It came as a surprise when this shoot came to light just a few weeks before the actual night, promising to be quite an evening with a terrific array of classic jets, heavy warbirds and other vintage types on the bill. It was so tempting that I hurried back from holiday in Somerset to be there but was unable to be on the airfield to catch arrivals and some other movements in the day as I would have liked to.
As I arrived just before 5pm the line-up was being put in its final place, with the Vampire landing on from a local flight and taxying into place as well as Hangar 11's Spitfire PR.XI being pushed round to complete the warbird line. The aircraft were being positioned on the large Weald Aviation pan with two lines of aircraft opposite each other - one with the warbirds against the side of the hangar and the other with the classic jets and the open airfield as a backdrop. I know that some people were not happy with the hangar as a backdrop because it wasn't dark enough, which is understandable, but personally I didn't really mind. Not that it was particularly noticeable with the actual line-up, but there were some participants absent from the finalised list. The biggest loss came when a few days prior it was announced that the Royal Navy Historic Flight (RNHF) Sea Fury T.20 had to cancel due to logistical reasons, Swords Aviation's Jet Provost prototype was also absent from the line-up. Some also failed to show on the day such as the Messerschmitt Me-108 and training pair of Scottish Aviation Bulldog and de Havilland Chipmunk. Another thing that was out of the organisers' hands was the fact that the generators for the lights were delivered without fuel, contrary to what they had been told, meaning there was more work to be done.
As the sky became blacker it was time for the engine runs to begin, but, as the Yak-52 failed to start on cue, The Historic Aircraft Collection’s Hurricane provided a fiery opening to the event! It was quite a feeling to be stood that close to and iconic Battle of Britain fighter running up at night – what UK nightshoot has seen a warbird of this calibre running before? I’ll bet on saying that ground breaking territory is being claimed by Weald Aviation here. Dave Harvey was in the cockpit for the Hurricane’s slot, and it was interesting to see the flaps come down and up and the landing light coming on as the floodlights were switched off for a minute or two – all giving the chance for a variety of photographs. Back to the Yak-52 and the Halloween gremlins had toddled off, allowing the radial to come to life, albeit with less smoke that had been hoped for.
In between the warbird and the classic jet line-ups the Westland Wasp was parked in the dark among the public. This gave the ground crew the opportunity to play with the lights, using the moveable landing light and opening the doors to allow photographers a view at the red night-illuminated instrument panel – a nice touch, I’m sure many photographers will agree.
Over to the jets and the Vampire was first to warm proceedings up, giving a glorious show of the typical de Havilland Goblin flamey start-up in the hands of Mark Hooton. Next up was the Swords Aviation Jet Provost T.52A, a Jet Provost T.5 and Tom Maloney’s Saudi Arabian schemed Strikemaster Mk.80A – not the most interesting of aircraft to have starting at a nightshoot due to lack of dynamism brought by a moving propeller or fiery start-up, but welcome nonetheless. The fire crew even doused the pan around the Jet Provost T.5 to allow for good reflections.
The final jet for the night was the Vampire’s slightly less fiery sister the Venom – a visitor from the Air Atlantique Classic Flight at Coventry. It is interesting to be able to compare the two de Havilland jets so close together starting at night, with the Vampire having a large flame on start-up which dies soon afterward in contrast to the Venom having no initial flame but a growing red glow as the engine spools up – this could well be the first time both types have started at the same night event!
So it was on to the grand finale – Kennet’s mighty Douglas AD-4NA Skyraider! Whilst the vast majority of those attending these events are serious photographers, myself included, I was most looking forward to the ‘Raider purely for the experience – even if I came away devoid of any decent photos of the run I wouldn’t really mind. I thought it might be good, but I didn’t know just how good!
It was a shame to see the lights go out as the engine was started, whether this was simply down to miscommunication or whether they thought there might be some flames that would stand out better in the dark is not clear. It was, however, rather immense to be confronted by the huge full disc of the propeller when the lights came back on! We also got to see the wings extend after start-up and fold back just before shutdown, reminding us just how large this aircraft really is.
The ‘Raider was in a superb location for photos I thought, with a dark backdrop across the airfield where the airframe had been tied down. Oh yes, a tie down, and a 30 tonne one at that – they meant business! Slowly the power was increased, and this was felt not only in the eardrums but in the ground shaking and with it hitting you in the chest. As this happened the lights, which were illuminating the airframe on either side, went out in turn and then together to make the red and blue glowing flames coming out of the exhaust stubs stand out. Being an avid warbird fan (or should that be fanatic!) this gave me a completely new experience. Of course it’s amazing to be able to see these machines in the air but being that close to a Skyraider on the deck, with the sound literally shaking the night apart was something quite special - worth the entrance fee alone!
With the shutdown of the ‘Raider came the end of the runs, but not the shoot itself, with aircraft being lit up until they were towed away to their hangars for the night. It was nice to be able to see the awesome MiG-17 emerge as the hangar doors were opened – something that would make a superb subject at a nightshoot - out on the line!
Despite a few minor issues, such as the Skyraider starting in the dark and the fact that there could have been just a bit more communication to the public as to what was happening next – the shoot seems to have been a resounding success for their first try.
So where does North Weald, and Weald Aviation’s nightshoot, stand among all the others now running around the country - does it have its own niche? I believe it does. Whilst we have the superb modern military events at RAF Northolt, Newark and Yorkshire Air Museum events as well as the Air Atlantique Classic Flight's night runs, none of them have the unique mix of classic jets and warbirds that were at North Weald – something I’d absolutely love to see built on and continued in future.
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