A Tribute to Panagiotis Panagiotopoulos The leading low-level flying photographer in Greece, sadly Panos died on August 29, 2020

Panagiotis Panagiotopoulos: You will be remembered... Panos, elusive and secretive, he had a great sense of humour. Panagiotis Panagiotopoulos (age 44) the leading low-level flying photographer in Greece passed on Saturday August 29, struct down by cancer he was only admitted into hospital six days earlier. Panos was my friend, at his wedding to Nektaria just over a year ago he said I was his brother, an honour that meant so much to me. We feasted, drank wine and we all danced into the night, it was the happiest of days and now it is the saddest time. I feel so sorry for Nektaria and their young son who are now without a husband and father. Panos introduced me to pilots and commanders, not on base but in restaurants and bars. Our wedding table consisted of two pilots and two aviation photographers with their wives. Panos was well connected, not purely for his love of low-level flying photography but because of his personality. Panos was a lively man, a compulsive talker. He would chat to everyone he met. However, his English consisted of very few words. I thought just thirty words when I first met him but told him after getting to know him much better that his English vocabulary had now stretched to sixty words. Using these few words and sign language combined with a common aircraft language we had so much fun. Travelling in the car together when he could not explain exactly what he wanted me to know, he would 'phone a friend', this could be one of two or three close friends or his lovely girlfriend (later wife), Nektaria. She once explained to me that Panos wanted to stop for a coffee, as Panos just wanted to make sure that I was totally happy for a break in the long drive. Panos was so considerate. Stopping for a brief smoke every hour was normal, he would just give a smoking gesture and say, "Stop Phil, stress, stress." It could have been my driving, but Panos did smoke all the time.

Left to right: The first meeting with Panos in Nafpaktos in 2013, with my Greek aviation historian friend Themis. Our first shoot together with some of the team. We are wearing our 'Plane spotting is not a crime' tee-shirts.

Left to right: A meal out in 2013 with Panos and girlfriend Nektaria, who was translating for us. I was about to give Panos my Canon 24-105mm lens mug, a mug that looks like a lens. I took this picture with my real lens and then filled the mug with water without him seeing the switch. Panos was open mouthed at what I had done. Panos wanted this image of him with a hunting falcon on Kalamata airbase in 2013. Panos on a hill with me near to Kalamata, it was hot that day.

Left to right: Panos was the lead figure in the Ikaros group which produced booklets for every HAF Squadron. In 2014 the mighty A-7 Corsair II retired. Panos and friends submitted many top class images.

Left to right: 2014, in the hills....... Later that evening we were to be found in a coffee bar, Maria was interpreter that evening and she used Panos' iPhone to take this image.

Left to right: 2015 in the hills and waiting for the action which was to follow. To get here involved a high speed drive and mountain climb in the car, minutes later a six ship...... 2017 and we are in the hills, spectacular scenery, jet noise but little else. The following week and back in the UK I am messaged an image from the back of his camera.....Oh how much I wanted to take these images myself. Panos later gave them to me for my next book.

Left to right: 2016 hillside fun, comparing our lenses. 2017 another hill to wait and hope with Kostas and Dionisis.

Left to right: 2018 More hillside fun and poses, Panos loved to pose with my camera and 400mm lens. 2019 Hillside Team shots.

Greek TV On a day in 2019, during one of my four trips to Greece that year, the 'team' had gone to a reservoir in a narrow valley where Panos believed low flying exercise traffic would be flying. Well it did not work out, we heard jet noise and a number of jets passed over us at 2,000 feet or so. Driving back to Patras I am told we are going up to the hills above the city for some filming. Nothing had been mentioned earlier and I had no idea what was about to happen. Parked up I asked around and was told that Panos had arranged with a local Greek TV production wanted to interview us. The 'us' part surprised me, but sure enough they filmed interviews with each of the team, including me. As ever mysterious Panos did not warn me of what he had arranged. The finished video of around 45 minutes broadcast on local TV included many minutes of myself with subtitles. Panos was filmed looking as always like film star, dark glasses, confidently explaining what we all love and what it is like to shoot low flying jets from hillsides.

