I seem to have an uncanny knack for sneaking into places that turn out to be museums. Oh gee, look, this appears to be abandoned, neato, let's go take pictures! Oh gee, look, this is the sign for where the guided tour would have started if I'd arrived ten hours ago.
No bother - it's less about the kudos and more about the photos. And in this case, it was neat to beat the crowds and lie in a grass field, under the stars, with planes taking off from the airport abutted by this small collection of antique planes. I'd randomly seen the stationary squadron of French (prepare for incoming flame barrage from the British aviation crowd) planes, including a retired Concorde, while driving past, and really wanted to get some photos under the night sky.
Everything was closed up tight with massive padlocks, so no cockpit shots, but given that I could head back in the daytime and pay my admission (I won't, because they take such reprehensible care of their planes), that wouldn't really be all that worthwhile, plus I've been inside a Concorde. It's like any other passenger plane, except a lot more cramped (it's true, rich people tend to be a lot less fat than package tourists) and when they blow up, they do it at Mach 2 instead of Mach 0.7.
Unfortunately, by the time I got there they were closing up the airport for the night, so no chance of takeoff light trails, but I'll do that some other day. Night. Whatever.
Still, a nice few hours hiding from cops and trying not to draw too much attention while photographing the fighters (two Mirage III variants) and retired passenger planes (Caravelle, Mercure 100, Concorde) under the remarkably clear night sky.
More, as always, at kosmograd dot net.
No bother - it's less about the kudos and more about the photos. And in this case, it was neat to beat the crowds and lie in a grass field, under the stars, with planes taking off from the airport abutted by this small collection of antique planes. I'd randomly seen the stationary squadron of French (prepare for incoming flame barrage from the British aviation crowd) planes, including a retired Concorde, while driving past, and really wanted to get some photos under the night sky.
Everything was closed up tight with massive padlocks, so no cockpit shots, but given that I could head back in the daytime and pay my admission (I won't, because they take such reprehensible care of their planes), that wouldn't really be all that worthwhile, plus I've been inside a Concorde. It's like any other passenger plane, except a lot more cramped (it's true, rich people tend to be a lot less fat than package tourists) and when they blow up, they do it at Mach 2 instead of Mach 0.7.
Unfortunately, by the time I got there they were closing up the airport for the night, so no chance of takeoff light trails, but I'll do that some other day. Night. Whatever.
Still, a nice few hours hiding from cops and trying not to draw too much attention while photographing the fighters (two Mirage III variants) and retired passenger planes (Caravelle, Mercure 100, Concorde) under the remarkably clear night sky.
More, as always, at kosmograd dot net.
