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About: Rob Edgcumbe - Global Aviation Resource
Rob Edgcumbe - Staff Photographer & Writer
Rob has no idea how he got interested in aviation but it happened young. Growing up on the Isle of Wight, he was a little isolated from most aviation activities but that didn't stop him. Via an RAF Sixth Form Scholarship, he got his pilot's license when he was 17, shortly before his driving license. He went on to study Aeronautical Engineering at Imperial College before joining what was then British Aerospace at Warton in the aerodynamics department.
A variety of career steps moved him out of engineering and into other aspects of the business before ultimately moving out of aerospace altogether and into other industries. It turns out aerospace engineering sets you up well for a lot of other jobs!
Photographing aircraft was always a big thrill for Rob, first with a borrowed SLR from his mum before getting his first Pentax P30n when he was at university. This was swapped for a Canon EOS600 when he graduated and this was his main camera for the next 15 years. For a while, Rob's shooting tailed off but the switch to digital in 2004 with a EOS10D reinvigorated his enthusiasm along with a change in continents to North America. He now shoots with a variety of Canon gear and has no intention of switching despite some encouragement by friends since, as he points out "I am still the weak link in the shooting chain so changing cameras is not going to fix that!" That doesn't stop him constantly looking for new toys of course.
One big regret is all of those years spent at Warton and so little imagery to show for it! Also, to go back to the negatives from old shows and find one shot of something now considered a rarity. "I used to shoot five or six films for a big show and thought that was extravagant. Compared to the number of shots I would take now, I am lucky to have got what I did!"
Highlights have included a shuttle launch, the Blackbird displays at Mildenhall in the 80s and all of the operators who have been so willing to share what they are doing over the years.