
wanted both aircraft
to y in close
formation low over
the submarines,
and went through
the different
compositions I was looking for. I opted for
my favourite lens for air-to-air – the standard
80mm for the Hasselblad (the equivalent
of about 55mm on a 35mm camera). I
have always thought the best photograph is
achieved in the air by bringing the subject
close to you rather than employing large
telephoto lenses.
I had to determine where I needed to
position myself in the cabin so that I could
frame the other Nimrod with the submarines
in the same shot. I opted for the front port
side window as it was well in front of the
wing’s leading edge and had a reasonable
vantage point. However, this was the large
convex bubble window that an observer
would place his head inside, giving him
an exceptional view all around including
underneath the aircraft as well as forward
and aft along the fuselage. It was ideal for
a search and rescue mission, but when
I tried to focus through it, the effect was
like having another lens on the front of the
camera. As I looked through my view nder
towards the horizon or in nity, the focusing
ring on the lens, registered only 8ft (2.5m).
I explained my predicament to one of the
rear cabin operators but fortunately it wasn’t
going to be a problem because once on
‘target’, they would open the window for me.
He explained that I would be strapped into
a seat that slid diagonally to and from the
window and could be locked in position.
I decided to dispense with the lens hood
for fear that it might detach in the wind
turbulence – the last thing you want to see is it
disappearing straight down an engine intake!RENDEZVOUS
We were about an hour away from the
rendezvous when our aircraft’s captain
announced that a US Navy P-3 Orion was
heading to the same spot from northern
Canada. With 15 minutes to go, the crew
were instructed by the captain to position
themselves at a window and keep their eyes
peeled for the two submarines. Ten minutes
later he told everyone to stand down as hehad spotted them
directly ahead. By
this time, we had
dropped down to
400ft and the ice
below was zipping
past quickly. We
arrived at the North
Pole before the
P-3 and performed
the initial ypast
directly over the
submarines, then
positioned our
two aircraft in the
rst formation
briefed for the
photographic part
of the sortie.
I was strapped into the sliding chair and
the window/porthole was opened. I was
amazed to nd that although ying at about
300kts no wind entered the cabin and there
was very little additional noise. My rst
thought was to get the relatively easy shot
of the Nimrod in close formation with us
while positioned a good distance from the
submarines. By doing this at least I could
be con dent the event had been recorded.
Once that shot was in the bag, I requested
over my personal communications headset
that the other Nimrod y low over the subs
while we positioned ourselves about half a
mile away. As we proceeded through my
planned formations we nally got to what
would be the most taxing one. I wanted the
subject Nimrod to manoeuvre into a fairly
tight echelon – close to our left, slightly
back and a little higher. A problem soon
presented itself, my viewpoint was only
looking directly out at the other aircraft,
what I could not see or predict was when
the submarines were to come into viewhttp://www.aviation-news.co.uk 23
MASTER LENSMAN
Rick Brewell joined the RAF at
the age of 16 in 1971 and served
for 39 years as an photographer.
He undertook numerous air-to-air
photoshoots over 15 years in this,
the most challenging realm of
aviation photography. On shoots
he accumulated just under 2,600
hours in the air of which 788 were
in fast jets. He was the man behind
many of the iconic RAF images
from yesteryear.Right: Rick Brewell in the cockpit
of a Tornado F3 during one of
the many photoshoots he took
part in.