OK, I will admit it, I am not a great fan of air shows. I like to visit airports, aircraft manufacturing plants, maintenance hangars… but not air shows. Aircraft are being mishandled there and on occasion they will fight back.
Of course my aversion to air shows does not extend to visiting sites on the internet dedicated to air shows. I think in terms of photo material, Peter Steehouver’s Air Show Action Photo Gallery must be the best around.
Online since 1997, it has more than 600 pages and a staggering 19625 pictures, all taken by Peter himself!
Of course when you visit a site like this, you go for the content and not for the beauty or otherwise of the site itself. Peter’s site is easy to navigate, things are laid out logically and everything is easy to find. I am not sure whether the multitude of “new” tags flashing incessantly while the pre-view pictures are also changing is a good idea though. For me it makes part of the home page a tad too busy. What I like very much is the background used for the various show pages. They do create the right sphere for the aircraft types shown on the particular page. The site is in English (with a few tiny errors here and there) and terminology is correct. Peter’s photos and coverage are superb!
Looking at the range of air shows he has visited, Peter must be a platinum level frequent flyer of several airlines!
I am sure real aficionados of air shows appreciate Peter’s pictures because it helps them recreate things they had seen or better still, shows them those rare moments and situations that few, if any, had spotted except for Peter peering through his camera.
And for an agnostic like me? I see everything through Peter’s eyes and it looks great! I see he has an air show calendar at the bottom of the home page. Now let’s see…
Visit Peter’s site here.