Bones in The Morning, Spitfires in The Evening

By Bradley Rogers

On Saturday 17th June I embarked on my latest Relentless Pursuit in aviation. It was Friday evening that I learned of a possible early morning x2 ship departure, of the currently RAF Fairford based, Rockwell B-1B Lancers. As it happened it would also fall on the day of Shuttleworth’s evening airshow, entitled: “Best of British”, in which I had indeed booked a ticket for. So I hatched my plan to head to Fairford, first thing, for a chance to grab some memorable images of the famous BONE, before heading onto Bedfordshire.

Friday night was spent meticulously packing my camera bag, the inner voice of torment constantly and persistently questioning what to, and not to take! Eventually I wrestled this inner voice and settled with the trusty Canon EOS 5D MK IV & Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM combination, with the 80D and Canon EF 24-105mm F/4L IS USM II thrown in for good measure. Then time for the other essentials, everything from sunscreen to waterproofs (just in case), and ear protection! Then take out and ready to fill that mainstay of every avgeek’s setup, the sacred flask! Last, but by no means least, raiding the cupboards and fridge for food and snacks. After all, it’s tiring all this aviation photography! The packing done time to plan the shoot.

Part 1: BONES

I have previously shot the Bones, this has mainly been them landing, although I have shot them taking off under the cover of darkness, side on and burners lit, which was pretty cool! However, this time I wanted to be underneath them shooting back up into those ferocious and crackling General Electric F101 afterburning turbofans. Firstly I had to take my best guess on which runway would be in use. RAF Fairford’s runway runs almost exactly East to West (see fig.1) split 09-27. 27 is the Eastern end nearest the villages of Kempsford and Whelford. Where as 09 is West, nearest to the picturesque Cotswold village of Marston Meysey. As we all know aircraft take off into wind, the direction favoured an 09 departure, meaning the aircraft would take-off West heading East. My plan of action would be to stand at the 27 end (See Fig.2) in the hope the forecast for wind would be correct. Alarm set, gear packed, shoot planned, I turned in for the night, with visions of the following day whirling around my head.

(Fig. 1)

(Fig. 2)

5am! The alarm didn’t take much to wake me, with the thoughts of the day and planned shoot still going around my head. I filled the sacred flask and packed the essentials ready for the day. As always, before leaving I checked the usual channels and as luck would have it there was the NOTAM! 

The day’s NOTAM (Notice to Airmen/Air-missions)

Notams are given in Zulu time so you have to add an hour at this time of year, to the times given, so 0630-0830L, meaning there was more than a fair chance now they would be heading out between those hours. They usually depart almost in the middle of those times given. It was on! 

Looking outside the weather was overcast, however this wouldn’t however deter me. There was definition in those clouds, this got my creative thinking going, the burners could show up better and the sky wouldn’t be so blown out, there may be moisture in the air. So at 5:45am I left the house to make the 40 minutes or so journey to RAF Fairford. Heading towards Burford at 6am, driving through the stretch of Cotswold scenery the heavens teased they would open with spits of rain across the windscreen, just putting that slight fear and doubt that all your best laid plans may go awry! Minutes away from Fairford at around 6:30am the sun began to break through once again toying with me and my plans for the shoot! I eventually arrived at Washpool Lane, this is the unofficial parking spot for spotting at the 27 end. Care must be taken to leave the road as clear as possible, access is required at all times for HGV’s attending the quarry at the end of the lane. 

(Arrow indicates Washpool Lane, X-marks the spot for my spotting point)

I made the short walk from the parking spot towards my planned spot, aiming to be just north of the Runway, as the sun would be just behind my right shoulder, if it was to break through and make an appearance. Setting up, it began to spit with rain again, this luckily didn’t last long. The good news was that the faint sound of jet engines idling could be heard from the far side of the airfield. My luck was in!

I didn’t have to wait too long for some action. The aircraft began to taxi at around 0715hrs, I took this opportunity to take a few test-shots to check the light, I dialled in a few notches of exposure compensation to help expose for the jet, but careful not to blow out the sky. 

All this planning and thinking would be over in a matter of minutes! The first of the x2 ship took to the air ripping into a calm and peaceful Gloucestershire sky, followed shortly by the second jet. What a way to wake up the neighbours! With the short amount of time it would take I used burst to capture a sequence of frames, trying my hardest to keep up and compose some sort of shot of the magnificent aircraft.  It was all over in minutes. But, was it worth it? Of course it was! The shots I had planned came off. Here are some of the results! 

Callsign SPICY51 – tucking up as it lifts over the perimeter fence at RAF Fairford

In the overhead! The Bone rushed over head with a torrent of noise!

“The Shot” – the image I set out to achieve! 

