WR963 Nightshoot / Night run

[CameronSys]

Hello,

Shackleton WR963 will be performing a flood lit night run at Coventry Airport in the Airbase compound.

This is CURRENLTY due to be 16th November, although anyone who has been an enthusiast for even a short time will know that things ALWAYS change!

Not all details have been published yet, so I am not yet sure of the actual time or whether there will be an admission fee or not. Even if there is a fee, it's a worthy cause!

WR963 will be doing taxy runs in 2015 as an extra
bit of info...

[AndyXH558]

Yes please

[flashman8]

I went to one a few years ago, and discovered that even with 4 layers on I still got cold, so wrap up warm all those who go

[spellow3010]

Please keep us informed as I'm just up the road in Rugby. I was doing some nav/camera work out of Coventry on a helicopter in 2004 and we regularly used the cafe there at Air Atlantique. One day, we saw the guys there getting ready for a ground run and our crew were lucky enough (for a modest donation of course) to be invited aboard while the crew did their pre-run checklist and ran the engines up. That was without doubt one of the best hours I've had on an aircraft - and we didn't even move!!!

After that, I take my hat off to anybody doing more than a few hours flight at a time on those things. Every flight must have been an ordeal.

I'm in Edinburgh that weekend, but would aim to be back for a shot of a shack in the dark!! And the noise....

[CameronSys]

Ok,

The run is on Sunday 16th November and the gates open at 1500. The likelihood is that the run will start around 1615, although it could be earlier so aim to arrive at 1500 to avoid disappointment.

The price is £20, and from the SPT Facebook page the payment methods are:
- PayPal payment to 'shackletonwr963@googlemail.com', when paying via PayPal, ensure you leave them a note on the payment saying it is for the night run!
- Or a cheque to the SPT, although you will need to contact them directly for more details about that

Tickets are limited to 75! Closing date for ticket purchases is 9th November is they haven't sold out by then

After the run, the interior will be open for photography in red light conditions

Coffee, Tea and soup and a roll will be available as will Shackleton merchandise

The run will be in the airbase compound

ENJOY!

Cameron

[Vigorous Dragon]

Sounds awesome. Where do I sign up?

[richw_82]

Hi guys,

As above, if you want to come along, just use the Paypal link to pay and remember to give us your name or that of the person you are paying for. We'll be letting people in based on a list of names we receive; as Classic Air Force closes to the public this weekend we have to pay heed to site security when running this ourselves. Simply put - if you aren't on the list that gets handed over before the event, we can't let you in. The gate will open at 3pm, with engine start planned for 4.15pm.

For those that don''t use Paypal, contact the SPT Chairman, Dave Woods, on davesxjs (at) live.co.uk

Kind regards,

Rich W
Shackleton Preservation Trust

[Wissam24]

Sign me up for sure. I'd love to attend, this sounds excellent. Money sent, looking forward to it already.

[Domvickery]

Will there be anyaircraft participating, £20 for a single aircraft does seem a fair amount?

[DanO1978]

Will there be anyaircraft participating, £20 for a single aircraft does seem a fair amount?

Indeed. Once again a nightshoot is the in-vogue cash cow, yet the same people paying for these events complain about an airshow ticket costing £20-25 for a full day's flying.

£20 to shoot one airframe under some spotlights is expensive, no two ways about it.

Wasn't the last Northolt event something like £30 minimum "donation"? That's getting towards the ticket price of a major airshow.

[hmeasures]

Wasn't the last Northolt event something like £30 minimum "donation"? That's getting towards the ticket price of a major airshow.

Yes, and half the reason I decided not to go in the end - coupled with the weather forecast, and amount of cancellations announced before I was due to leave work. I am sure last time I went it was £20 plus crew cost...?

Bearing in mind a shuttleworth show is £20 the day before

[richw_82]

Hi all,

For those that were wondering which aircraft are participating it is the Shackleton, and possibly Nimrod depending on serviceability.

I understand £20 comes across as a bit steep, but believe me when I say its not a cash cow for us. Reason? WR963 will drink the lot.

In terms of purely fuel cost, Avgas is £1.88 a litre or just over £8.50 a gallon in old money. Each engine uses around 80 gallons an hour, so the aircraft will get through £45 in fuel per minute and by the time 25 minutes running is up any takings from entry fees will be eclipsed and she'll be running at a loss. We can't just start up and shut down in a few moments, as its detrimental to the engines condition - Griffons suffer from premature camshaft wear, and running them up briefly is a quick way to achieve this.

