The Air Atlantique Classic Flight Night Runs on 11 December 2010 provided an excellent chance to break up the long “off-season” and get a final aviation fix before the year’s end. For me, the event represented a triple-first: my first ever trip to Coventry, my first visit to Coventry Airport and the first time I’d been to a night-shoot of any kind! I decided to combine the Night Runs with an extended Midlands tour, taking in the RAF Museum at Cosford and Midland Air Museum too, but more coverage of those at a later date. This time, lets concentrate on the wonderful collection of Air Atlantique Classic Flight aircraft gathered out in the cool evening air for the benefit of a couple of hundred enthusiasts. I say ‘cool evening air’ – jeez it was cold! – but, although overcast, it stayed dry, while towards the end of the night, the low cloud picked up some reflected illuminations from the local surroundings. Light pollution or not, it was certainly atmospheric!
Before I carry on, it’s worth pointing out there was a gathering of another kind present, too - one not of aircraft, but of men. Men of strong will and steel. And men that, finally, after months of aborted missions, managed to assemble as a group for the first time. Alongside myself and GAR’s Elliott Marsh and Huw Hopkins stood our friends Richard Judge and Greg Marsh, and I’m mentioning this because it made the evening even more special. There’s probably a whole raft of future blogs to come from me on the subject of airshow psychology but first of all, I need to work out what the heck I’m on about! For now, it’s becoming more and more apparent that the social side of these trips makes things so much more pleasurable. Sure, we took image after image in the attempt to capture something special, but the conversation, the atmosphere and the extra enjoyment factor just made the night complete. Gents – I salute you all!
The Night Runs were about more than just the aircraft that shattered the calm of the night with sustained engine noise. Broken up by a very civilised and (literally) heart-warming break for soup and/or tea, the runs were staged in two parts between 1600hrs and 1900hrs, but the airfield actually opened two hours before start of play, to allow Airbase hangar tours and close-up studies of the types arranged outside it. The layout created three distinct run-up zones – one facing the runway, one nearer the inactive airframes (DC-6 G-SIXC, the Shackleton etc) and one in front of the hangar and, at the first location, the biggest night-runners - DC-3 G-AMRA and DC-6 G-APSA – stood proudly, ready to come alive. Before they did, though, blue and white-schemed Jet Provost G-BWDS carried out a very brief local flight, completed with a spirited run and break.
A masterful airshow performer – albeit one absent from the display circuit since 2008 – the DC-6 opened proceedings, eventually getting all four engines running to present the most impressive-looking and glorious-sounding experience of the night. Its proximity to the crowd barrier was unfortunate but unavoidable: according to the Classic Flight staff present, the taxiway behind it had to be kept clear and, if the aircraft was any further back, this just wouldn’t have been possible. Add in the impact of a convex crowdline and this set-up did limit the number of people that could obtain an unobstructed view of the -6’s run but, honestly, this one was of the Night Runs’ very few low points, and it’s one on which my colleague Huw reflected upon:
"I felt that this year was a bit fresher, if they'd had the same set up as the past two years it would have fallen a bit flat. But we were moving about a bit more, having many different angles to take in - no doubt AIRBASE has had a positive effect on events at Coventry now. That said there were one or two issues. The space in front of the DC-6 run could have been used to much better effect, having the barrier a little closer to the rear fence and curving it inwards rather than outwards to let many more people have access to shots."
A very minor issue was that, in the case of two aircraft, only one engine could be started and kept going. However, these - the DC-3 and the wonderful Howard 500 – certainly didn’t suffer from looking lopsided – rather, their one static engine emphasised the active one all the more.
The Howard 500 was the real gem of the night and, according to reports, it’s going Stateside in the spring, so its participation represented something really quite special. The use of a fairly large area of concrete at the hangar’s front allowed both the Chipmunk and the freshly-restored Proctor to get their tyres rotating as well as their props and, to their credit, the crew of each placed them at multiple angles to the crowd, allowing either a variety of shots to be obtained, or – by relocating - another go to be had at the same shot, if it was missed the first time! Prior to their runs, the de Havilland Heron had fired up and, after them, one of AACF’s two Venoms whistled away for a few minutes to bring the event to a close.
Herein lies the only other, oh-so-slightly-negative aspect of the event, and that’s simply the limited impact of jet-powered types running up at night, when captured as images. The Venom itself launched a thick plume of smoke into the air as it started up, and anyone who photographed that successfully (I missed!) should have been well-pleased, but - bar the presence of a cockpit crew member and the shining wing lights – the resultant photos just don’t look as ‘live’ as those featuring the other types there. I’m not saying by any means that night shoots should be restricted to propeller-driven aircraft with obvious moving components, but pistons and radials do have an immediate upper-edge, especially for the photographer. Perhaps the future lies in presenting jets in a slightly different way – something my colleague Elliott touched upon:
"I thought it was a cracking afternoon/evening - interesting mix of aircraft, including something I've never seen before (the lovely Proctor and the Howard 500) and some memorable moments (flaming Dakota, the Venom start-up) that made the trip worthwhile from the aviation and photography perspective. What I will say is that the likes of Jet Provost and Meteor are far less effective at a night shoot than the prop aircraft - with the pistons, you can get the prop blur and occasional exhaust flames. Barring the Venom's start-up, I don't find the jets as alluring. I'd rather see the classic jets (including Canberras, please!) lit for the whole evening but unmanned, with the props taking turns to run up on the main apron where the DC-6 and Dak were (clearer background looks better at night, I think). I appreciate that might cost more to light, though."
I’ve made one or two critical points here but, overall, I was extremely impressed with this event and nearly every aspect of it. Air Atlantique are far from the only organisation involved in night-time aviation events, but arguably – with their wide array of based classic aircraft - they’re best placed to stage them at this point in time. Factor in the favourable weather and the outstanding company, and my first night shoot gave me a highly enjoyable evening out. As Elliott commented:
"The true strength of events like this, Northolt (so I'm told!) and East Kirkby is the social element. It was great to spend the evening (oor-err) with Paul, Huw, Richard Judge and Greg chewing the fat for a few hours and, to be honest, soppy as it may sound, it wouldn't have been anywhere near as enjoyable without the company! This type of event is about more than just the aircraft - I guess that, to me, it's more about catching up with your mates, enjoying the craic and keeping your photographic currency up!"
GAR wants to interact with its readers so if you have a question for the author or a comment to make on this feature, please click on the button below. The best comments will appear right here on GAR.2010-12-21 - Tim Badham
Thanks for the great article and interesting feedback. Please though bear in mind that when we organise the event it's not just aimed at stills photographers. Night-time views of jets starting or of any aeroplane taxiing provide the video buffs amongst the audience with dramatic opportunities. Those elements often then feature prominently in their coverage. I agree that getting effective stills of running jets can be challenging, but at the right moment and from certain angles they can provide dramatic opportunities for that unusual shot which you can't get at static museums.
2010-12-21 - Alan Longstaff
Some nice images there Paul. Glad you enjoyed your visit and we will take the comments on board and see what we can do next year!
2010-12-21 - Greg Marsh
Excellent article as always. A fine evening with a wide array of machinery and some great company.
Good arrows!
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