British Airways recently had their retro BOAC Boeing 747-400 fly with the Red Arrows, which is the nickname of The Royal Air Force Acrobatic Team. Based at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire, the team fly Hawk fast jets and put on excellent displays.
Perhaps the most iconic display ever was when they did a fly past of Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth 2 ocean liner, which is commonly known as the QE2. Back in the pre-Photoshop days, if you wanted something unusual, you just had to do it in camera.
The Money Shot!
Used widely in promotional material at the time, the best one is the below photograph, in my humble opinion. The planning behind this must have been extensive!
A Video of Concorde and the Red Arrows
While the photo above is impressive, there is actually film footage of the fly past. It makes sense that it was filmed, considering it took a year to put together and logistically would have been pretty complex.
https://youtu.be/AsGPO8qE2zg
What strikes me about the footage is how quickly it was over. The photographer would have had to be very nimble to ensure they got the shot, because I have a feeling they wouldn’t have been able to do it again!
Another Concorde and Red Arrows Flight
The Red Arrows and Concorde have a rather long history, with their first flight together being as far back as the 1970s when they flew with pre-production Concorde G-AXDN. These kept happening about twice a decade right through to the end.
Overall Thoughts
The finest shot is the one taken in 1985 with Concorde and QE2. Not only did they have seconds to get the shot, the planning was clearly immense.
I really prefer a real photograph versus something digitally put together. Something about the skill involved by everyone from the planners to the pilots really makes me stop and think about what can be achieved when we put our minds to things.
What do you think? Is the picture of Concorde, QE2 and Red Arrows the best example out there? Or do you have another contender? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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BOAC Boeing 747 and Red Arrows via British Airways.
QE2, Concorde and Red Arrows via ConcordeSST.com.
Red Arrows and Concorde via Red Arrows on Twitter.
