The night shoot was intended to mark the rollout of the Gnat Display Team’s Folland Gnat T.1 G-MOUR; an aircraft which operated out of North Weald for a time during the latter part of the last century under the ownership of David Gilmour’s Intrepid Aviation outfit before a stint at Kemble with Delta Jets; and thus the debut of the 2011 Gnat trio comprising Gnats G-TIMM (that’s XS111 in military terms), G-RORI (XR538) and the aforementioned G-MOUR (XR991).
Unfortunately, circumstances outside the organisers’ control conspired against the plans to assemble the three Gnats at the ‘shoot, with the dissected G-MOUR – in the midst of its maintenance work to restore it to airworthy condition once again – remaining inside the Team’s hangar in no condition to be brought outside and G-RORI ingesting FOD during a recent visit to RAF Scampton, thus keeping it out of action. Determined to keep the event from derailing, the organisers drafted in Gnat T.1 G-FRCE, which even had ejection seats installed prior to the night shoot to ensure that it didn’t look too out of place alongside G-TIMM.
Joining the two Gnats on The Squadron’s apron at North Weald were a selection of the locally based, privately owned classic jets and Yaks, with the line-up comprising Oliver Wheeldon’s Hunting P-84 Jet Provost T.3 G-BKOU (XN637), BAC Jet Provost Mk.52 G-PROV and Mk.5P G-VIVM from Swords Aviation, Stephen Partridge-Hicks’ BAC 167 Strikemaster G-MXPH, de Havilland Vampire T.11 WZ507 from the Vampire Preservation Group and two Russian Yaks in the form of the Yak-52 and Yak-18T variants. Participation from the Hangar 11 Collection and Kennet Aviation had been discussed, but unfortunately neither organisation was able to contribute its aircraft, leaving the night shoot somewhat lacking in the warbird department.
This nine aircraft set up made the £20 entry fee feel perhaps a little steep, given that the last night shoot I attended at Coventry in December offered engine runs from a greater variety of aircraft, ranging from the debuting Proctor to the mightily impressive DC-6, for a lesser price. In these competitive times where enthusiasts are in many cases finding it increasingly difficult to justify spending considerable sums of money on travel, in addition to any entrance charge, the inclusion of some of the other locally based vintage aircraft – the Seafire, Skyraider, MiG-17 and anything from Hangar 11 spring to mind – would have made the entry fee a little easier to justify before the event itself. While it is likely the case that these operators were approached and it was simply a case of logistics or suchlike that pre-empted their participation (and to that end, I must stress that this is in no way a criticism of the team which pulled the event together), one would hope that a repeat event would provide a stronger motive for parting with a comparatively steep charge.
The event itself, however, hit most of the right buttons as far as I was concerned. Entering via the airfield’s main gate at 5.45pm, visitors were immediately greeted by friendly staff who advised that they should feel free to park up at the Gnat Display Team’s hangar on the way round the airfield peri-track to photograph G-MOUR and the UH-1D Huey (the famous G-HUEY, stalwart of the 1980s airshow scene!). This courtesy continued at the hangar, with the Team’s staff and volunteers on hand to speak to the visitors; it was also particularly pleasing that photography was not only permitted inside the hangar, but that there was no rush in doing so, despite the deadline in assembling the guests for a 7pm event briefing. Indeed, photographers were also given ample time before dark to photograph the aircraft without barriers.
The aircraft were arranged into a rough ‘V’ shape outside The Squadron’s hangar, with two lighting rigs set up to provide ample light to the vast majority of the participants, though the Vampire T.11 was sadly left on the fringes and thus almost impossible to photograph in the darkness. In an added bonus, each of the classic jets (excluding Gnat G-FRCE) ran their engines in short order. Too short order, in fact, as there was really too much going on at once with the Gnat operating its smoke system to dramatic effect, the Vampire taxiing back to the Weald Aviation apron on the other side of the aerodrome and the Strikemaster and Jet Provosts firing up in a terrific din which assaulted the ears and filled the nostrils with the wonderful aroma of jet fuel.
As an all around experience, it was excellent, but from a photographic perspective, it made it difficult to set up a shot and utilise longer exposures on each jet. Disappointingly, the covers were quickly applied and the lights turned off the Strikemaster shortly after its run, meaning that there were many photographers who had been unable to shoot the aircraft at the peak of the evening (personally speaking, I prefer shooting in pitch black rather than twilight).
It must be said, however, that the operators and organisers were working to a strict 8pm deadline, imposed by the airfield’s noise restrictions that prevent the running of jet engines after that time. Given that these jet night runs were an added bonus – I believe that only a single Jet Provost run had been publicised – it seems almost churlish to complain, particularly when we had the opportunity to continue photographing the bulk of the participants until gone 9.30pm.
Also pleasing was the Yak-52 night run, with the yellow tipped propeller offering an impressive ‘prop disk’ for those using long exposures. The Yak ran up for several minutes, allowing photographers to rotate positions once they had acquired the desired shot; altogether more relaxed, then, than the frantic repositioning of tripods for the jet runs!
Following the completion of the night run segment, the cones that had acted as a crowd line of sorts were left in place for almost an hour before they were removed to allow the visitors – now significantly sparser in number – to get in close for some more unusual angles. Thankfully, for the most part the photographers were all courteous and I didn’t see any instances of visitors locking lenses in a battle for the prime real estate on the line as I have done at other night shoots!
It just seemed as though the event had been organised with the photographers in mind every step of the way, from the late afternoon unrestricted access through to the final, closing moments where visitors were given free rein to shoot the participants from whichever angle and proximity they wished.
In all then, the first North Weald night shoot couldn’t be considered anything less than a success. A fair turnout, good weather, more than adequate lighting and, for the most part, a relaxed vibe made it a thoroughly enjoyable event. As with any debut event, there are little things that could be tweaked in future to improve the experience – small gripes would include the propeller cover remaining on the Yak-18T, the lack of time between jet engine runs, the positioning of the Vampire and the spacing between aircraft – but these are minor issues that certainly didn’t affect my enjoyment of the evening and thankfully, they are all issues that can be addressed should a second night shoot be organised.
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