Lightnings at Twilight

The Lighting - an awesome vintage British front-line Mach 2 fighter jet from the 1960s. It eventually gave way to the Phantom, Tornado and the Eurofighter Typhoon, the latter in service today with the Royal Air Force. The Lightning can no longer be seen in the skies, unless you go to South Africa where a couple are restored and flown by civilians. However, Bruntingthorpe airfield in the UK is home to the Lightning Preservation Group, where two of the last remaining aircraft are kept in fully-functional condition. A couple of times a year, the group exercise the aircraft with fast taxiing and afterburner runs down the runway at Bruntingthorpe. The most recent event on 16th November was dubbed a Lightning Twilight Run with XS904 and XR728 scheduled to take to the runway with afterburners lit.

The engine run-ups sounded quite uniquely different to any other aircraft I’ve heard, then the chance to be stood - literally feet - away from a stationary chocked fighter jet at full-reheat was an experience unlike any other, a full-on bombardment of the senses, the sound of air being ripped apart and the feeling of the rib cage and chest being vibrated by the power of the twin Rolls-Royce Avon engines. 

Photographically, capturing the fast-taxiing was a challenge - I’ve never photographed fast moving action before in low light, so an unnaturally high ISO was definitely required - not to mention ear defenders!