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The world''s largest official collection of Royal Air Force photographs is about to be launched on the Internet. Thousands of exciting images showing the latest in high tech aircraft and equipment, as well as historic archive shots, will become accessible to aviation and defence enthusiasts worldwide as the RAF Picture Library builds up from an initial 1,500 pictures over the next few months.
The Library, accessible through the RAF web site (http://www.raf.mod.uk), will see up to 7,500 images uploaded over a year. It will go some way to satisfying an ever increasing demand for use of the photos by the general public as well as newspaper and magazine publishers. The Internet is a major communication medium for the RAF whose web site receives more hits than any other aviation site in the world outside the US and comes fourth overall, with a monthly rate in the millions.
The launch of the RAF Picture Library comes hard on the heels of the another trail-blazing initiative allowing anyone in the world access to an RAF station through the Internet. Using highly innovative new technology, visitors can now take a virtual tour of an RAF station from their own desktops, moving from the main gate to the control tower, engineering and operational areas. The virtual site is made up from elements of actual Royal Air Force stations.
The views are made up of a highly specialised use of conventional photography. The camera was rotated with great precision over a pre-set number of degrees to produce a flat film strip. The images then had the lens distortion removed and were stitched together to form a virtual 3D image which can be rotated around, allowing users to zoom in and out.
Web site designer Tim Callaway said: "The interactive station needs the Live Picture Viewer plug-in for browsers Microsoft Internet Explorer 3 and above or Netscape Navigator 3 and above. This is available as a free download from a click through on the page itself. The controls are explained on the title page and the image files are tremendously compressed to allow for fast and efficient download, over a standard telephone line with a relatively low spec modem and computer."
As well as the main gate and control tower, visitors can move around the engineering department of a Tornado F3 air defence station and a hardened aircraft shelter, climb into the front and rear cockpits of the fighter, and experience the station''s safety and fire section. Additional attractions to be added will include Hercules transport aircraft; Jaguar, Harrier and Tornado GR4 fast jets; an air-borne early warning (AWACS) Sentry aircraft; operational and other essential parts of the station; a search and rescue helicopter; and eventually the famous Red Arrows Aerobatic Team.
NOTE TO EDITORS:
Photographs can be downloaded from the RAF Picture Library. Any reproduced must be credited Crown Copyright.
For further information contact Sgt Lee Barton, RAF Internet, MoD Main Building, Whitehall, London SW1A 2HB.
