Tiger Meet 2019 was to be my first overseas excursion with the Centre of Aviation Photography, with our guides being Rich Cooper and Steve Comber. Our departure was from London Luton on the 16th May 2019, which suited me down to the ground as it’s the right side of London, if that’s a thing! Our flight would take us to Bordeaux with wheels down being 1640 local. One arrival at Bordeaux in the arrivals building there is a superb welcome to any Avgeek with a large scale print of a French Air Force Rafale on the wall.
Getting on the road we took our private mini bus off to the Hotel Les Bruyères near Castets for a welcome break and a beer with the group. These moments are a great opportunity to exchange experiences, learn tips and tricks and to get to know the people you are shooting alongside who are likeminded individuals with exactly the same passion.
17th May was the designated ‘Spotters Day’, someone must have pissed off the weather gods because that started horrendously wet. However the key is to never back down because that weather oddity for May would actually create an environment for some very dramatic photographs.
Throughout the morning the rain continued but we were positioned on the grass between the taxi way and the runway which meant we were in an excellent position to shoot departures and recoveries. In our designated area the French Air Force had set up a series of large field tents for each of the squadrons to sell their patches and other merch which seemed to be constantly busy. Heaven knows why!
The rain beat down, which personally I quite liked for some of my images, it gave me something a bit different. For take-offs it gave us some of that fluff we all like and really brought out the burners. In some cases the rain came down so hard it was bouncing back off the taxiway which worked for me to show the imperfect conditions these jets must be able to operate in.
By the afternoon the rain had cleared up and we had our second wave of departures. With F16s from 31 Squadron Belgian Air Force based at Kleine Brogel to the home team of Rafales from Mont-de-Marsan itself. In fact the painted jet from EC 3/30 won the trophy for Best Painted Jet.
Aircraft | Operator | Squadron | Base | Trophy |
F16 A/B | Belgian AF | 31 SMD | Kleine Brogel AB | |
HH.212 | Italian AF | 21° Gruppo | Grazzanise AB | |
HC.2 Puma | RAF | 230 Sqn | RAF Benson | |
F16 A/B | Polish AF | 301 Sqn | Monte Real | Silver Tiger |
Merlin HM.2 | Royal Navy | 813 Sqn | RNAS Culdrose | |
Saab 105 | AAF | 1 JTS | Vogler | Best Uniform |
Rafale B/C | FAF | ECE 1/30 | Mont-de-Marsan | Tiger Games |
Mirage 2000D | FAF | ECE 1/30 | Mont-de-Marsan | |
Tornado IDS/ECR | GAF | 51 | Schleswig | |
EF2000 | IAF | 12° Gruppo | Gioia Del Colle AB | |
EF-18+ | SAF | ALA 15 | Zaragoza | |
Rafale B/C | FAF | EC 3/30 | Mont-de-Marsan | Best Ops & Best Tiger Aircraft |
The day was concluded with a display from the Rafale display jet and the Patrouille de France with the latter performing their display much lower than I’d ever witnessed in the UK.
The following morning was spent in Bordeaux having an early lunch with some exquisite French wine before heading to the airport for our return flight. That’s the thing about travelling for aviation photography, yes the jets and the flying but also the experiencing local culture, heritage and life. For me that’s an important part, seeing the places that are a little off the tourist trail and seeing the things I wouldn’t ordinarily see staying in the UK or simply being a tourist.
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