Left to right: The Ionian TV interviews, with Panos the star of the show. Ionian TV full 45 minute report, click; Plane Spotting.

July 2019, the team of low level flying photographers on the steps of the church for the wedding of Panos and Nektaria.

Left to right: My images of the wedding ceremony, it started in the church in Patras at 20:00 (to avoid the heat) and finished at a seaside villa beyond 03:00, what a night! My table consisted of two photographers and two HAF pilots and their wives.

Hiding in the dark It was normal to receive a message the evening before to say he would be in my hotel reception at 06:00. Once, I had a call from the receptionist at 04:00 to say, "Panagiotis Panagiotopoulos is in reception and can you come down." We were to have a very early start that day. The hotel receptionists Mary or Nicole were our interpreters, He would outline the plans for the day. Most of the time the girls would ask me what he was talking about, I would try to explain what we were doing. These three-way exchanges were so funny. In one car or perhaps two we would head into the darkness for a multi hour drive through the mountains. I would be with fluent English speakers, Dionisis or Kostas if Panos was driving in the lead car. We would get frequent calls from Panos. It was not unusual after an hour of driving to get the instruction to follow Panos up a farm track and switch off our car’s lights. Panos wanted to make sure that we were not being followed. Satisfied we were not being trailed, it was lights on, with a content Panos leading the way once again. Panos would drive fast and on the mountain roads at night it was challenging for me to keep up in my small hire car. However, when I was driving Panos he would often shout, "Phil, slow, slow, stress, stress" with all of his usual hand gestures. He was a nervous passenger, at least with me he was. How we ever got to meet is quite remarkable. Panos ran a tight ship and foreigners like me are not easily trusted. My first emails were ignored, later emails showed locations where low flying photography was impossible. One of the first emails I received from Panos…… "Dear friend, Thank you very much for your kind words. It would be very nice if we could cooperate, but I have to inform you about some matters concerning HAF. If you ask for a cooperation with HAF they will most probably deny it. In case they accept I will gladly help you in anything, for me will be enough to know where and when; I will be there! But I have to say that you are seeking for mission impossible… I take low level photos since 2008, my location selections purely depend on luck. If I hear from a native that aircraft often fly low from a specific place I try to go, there. It could be an island, a mountain or a valley, I just try to go and sit there for many hours, hoping for something to happen. If they pass, then I am a happy man! As you understand it is very difficult, but, sometimes, very rewarding!" This email would have been written by Nektaria, dictated by Panos. It amused me that he felt I would NEVER get HAF cooperation for an article I was doing for Air Forces Monthly, but if I did he wanted to be with me! I had to win his trust, and when we met seven years ago, it was only then I found out that his English was so limited. I was introduced to him by my Greek friend Themis, we went out for a big meal and Panos paid. I said to Themis, tell Panos I will pay for the meal and drinks, he said, "I have already offered myself and he insists on paying." Panos was so generous. On that first meeting he brought with him his only Blurb book containing his best low-level flying images. I was blown away, so many fantastic images of all HAF aircraft in a large range of amazing locations. This is what I wanted, but could we work together? I was welcomed into the team; it was an honour to be included. Some years later Panos gifted me his treasured book of his early images. All of his images are held on his laptop, I felt very privileged when he clicked through them for me, very few have ever been posted on the Internet. Panos was very private and also a very careful person. Kalamata fiasco With just Panos I drove the four-hour trek to Kalamata the night before. He had arranged for us to meet two of his good friends (actually HAF commanders) from the airbase that evening. The following afternoon we were told we could photograph a T-2 Buckeye from a nearby mountain. They love their mountains but this one was more than an hour away and by the time we got there and under military escort, the light had faded. The long road winding up to the top of this mountain revealed a sort of plateau covered mostly with ten-foot-high scrub. There were no cliff like sides to the mountain or look-out point that I could see. Almost as we got there Panos got a call to say the T-2 was now taking off. With no pilot briefing and up an unfamiliar mountain I was doubtful any good was going to come from this adventure. I leapt out the hire car and just ran in to the prickly scrub hoping to find a clearing or look-out point. Panos did not appear to have a plan at all and stayed with the car. After wandering around the mountainside for some 20 minutes and clambering up some rock outcrops, I feared it was highly unlikely I would even see the T-2 as the sounds of its jet engine got louder. In fact, I did see quite a lot of it as the first pass was directly over my head. Subsequent passes appeared to be straight at the mountain with a pull-up at the last second. I did not in the end get any useful shots and started to make my way back to the car and Panos. Meanwhile he had anxiously called out my name as he had not seen me since I darted off. Finally, he caught sight of me as I reached the top of the small rocky outcrop, I had climbed to get a sense of direction. Clumsily I tripped at the top while attempting to jump down, and fell on top of a prickly scrub bush. I grazed my legs and thought nothing of it. What I had not realised was that the Squadron Commander had phoned to ask about the success of the T-2 passes only to be told by Panos that I had gone missing, and he had seen me fall, possibly off the side of the mountain. He was told in no uncertain terms by the Squadron Commander to find me otherwise in 15 minutes he would scramble their Search and Rescue Huey helicopter. Moments after that call Panos saw me emerging from the undergrowth. I must say Panos did look worried, he blurted out; "heart, heart" while pointing to his heart and repeating, "Stress, stress, stress." He immediately passed on the good news to the Commander and the SAR crew were stood down. We did laugh all the way back north while repeating the events of our mountain fiasco. Curiously, four years later I was at Andravida air base and a Greek person seemed to recognise me, when he said "Mr. Stevens, you fell from a mountain at Kalamata!" His english was poor, all I could find out from him was that he worked at Kalamata air base. Just last year My last day out in 2019 was in a spectacular valley and a favourite place of ours. Unfortunately, Panos had to work but kept in touch by ‘Messenger’. On the previous day his messages were remarkably fluent, his English was excellent. Knowing that it could not be him actually messaging me. I wrote saying, "I must say Panos your English has really improved, well done." The reply came back, "Hello Philip, it's me Maria." I was then sent the selfie below. I met Maria a year or two before when we went for a drink and she was the evenings interpreter. On this day I was lucky to catch a pair of F-16s shortly before having to dash to the airport to catch my EasyJet flight home. My wife Lynda was with me and produced a nice iPhone video of the F-16s pass. I messaged Panos to say, "F-16 x2 !!." Now in the car Panos was excited to hear of my success and sent a one-word message to me written in Greek. I'm driving fast, so Lynda replies for me, "Cannot read Greek while driving, please learn more English!", Panos replied, using his unique spelling, "Fhoto?" Laughing I knew he wanted, a shot from the back of the camera, so I got Lynda to photograph me driving with a big grin and a thumbs up to send back to Panos. He responded with lots of big laughter emojis.

