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Carlill Photography

The Photography of Tom Carlill - Things that move (mostly aircraft), people and history. Based in Stamford UK. All real footage, No AI. Please credit reposts

13/06/2026

Rolls Royce’s 20 year engine evolution

The 1916 Bristol F2b with the new Rolls Royce V12 Falcon passes infront of the Spitifre (first flew in 1936) with the V12 rolls Royce Merlin in a unique pairs formation at Shuttleworth’s Wings and Wheels airshow.

This Spitifre is a mkV with the Merlin 45 producing 1,500hp from 27ltrs. The Falcon III in the F2b maxed out at 285hp from 14.2 ltrs

So in the space of 20years Rolls Royce increased the BMEP (Break Mean Effective Pressure), the effective power per unit of displacement, by 2.75x!

… and less than 10 years after the first flight of the Merlin engine, Rolls Royce were mass producing jet engines!

12/06/2026

Rafale

The French air and space force Rafale air to air on the way to 2025 with .

11/06/2026

Successful, for a year

After a few years of being grounded for an engine rebuild, it was great to see the Sopwith Camel back in the air at the Wings and Wheels airshow 2026.

The Camel was introduced to the western front of WW1 in June 1917 and pilots flying Camels were credited with downing 1,294 enemy aircraft, more than any other Allied fighter of the conflict. However by 1918, it had lost its competitive edge against aircraft like the Fokker D.VII and was being used for ground attack roles.

This Shuttleworth example is a highly accurate reproduction from original drawings, and is powered by an original 130hp rotary engine.

10/06/2026

Bringing the burner

Incredible to see the fire breathing Lim-5 (a licence built Mig 17F) flying in the UK at 2026. Having seen this aircraft on the ground at North Weald only a couple of years ago, to now see it spiting fire is amazing. Over 10,000 mig17 (and derivatives) were built and this is the only flying example in Europe thanks to the work of .

09/06/2026

2 different designs with a similar destination.

It was great to see the Dragon Rapide and Avro Anson in formation at Shuttleworth’s Wings and Wheels airshow. This was the first time I have seen them in formation. Both these designs originated in the mid 1930s with both types seeing wartime service. Although the Rapide was already in use as an airliner, both types were entered against air ministry specifications for a maritime patrol aircraft (won by the Anson), before being adopted for other roles.

Both aircraft were still in production after WW2 with the Rapide being in production from 1934-1946 and the Anson in production from 1936-1952.

The Anson was used by most branches of the RAF during WW2, while the Rapide was used for light transport with the military version being called the Dominie.

As I have done a number of Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) shoots, it’s interesting to note how key both types were to the ATA as a way of collecting pilots after they had delivered other aircraft with the flights labeled as “Taxi” in their log books. A good example of female pilots flying both types in WW2 is Ruth Ballard.

In Sept 1941 she flew 6hrs 25 mins in Rapides vs 3hrs 20mins in Spitifres and Hurricanes and by Feb 1944 she flew 9 hours in Ansons vs 7hrs in Spitfires.

The ATA museum has digitising many of the ATA pilots log books on their website and its
fascinating to see the breadth and time flow through WW2.

This particular Anson is a post WW2 version and is painted as the station transport for RAF Coningsby (it also has no armament which was also the case with the ATA taxis as a way to maximise passengers).

08/06/2026

The King

The Sea King Search and Rescue helicopter from at . It’s always great to see the classic helicopters in action. This particular airframe was also flown by William, the Prince of Wales when he served in the RAF at RAF Valley between 2010 and 2013. So a sea King and a future King (hence the song choice).

Shots 1 and 3 at 1/15th second handheld (as the helicopter was hovering. Shot 2 at 1/60th to give me a fighting chance of a sharp shot!

07/06/2026

Passenger rides

An unusual formation display at Shuttleworths Wings and Wheels airshow in May 2026, the Spitfire and Strikemaster (the ground attack version of the Jet Provost trainer). These aircraft are used for passenger rides, with the Strikemaster offering rides through the Mach loop! I can also recommend the spitfire flight 😉. The Strikemaster saw combat in Oman in the 1970’s and SAS: Storm Front by Rowland White is well worth a read to lean more about this conflict.

Seeing a jet and prop aircraft in such close formation was fantastic to see, with both pilots being former red arrows pilots.

06/06/2026

D Day 82

A resupply of troops gets ready to deploy to France, 1944

The first C47 to land in France on a resupply and injury recovery mission was on the 9th June (DDay+3)

Recreated at Duxford’s D Day in a different light event in 2024 with the visiting C47 Placid Lassie with

05/06/2026

Star Spangled

A novel display at was the and the B-17 Sally B forming up for 2 passes before displaying individually, representing American types from WW2 and Korea.

The formation passes show one of the challenges of airshow photography vs watching it without a camera. On both passes the Bronco was nearest the crowd. As the slower less manoeuvrable aircraft, for safety, the B17 is best to lead (as the Bronco has more ability to adjust formation). As the Bronco is smaller it makes sense to have it nearer the crowd so they can see it better and it avoids the B-17 blocking it from view during the flypast. However, that means that if you want both aircraft in the frame together you can only shoot them from behind after they have passed you (as shown in this post). If the bronco was on the other side, the crowd wouldn’t have as good a view but the photographers with big lenses could have had the noses and cockpits of both aircraft in view and shot them from the front (one of those trade offs)

The same issue occurs when a 3 ship formation is flown as a Vic or V formation as opposed to echelon with the aircraft stacked behind the lead aircraft when viewed from the crowd side.

The most excited you may see me at an airshow is when 3 or more warbird move into echelon….

04/06/2026

ATA and the Electra

Air Transport Auxiliary crew with the Lockheed Electra, recreating a possible scene from 1944.

Although the Electra wasn’t a combat aircraft, a number of Electra 10’s (1939-1942) and 12’s (1942-1944), made there way into the transport wing (24 squadron) of the RAF after being absorbed through National Air Communications at the outbreak of WW2, as all airline flights where moved under government control. During the later part of WW2 it is possible that the female flight crews of the ATA would have flown them either to different bases or to deliver people/supplies.

24 squadron still exists today based at Brize Norton training crews on the A400 and C17.

One of the Aircrew is wearing a Sidcot Suit to stay warm. This suit was developed by Sidney Cotton who also famously (see earlier post) operated this aircraft on photo reconnaissance flights over Germany in 1939.

Recreated at Sywell with with uniforms provided by in May 2026.

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