This overwhelming passion has animated me for many years now but I must admit that I am particularly fond of patrolling flights. This technique requires a lot of precision and concentration. Personally, I find that there is nothing more than seeing another plane flying a few feet away from you. The view is truly magical. I have learned and done quite a bit of patrol flights and recently started doing some with a friend who flies at a nearby flying club. We've been on a lot of patrol flights together and it became a habit pretty quickly as soon as the opportunity arose. There were always opportunities to capture some great shots during these flights.
A few days before last Christmas, I got up in the morning very motivated to go flying - especially to go flying on patrol one last time before the end of the year. I sent a quick message to my friend Martin to see if he's available. Unfortunately, he had to take care of his Christmas gifts shopping. It took me more than the whole morning to convince him to go flying. On this side, there was only the Cap 10, an aerobatic plane. The rendezvous was set for sunset over Groix, a small island off of the flying club.
So I sit upright, alone in my little Cessna, because that is where the window can be opened. The Cessna is a really nice plane for this kind of flight and shooting. But flying with the window open in the dead of winter is better even with the heating on maximum. So I set sail for the island with absolutely magnificent light! I arrived at the rallying point. After a few minutes, it was freezing cold in the cockpit and I saw Cap 10 coming up to my right. The wind entering the cockpit forced me to always put the rudder to the right to keep the axis. I found myself having to contort myself in the narrow cabin of my little Cessna so that I could begin to photograph the aircraft patrolling a few feet away from me. The view was crazy! The landscapes were exceptional and the lights in the evening crowned it all. Martin moved around me for 15 to 20 minutes. It was the best flight of 2020 for me!
The images taken promised to be beautiful. We had a fabulous flight. Cap 10 left me and it was high time for me to return to the aerodrome before dark. The headwind did not facilitate my return. I finally saw the track in front of me. The heavy clouds announcing beautiful rain showers were also approaching the airfield. I rushed to the airstrip and landed with my Cessna just 5 minutes before the overnight deadline. The timing was perfect. I returned the plane to the hangar and started looking at the photos of this flight. The results were just like our flight, magical!
Leave a comment