- The many pilots interviewed from squadrons across Europe and the United States discuss the skills and dangers of flying fast and low over diverse terrain from desert canyons, snow covered mountains and the sea, day and night.
- Stunning images of low flying military aircraft (from A-7 Corsairs and R/F-4 Phantoms to Tucanos, Tornados, the Sk 60, B-1B Lancer, Mirage 2000B/C/N, F-22A Raptor, F-16C/D Fighting Falcon, F-16I Sufa, F-16C Barak and F/A-18E/F Super Hornet) photographed from a mountainside or air to air.
- Philip Stevens the writer and photographer explains how the projects were planned and executed, he reveals where many of his images were taken.
A B-1B Lancer taxiing in at the end of a flight. Pointing down from each side of the nose are the Structural Mode Control System (SMCS) vanes. Known as ‘smuks’ these accelerometers stabilise the aircraft longitudinally at low altitude and in turbulent air to reduce the strain on the airframe and increase crew comfort.
- Low-level flying in military aircraft is challenging for the pilot as it is for the photographer capturing the action.
- Low flyers describe the sorties they will never forget, from a show of force over Afghanistan at night to a bird strike which nearly blinded the pilot.
- Philip Stevens, writer and photographer, describes how and where he took many of the stunning images.
- Philip Stevens has been shooting images for his book since 2004, he started writing in 2012. His publishing contract was signed in 2016. Finally in early 2018 the images and manuscript were delivered to the publisher.
Armée de l’Air Captain Stephen ‘Fisher’ Price has 900 hours on the Mirage 2000N, he is meticulously planning a low-level strike against a target defended by Mirage 2000Cs from Luxeuil.
Capt. Ulas Avsar a very experienced F-16 instructor pilot in the Turkish Air Force has 2,300 hours on LANTIRN, he spoke about maritime strikes they train for; 'Targets are not always ground based 161 Filo pilots can be tasked to attack shipping. A maritime target is different because it is moving but more importantly they are an aggressive animal if attacked.'
Left: Hellenic Air Force A-7E Corsair II (160543) in the Peloponnese mountains. 336 Mira Commander Lt-Col. Petez Mittaris, reported that 83% of his squadron’s flights were at low-level.
Lt-Col. George Bontzios aka ‘Sniper’ a former SOT Commander, a SOT and TLP graduate said; ‘If you are not trained well at low-level when you are behind an aircraft using terrain masking you cannot take a shot with an AMRAAM [Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile] for example. He is going to escape because the background helps, it confuses everything.’
RAF Squadron Leader Keith ‘Woody’ Woodsford, is a former Tornado GR.4 pilot with IX(B) Squadron on exchange with the US Navy as an F/A-18E Super Hornet instructor pilot. He compared 100 feet OLF training in a two-seat Tornado GR.4 with the single-seat F/A-18E; ‘You can’t fly that low in an F/A-18E and perform the same tasks as well.’
Philip Stevens, writer and photographer. Above: After low-level air to air photo-shoot with the Swedish Air Force. Right: On a hillside in the south of France.
Philip Stevens a photo-journalist for 40 years has travelled across Europe and the United States in pursuit of the perfect image, which captures an aircraft by combining action with the best light and background. This is what low-level flying photography from a mountainside is about.