Ben Passmore
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Posts posted by Ben Passmore
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Any ideas on next weeks forecast for us tour 2ers?
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Same here Paul...
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The only necessary risk I occasionally take is travelling in the van after Paul has eaten chicken wings.
Tom
Oh. Is there a policy out there that covers this?! Sounds like a deal breaker..
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Hi there, I was advised by our storm chasing 'lords and masters' to purchase the sport+ package, so it looks as though you're onto a winner already. Ben
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I hope we're not chasing blue skies in may...
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I am have slightly more than 89 days to go.if Paul has 89. As always looking forward to the chase season. This might be daft I always enjoy getting off the plane and smelling the Texas air as you walk from the plane into the terminal, especially if its humid. YUMMY !
Second moment is arriving at the reception of the Best Western and grabbing a fresh coffee.whilst waiting patiently to be checked in. Third , getting up early on the first day and looking out over the Dallas skyline.
Oh yes
Tom
'I'll have what she's having'
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Anyone got a long range weather forecast?!
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Hi Ben
For what it's worth I use a 17-70 sigma lens for 90% of my shots out there and the rest with a 11-16 wide angle lens on my D5000. I have tried the longer lens I have but found it a waste of time. Changing a lens in a frantic rush while a tornado is on the ground and possibly missing it is enough for me not to stick it in the bag! IF you have more than one camera body though, you could always leave it attached
You can probably pick that lens up cheaper on ebay too.
See you out there!!!!!!
Great advice, thanks Arron
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Hi Nick. I got the same camera as you. I bought mine last year n like you. I didn't have a clue how to use it. I got so much better with it now tho. Very good camera. Settings to capture good lightening in settings. Set your filter to F11 and your ISO to 800 depending how dark it is. Could also leave it in 100 but the photos will come out abit darker. Turn your lens settings to manual. Don't use automatic. If u do. The camera won't let you take the photo at night. I found that out last year. You also need a little clicker so you can take the photos without touching the camera. Have it on long exposer for about 5 or 6 seconds. There's also plenty of videos on you tube that will show you how to use it. Hope that helped ya out abit.
I see this camera is in Currys and in stock. I may purchase it. I know nothing about cameras but need one for Tour 2. Would I need to buy the SIGMA 70-300 mm f/4-5.6 DG Telephoto Zoom Lens that is recommended with the camera? it costs an extra £95 but i'm not sure what the benefits are. Cheers.
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With the few hundred quid I saved on my flight, I've just bought myself a DSLR camera
Oooo, do tell. I'm looking for one myself before I embark on tour 2.
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Hi Paul, thank you!
I shall be looking at it properly tomorrow as a little frazzled from work and a little life admin to clear (plus we have a cracking thunderstorm here to get me in the mood!). I look forward to contributing to the forums and getting to know everyone too!
Hi Jason
I assume you enjoyed the storms last night?! I live in Melksham and as you'll see from the link below, we got hammered. They started to develop at 7pm and were at their full strength at 10:pm before dying off at midnight.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-29273833
Regarding your question on the booking process for the tours, it's very simple. Select the tour you'd like, set up your payment plan and wait for the feedback from the Netweather team. They can help with any questions you may have. I was advised to purchase storm chasing insurance through Dogtag. If you do decide to book a tour then make sure you get the correct insurance, which Paul can advise you on.
Ben
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Hi All.
I'll get us started - Tour 2! The wife is letting me loose on my own. Big mistake.
I'm a Storm Chasing Newbie from Melksham, Wiltshire. A bit of a country boy, so hopefully i'll fit in the Mid West for the 10 days I'm there.
BA flight prices seem to be hovering around £600 (LHR - DFW). Worth hanging on for a potential sale or grab them now?
I was thinking about flying in the day before and staying locally in a hotel. Speak up if you have any ideas / advice (especially if you're on tour 2 and are thinking about flights, etc.)
Ben
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All booked for Tour 2. Very excited. I'm not going to sleep tonight!
If anyone is going on Tour 2 feel free PM me (or anyone else for that matter)!. I'll be flying from LHR so if anyone wants to meet at the airport (assuming we're on the same flight) that would be great.
Ben
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Ideally it's best to arrive into DFW in the afternoon on arrivals day as that's when the majority will arrive + some people fly in the day before and meet us there, so arriving later in the day can delay the tour from getting away to perhaps chase or position for upcoming chases.
Pricing of the flights is a tricky one, usually we tend to book ours around xmas and find that more often than not that's when the best prices are with BA and the like having sales on. But with them around that level right now I'd say it's a decent enough price and may be worth going for.
Excellent, thanks for your help Paul.
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Hi Ben, there is an faq page on our weatherholidays site which will hopefully cover a lot of your questions:
http://www.weatherholidays.com/faq.html
In short, the £1600 covers all your accommodation and the chasing in the USA, so your additional costs are the flight to Dallas or Denver (tour 4), travel insurance and food/incidentals while out in the USA.
If you need any further info please let me know.
Paul
Thanks for your feedback Paul. Does it matter what time I fly into Dallas on the arrival day? I assume there are a number of chasers flying in to the airport at various times throughout the day unless some prior arranging took place. I notice that current flight prices (for Tour 2) are hovering around £600pp (LON - Dallas). Is this price likely to come down nearer xmas or best to book now?
Thanks
Ben
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Very interested in doing this!
If anyone is in the know, can you either let me know what the £1600 covers and/or point me in the right direction of where I can find the information? I tried the link provide further up on this thread but that directed me to the 'sign me up' page and I couldn't find any further information.
Thanks all
Ben
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Hi Ben - we've not released all of the dates as yet but if you drop us a line via the website we can fill you in with the details and the current state of play in terms of spaces remaining.
Excellent. Thanks for the help.
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Hi Ben
what tour were you looking at
Tom
Hi Tom
I have no idea the dates of the tours but (as it stands) I should be flexible with dates in May. How long does a tour last? 10 days? The last time I checked on here (admittedly it was over a year ago) there was a thread listing the tour dates, capacity and prices for the forthcoming chase season.
Ben
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Hi Guys
Can someone please point me to the thread for next seasons availability, prices, etc? The wife has finally given me permission to go (now that the new kitchen is done)!!
Thanks
Ben
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Saw my first funnel yesterday (albeit a very tiny/skinny on) in East Bristol. Was driving at the time so couldn't take a picture but it lasted for a few minutes before roping out. Loads were popping up (or down!) in the midlands i hear, although I dont think any of them touched down.
Was interesting nevertheless and I look forward to seeing the real thing in the USA sometime.
Ben
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Thanks Paul
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I was channel hopping last night, as you do, and I came across what I thought was Paul Sherman on an ITV 4 show about chasing tornado's. I can't remember what the programme was called but I managed to watch the last 20-25 mins. It all looked pretty hairy in parts, getting struck by a large tornado at a gas station at one point. Some other bloke (English) opened the door of his car with the 100+ winds outside.....school girl error. It was always going to end it tears. It looked like it was filmed in 2008.
Anyways, what I saw was fantastic. Does anyone know what the show was called? I might be able to catch it next time around.
Ben
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Great camera work there Jo.
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Hey guys, glad to hear you've had a great start to tour 1. Keep these awesome pics coming please!!
Storm Chase 2015 - Which Tour Are You On?
in Storm Chase USA
Posted
Jason and I are travelling to lhr from the sw tomorrow morning. Looking forward to it, hope the weather behaves.