APCK Fly-In / Photo Flying Days Fly-In 2012 - Zoersel-Oostmalle, Belgium

"Old Timer" Fly-In at Zoersel

What started a couple of years ago during the annual "Chipmeet" at Airfield Malle, the former NATO reserve field Zoersel-Oostmalle, has now become an event that can be added to your airshow agenda. During the Chipmeets in 2008 and 2009 almost all invited aircraft were naturally Chipmunks, with an occasional Boeing Stearman or SV4 Stampe.
However, in 2010 the Chipmeet was combined with a completely new photography format in Europe, called the Photo Flying Days Academy founded by photographer Eric Coeckelberghs. The idea was: Wouldn't it be great to photograph all these aircraft participating in the Chipmeet in the air from the back of another aircraft, and also invite some special aircraft to photograph in the same way. Of course in return for a substantial fee, the format will give you (at least for most people) an once-in-a-lifetime experience. This idea has now grown into a professional international event for aviation photographers, doubling as a big fly-in for the Aero Para Club der Kempen (APCK) open to the general public, and I would describe it as Old Timer Fly-in.

Photography

I have never participated in the Photo Flying Days Academy, therefore this article is not a review of that option which the event offers for photographers. However I can tell you that two of my colleague photographers have, and they experienced the rides of their lifetime. Getting photographs you can cherish for the rest of your life, with lay-out and angles that you before only saw in photos made by professional photographers in the bigger glossy magazines.

I have always enjoyed visiting this event, this was my third time just as someone of the general public, because the aircraft can be photographed from all positions while static and taxiing. With just a 70-200 lens you can cover all static and taxi shots. All photographs can be taken in a very natural environment, with dense trees in the background and heath land all over the place. There are no cars, persons, bouncy castles, or fences that can ruin the photographs. These photographs in this natural environment are in my opinion fairly unique, as almost 99% of all airshows and fly-in events have one or more of the above mentioned obstructions or distractions in the background. Plus it's always nice to see the interaction between the pilots and aircraft, like for example the charismatic Charlie Brown, pilot of the rare Spitfire Mk.Vb. This combined with a fair amount of warbirds and/or classic aircraft makes this Fly-In a unique event around here. Some events in the United States have a similar outlay of the static display grounds, but I can't think of one in western Europe.

There are however some (minor) downsides for me to fly-ins and this event/location in particular. As with most fly-in events there is no announced fixed schedule for participants. There are also no demos, if we're lucky the pilots will make a couple of fly-by's, and if really lucky a low-level flypast. Taking photographs of the aircraft landing and/or taking off is almost impossible, because of the backlight during the best part of the day. Besides this, the runway is too distant for descent photographs of landings and during take-off planes disappear behind the trees. These are however points you can know in advance, and therefore they are no big obstacle for me. Because the quality of the photographs is the leading factor for me, I'm not too bothered about being unable to take "long shots" of the participants.

Previous years there was no entrance fee, or only 5 Euro to go freely shooting photos between the participating aircraft for a whole day. For the first time this year, the entrance fee was 10 Euro for the general public with no extras. The 10 Euros for just witnessing a fly-in seems expensive, however, in my opinion it's cheap compared to other events which can be compared to this one.

Participating Aircraft

Conclusion