Left to right: Panos with Maria at work. The thumbs up 'fhoto' for Panos, he was hoping for the back of the camera shot of my F-16 pair. Panos having fun in 2020, because of Covid-19 I was not able to get to Greece.

At Rest There are so many more memories I have from my time with my brother Panos, a wonderful person who I will always be in debt to for everything he has done for me. My thoughts now are with the lovely Nektaria who has been so kind to me and now has to get her life together without Panos. Our friend Dimitris Kolliopoulos wrote these wonderful words after the funeral; "Whatever we did was a little, for our friend and brother Panagiotis for the many things he generously offered to all of us, and all the things he offered to his great love the Hellenic Air Force which honoured him today as he deserved. At the time when a crowd of people but also many officers and non-commissioned officers from many ranks of the PA accompanied him to his last residence, a pair of Phantom F4 made a low crossing, making everyone cry. Your memory will be eternal, OUR FRIEND AND BROTHER."

A former A-7 Corsair II pilot wrote; "Yesterday afternoon, in a very emotionally charged atmosphere, we said goodbye to the King of the Mountains. With his pure heart, his love and passion for the Air Force stood out and was loved by this beautiful and special Family, which honored him with the same love. Thank you my brother for being by my side in one of the most beautiful moments of my life and what we lived together. Have a good trip My Pano! Good meeting my brother! Enjoy from there in the clouds where you are the best misses! And as your good friend Theodoris wrote ... The next terrain masking will be for you ... And so it happened!"

Fly high my friend.