I left Fairford at 7:45, filled up with fuel and even had the chance to head home first, to unload the SD card ahead of the day’s proceedings. I set off at 9:45am to continue the Relentless Pursuit at Shuttleworth! 

Part 2: Shuttleworth “Best of British” Evening Airshow

Shuttleworth’s “Best of British” Evening airshow promised to be a great show. The line-up looked very promising indeed, with no less than 4 spitfires scheduled to be in attendance. For those of you that haven’t attended one the evening airshows they offer something very different. These are usually much less busy than the usual Sunday daytime shows that Shuttleworth holds. The gates open at midday and flying doesn’t start until 5:30pm. The light can be rather enjoyable at this time of the day.  

On arrival I met up with “The Duke” himself, fellow COAP Member Dave Griffiths, who was making this show his first ever visit to a Shuttleworth airshow – he certainly picked a great show to start out at! After putting the world to rights, we met up with more fellow members in the shape of John MacDermott and Jonathan Unwin, and set up our spot on the crowd line.

Headlining this airshow were 3 visiting spitfires, along with the Collection’s own in AR501. Amongst these was the famous MH434. She arrived performing a run and break in the very capable hands of warbird pilot extraordinaire, Stu Goldspink. After the main bulk of aircraft arrivals and before the flying was due to start, something that is unique to Shuttleworth happened. A section of the airside-grass area was partitioned off, allowing members of the public to get in-between and within touching distance of some of the aircraft, I cannot think of another place where this would happen! MH434 was one of these aircraft, watched over by enthusiastic Shuttleworth marshals, the public and myself included were instantly drawn to this most famous of Spitfires.

Inside the cockpit of the famous MH434. 

Time flies when you’re having fun – if you’ll pardon the pun! After passing the time in great company with the COAP crew, it soon came around to the time of day where the flying would begin. Here are the major highlights for me.

First up was something that was almost a total surprise! The collection’s own Spitfire AR501 took to the air with MH434. In true “Best of British” style, the aircraft then formed up with Duxford’s MK.1a and Rolls-Royce Heritage Flights PR.XIX, for what would become a very special “I was there” display. 

Performing a series of flypasts the x4 ship of spitfires graced the skies of Old Warden. The sound was terrific and the colours of the sky were just beginning to glint through.

The third pass for a break, which would lead into a tail chase.

Each spitfire was hot on the other’s tail, again the sound was just amazing! So amazing in fact I had to lower the camera and take it all in. The closeness and immersive feeling you get at Shuttleworth is just so different to anywhere else, you really feel at one with the displays. As I have mentioned many times the unique curved display line at Old Warden is unrivalled, and for those photographically minded, the light is usually in the right place, behind you!

IMG_7205

The spitfire routine also gave some lovely topside passes. I remarked how it was like a flying legends show of old, all the spitfires being thrown around in the air together at once and at intimately close quarters.

The Shuttleworth Collection’s own Supermarine Spitfire MK.Vc AR501 

The Rolls-Royce Heritage Flight Spitfire PR.XIX PS853 – powered by the growing Griffon engine

The Legend itself – Supermarine Spitfire IX MH434

The Imperial War Museum Duxford’s Supermarine Spitfire MK.1a N3200

The opening was such a stunning display and was most certainly the “Best of British” and a nice surprise as I would have taken just a solo display from each of the 4 aircraft. The surprises kept on coming, next in the shape of a Britten-Norman Islander, based down the road at nearby Cranfield Aerospace Solutions Ltd. This is set to be the team’s pioneering aircraft exploring the use of Hydrogen power – which it is yet to be converted too. It flew a spirited display and was also one of the aircraft open to the public in the aforementioned grass area.

The Future? – Cranfield Aerospace Solutions Ltd Britten-Norman BN-2A Islander 

The fantastic flying continued with more memorable displays. The tethered-formation flying routine from the DH.60, Parnall Elf and DH.82 was a graceful piece of flying.

A technique developed to teach formation flying in days of old, replicated here with bunting.

By this time the Evening was drawing in and the light fading, the Gloster Gladiator made a spirited final display of the day… or so we thought!

The Collection’s Gloster Gladiator I – the last remnants of the sunset gleaming off the fuselage. 

The winds dropped enough just in time for an extended period of flying. The Edwardians were rolled out, along with the most underpowered aircraft in the collection – the English Electric Wren. It is surprising that this company would go on to build the formidable Lightning! This was the perfect end to the show where the crowd had really got behind the aircraft which this time managed to sustain flight more than once!

The English Electric Wren sustaining flight! 

To conclude it was a fabulous day that started with roaring jets and ended with rasping props. The show at Shuttleworth ran well over the billeted finishing time of 8pm, and infact finished at 9:30pm! It would be midnight before I got home, completing an epic 19 hour day of The Relentless Pursuit!