Skip to content

Your pictures on the theme of 'aviation'

1 July 2023

We asked our readers to send in their best pictures on the theme of "aviation". Here is a selection of the photographs we received from around the world.

David Fuller: "I was told at school that no-one was going to pay me to stare out of the window all day long. Thankfully I didn't listen to them. One of the last flights of the magnificent Vulcan."

David Fuller Avro Vulcan in flight — David Fuller: "I was told at school that no-one was going to pay me to stare out of the window all day long. Thankfully I didn't listen to them. One of the last flights of the magnificent Vulcan."

Chris Meixner: "Rich Goodwin was wowing the crowds at the RAF Cosford Airshow in his highly modified Pitts Special S2S, The Muscle Biplane."

Chris Meixner Pitts Special in flight — Chris Meixner: "Rich Goodwin was wowing the crowds at the RAF Cosford Airshow in his highly modified Pitts Special S2S, The Muscle Biplane."

Roger Edwards: "This digitised 35mm slide photograph was taken using a Voigtlander camera by my late father, an aeronautical production engineer, when flying from the UK to the USA in 1958 on aviation business."

Roger Edwards Aircraft wing — Roger Edwards: "This digitised 35mm slide photograph was taken using a Voigtlander camera by my late father, an aeronautical production engineer, when flying from the UK to the USA in 1958 on aviation business."

Matthew Logan: "The iconic jet-inspired 'hood bird' on a '55 Chevy Bel Air in South Beach, Florida."

Matthew Logan Hood ornament — Matthew Logan: "The iconic jet-inspired 'hood bird' on a '55 Chevy Bel Air in South Beach, Florida."

Stella Neethling: "With an average of 100 hot-air balloons taking off each morning at sunrise, arriving at the landing site is almost as exciting as gliding over Cappadocia's mysterious fairy chimneys. This region in Turkey boasts nearly 250 flying days a year, and going out to one of the Göreme viewing sites is just as popular with tourists as going up in a balloon."

Stella Neethling Balloon in flight — Stella Neethling: "With an average of 100 hot-air balloons taking off each morning at sunrise, arriving at the landing site is almost as exciting as gliding over Cappadocia's mysterious fairy chimneys. This region in Turkey boasts nearly 250 flying days a year, and going out to one of the Göreme viewing sites is just as popular with tourists as going up in a balloon."

Jeffrey Douglas-Si: "Avoiding bad weather on the way back to Conakry from Bokè in NW Guinea."

Jeffrey Douglas-Si View from the pilot seat — Jeffrey Douglas-Si: "Avoiding bad weather on the way back to Conakry from Bokè in NW Guinea."

Susan Hodge: "This P267 was based in Sweetwater, Texas, which was the WASP (Womens Airforce Service Pilots) training airfield during World War Two. The WASPS were trained to fly every type of military plane and the T-6 was their basic trainer. When the T-6 pilot Laura told me some of its history, I signed up for a flight. The WASP motto: We live in the wind and the sand…and our eyes are on the stars."

Susan Hodge Piloting a T-6 trainer aircraft — Susan Hodge: "This P267 was based in Sweetwater, Texas, which was the WASP (Womens Airforce Service Pilots) training airfield during World War Two. The WASPS were trained to fly every type of military plane and the T-6 was their basic trainer. When the T-6 pilot Laura told me some of its history, I signed up for a flight. The WASP motto: We live in the wind and the sand…and our eyes are on the stars."

Michelle Gravino: "The 4x4 tour's suits, and the black sands of Sólheimasandur, Iceland, made it look like a fascinating sci-fi set. It's a US Navy plane that emergency landed in November 1973 - all on the plane survived."

Michelle Gravino Crashed plane in Iceland — Michelle Gravino: "The 4x4 tour's suits, and the black sands of Sólheimasandur, Iceland, made it look like a fascinating sci-fi set. It's a US Navy plane that emergency landed in November 1973 - all on the plane survived."

Hannah Meikle: "The Northern Lights whilst flying over Greenland on my way home to the UK for Christmas, for the first time in four years."

Hannah Meikle Northern lights from an aeroplane — Hannah Meikle: "The Northern Lights whilst flying over Greenland on my way home to the UK for Christmas, for the first time in four years."

Jay Wilson: "They chased the dark to bring the light."

Jay Wilson Spitfire in flight — Jay Wilson: "They chased the dark to bring the light."

Martin A. B. Cohen calls this picture Banking Left: "A US Air Force Douglas DC3 (Dakota) banks hard during a display at HMS Daedalus in Portsmouth. Zoom in and there's a man casually standing in the open doorway."

Martin A. B. Cohen Dakota in flight — Martin A. B. Cohen calls this picture Banking Left: "A US Air Force Douglas DC3 (Dakota) banks hard during a display at HMS Daedalus in Portsmouth. Zoom in and there's a man casually standing in the open doorway."

Graham Wilkin took this picture of the Red Arrows: "You can hear them coming for miles before the spectacle arrives overhead. Always a joy, like this occasion in Bournemouth last summer."

Graham Wilkin The Red Arrows display team — Graham Wilkin took this picture of the Red Arrows: "You can hear them coming for miles before the spectacle arrives overhead. Always a joy, like this occasion in Bournemouth last summer."