When we started to look at this, we decided to set the price at the bare minimum cost for fuel and consumables to have the aircraft run for photographs. Nothing more. Any lighting, crew or Airport imposed costs (fire cover) are being met by us - which is not bad to say we're usually trying to raise more funding to get WR963 flying again, rather than support a small event for photographers.

If people want to take photos of the Shackleton all cold and silent and in the dark it can be arranged. You're more than welcome. But if you want the Griffons growling, exhaust flames, and the lights all on - the fuel bill has to come from somewhere.

Regards,

Rich W
SPT

[CameronSys]

I personally think that the price is fair, as Rich says 963 will drink up all of the money paid in entry prices. The only way to reduce the price would be to allow more people in, but then it would simply be too crowded and hardly anybody could get an effective long exposure shot of they tried!

[DanO1978]

I personally think that the price is fair, as Rich says 963 will drink up all of the money paid in entry prices. The only way to reduce the price would be to allow more people in, but then it would simply be too crowded and hardly anybody could get an effective long exposure shot of they tried!

Perhaps do it in two sittings then. The nights are certainly long enough now!

[mr_craig]

Is it worth mentioning that the twilight shoot for vulcan xm655 is £40 - 50, so in my eyes £20 is quite reasonable.

[aviodromefriend]

I personally think that the price is fair, as Rich says 963 will drink up all of the money paid in entry prices. The only way to reduce the price would be to allow more people in, but then it would simply be too crowded and hardly anybody could get an effective long exposure shot of they tried!

Perhaps do it in two sittings then. The nights are certainly long enough now!

To allow the aircraft to drink twice as much fuel and increase the costs to about two times compared to what it would be if it was one sitting?

[Domvickery]

I personally think that the price is fair, as Rich says 963 will drink up all of the money paid in entry prices. The only way to reduce the price would be to allow more people in, but then it would simply be too crowded and hardly anybody could get an effective long exposure shot of they tried!

Perhaps do it in two sittings then. The nights are certainly long enough now!

To allow the aircraft to drink twice as much fuel and increase the costs to about two times compared to what it would be if it was one sitting?

Not necessarily over 2 days, if the aircraft is going to be ran for 25+ mins why not have 2x times sessions during the one run? Increase the run to 30mins and give 2 groups of 75 15mins each.
Thank you though to Rich for the detailed explination, that goes a massive way to clearing up the cost side

[Inthrustwetrust]

I would hope at a break even figure, they put buckets out for those attending to throw in some loose change.
It will all help.

[aviodromefriend]

Not necessarily over 2 days, if the aircraft is going to be ran for 25+ mins why not have 2x times sessions during the one run? Increase the run to 30mins and give 2 groups of 75 15mins each.

Because it will take time to clear the first group and then let the second group in. Also the first group will want to see the aircraft after the props have stopped, and the second group will want to see the start, something you can be sure of to happen during the event. BTW Please point to where I said it should be a two day event?

[Tommy]

It is indeed steep for a single aircraft, but fair play to Rich for being completely transparent and open about it.

I can't go but I wish the Shackleton boys all the best of luck. I'm sure it will be a sell-out.

[RRconway]

Wasn't the last Northolt event something like £30 minimum "donation"? That's getting towards the ticket price of a major airshow.

am sure last time I went it was £20 plus crew cost...?

This time it was £25 + £5 crew costs.
The first increase in all the years I've been attending, and still good value, as for the cancellations, sure pay your £20 for Shuttlworth, doesn't guarantee anything will fly though, does it?
Not sure why you've put " " around the donation Dan? that is what it is.

[DanO1978]

Donations are voluntary. Would you get in without paying?

[RRconway]

Donations are voluntary. Would you get in without paying?

Of course not Dan, but then an airshow admission is voluntary if you go by that definition.
A donation is defined as an act of giving, usually to a charity, I happen to know that some people pay more than that occasionally.
It is a donation never the less.

Quotation marks tend to imply that, or cast doubt over, the true nature of something in question.
I am sure that was not your implication though.

That was all.

[Przemek]

Hello.
What about dc-3, and other stuff, are they will be possible to photograph during this event?
Thanks

[richw_82]

Hi all,

Glad I could help regarding explaining where the entry price is going. Unfortunately rising fuel costs make it harder to keep the Shackleton growling, and we can't put too much of our budget onto converting Avgas into that lovely noise. There was a time when WR963 was run up once a week, now we try and schedule it for once a month. We intend to offer taxy rides on a limited basis next year, we hope those will be quite popular!

With regards to other aircraft - you'll be able to photograph any aircraft that are outside and within the compound, but they won't be lit or attended. At this time I am told the Classic Air Force collection will not be part of the evening, and the hangar will be closed.

Kind regards,

Rich W
SPT