Neil Marsden: "The view from the cockpit of a flight simulator at an open day near Gatwick Airport."

Neil Marsden Flight simulator — Neil Marsden: "The view from the cockpit of a flight simulator at an open day near Gatwick Airport."

Owen Carless: "Operated by Aero Legends from Biggin Hill, Spitfire MKIX TD314 is the 'cover girl' for a popular workshop manual series on RJ Mitchell's famous aircraft and was a real treat to see at Imperial War Museum's Battle of Britain Airshow at Duxford. I was fortunate enough to capture this image right after take-off for the final display of Spitfires, and just before the pilot pulled the canopy forwards and prepared to put the aircraft through her paces. Like so many of her siblings, TD314 was saved from scrap - on this occasion by Larry Barnett in Johannesburg in 1969 - before being restored in 2011, so that future generations would never forget the sacrifices made by 'the few' in 1940."

Owen Carless Spitfire in flight — Owen Carless: "Operated by Aero Legends from Biggin Hill, Spitfire MKIX TD314 is the 'cover girl' for a popular workshop manual series on RJ Mitchell's famous aircraft and was a real treat to see at Imperial War Museum's Battle of Britain Airshow at Duxford. I was fortunate enough to capture this image right after take-off for the final display of Spitfires, and just before the pilot pulled the canopy forwards and prepared to put the aircraft through her paces. Like so many of her siblings, TD314 was saved from scrap - on this occasion by Larry Barnett in Johannesburg in 1969 - before being restored in 2011, so that future generations would never forget the sacrifices made by 'the few' in 1940."

David Skinner: "Shot at the Spitfire Visitor Centre Hangar 42 on a re-enactment event, with volunteers dressed in World War Two RAF and WRAF uniforms. My Dad was in the RAF during World War Two and, wanting to impress me as a young lad, said he flew Spitfires. In truth he was a navigator instructor in Catalinas and flew Wellingtons during the Berlin Airlift. Impressive enough in my book."

David Skinner Spitfire and a man dressed as a pilot — David Skinner: "Shot at the Spitfire Visitor Centre Hangar 42 on a re-enactment event, with volunteers dressed in World War Two RAF and WRAF uniforms. My Dad was in the RAF during World War Two and, wanting to impress me as a young lad, said he flew Spitfires. In truth he was a navigator instructor in Catalinas and flew Wellingtons during the Berlin Airlift. Impressive enough in my book."

David John Russell: "Airliner landing over the famous Maho beach on the Caribbean island of St Maarten."

David John Russell American Airlines aircraft in 2010 — David John Russell: "Airliner landing over the famous Maho beach on the Caribbean island of St Maarten."

Nigel Spooner: "Just 58 years separated the first flight of the Concorde supersonic airliner (1969), from the world's first Flight Booking Office (1911), at Brooklands in Surrey."

Nigel Spooner Booking office and Concorde on display at Brooklands museum — Nigel Spooner: "Just 58 years separated the first flight of the Concorde supersonic airliner (1969), from the world's first Flight Booking Office (1911), at Brooklands in Surrey."

Lewis Day: "Just Jane is a living memorial to those who served with Bomber Command during the war. Hopefully she will return to the skies In the coming years."

Lewis Day Avro Lancaster — Lewis Day: "Just Jane is a living memorial to those who served with Bomber Command during the war. Hopefully she will return to the skies In the coming years."

Kevin Jones: "We had a fantastic day at the Headcorn Air Display and a magnificent show put on by the Wing Walkers."

Kevin Jones Wing Walkers in action — Kevin Jones: "We had a fantastic day at the Headcorn Air Display and a magnificent show put on by the Wing Walkers."

Mark Ballett: "Dressed for the part. Tiger Moth joy ride over Kent on a beautiful May day."

Mark Ballett Inside a Tiger Moth — Mark Ballett: "Dressed for the part. Tiger Moth joy ride over Kent on a beautiful May day."

George Cocker: "I only went for a walk in the park."

George Cocker Wing walker — George Cocker: "I only went for a walk in the park."

Kim Osborn: "Chocks away at the Duxford Air Show."

Kim Osborn Pilot in an old military fighter aircraft — Kim Osborn: "Chocks away at the Duxford Air Show."

Christina May: "My grandson's polystyrene plane was just too well engineered."

Christina May Toy plane in a tree — Christina May: "My grandson's polystyrene plane was just too well engineered."

Ian Brash: "Kids just love to go kite flying, none more so than mine, who enjoyed the wide expanses of the Devon coastline for their fun."

Ian Brash Flying a kite — Ian Brash: "Kids just love to go kite flying, none more so than mine, who enjoyed the wide expanses of the Devon coastline for their fun."

Presentational grey line

The next theme is "my hometown" and the deadline for entries is 11 July 2023.

The pictures will be published later that week and you will be able to find them, along with other galleries, on the In Pictures section of the BBC News website.

You can upload your entries on this page or email them to [email protected].

Terms and conditions apply.

Further details and themes are at: We set the theme, you take the pictures.

All photographs subject to copyright.

We set the theme, you take the pictures

Trending Now