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Turbulence is a recurring theme in Great Britain at the moment. On an international level, the country is divided over the recent Brexit vote to leave the European Union, whilst closer to home the traditional weather plays havoc with heatwaves and torrential rain alternating seemingly on a daily basis.
In the eye of the storm, quite literally, was Bahrain-based photographer Phil Weymouth, pictured below left, who was commissioned to be the official photographer of the Farnborough Airshow last month.
Australian Phil, 54, who lives in Budaiya with his wife, Nikki, and their daughter, Ella, was headhunted for the job four years ago after he covered the bi-annual Bahrain Air Show, which is held in association with Farnborough.
Executives took a shine to his work and invited him to England for the 2012 event, and he has now returned from his third assignment as the official photographer.
He said: “It was a fantastic experience, as it always is. This year was a little different due to the weather. On the first day it rained so badly the organisers had to close the trade show early because the rain was flooding in and was cutting the power. However, it later really brightened up and the crowds came in droves.”
The Farnborough Airshow consists of a week-long event, with the first four days dedicated exclusively to a trade exhibition, while the last three days are open to the general public and it is then when the majority of aerial displays take place.
Phil had to turn up even earlier before the show opened, snapping aircraft as they flew in for accreditation and uploading the images on social media and the airshow’s website to build anticipation and help promote the show.
He explained: “One of the best parts of the experience is seeing these wonderful machines up close. This includes the old World War Two planes like Spitfires and Hurricanes, but also the more modern creations like the Red Arrows’ magnificent flying machines and the F-35, which take-off vertically.
“The other aspect I like is seeing and shooting the celebrities that attend. This time I took pictures of David Cameron, who opened the show in what turned out to be his last official appointment as British Prime Minister, with businessman Richard Branson.” (See bottom right).
The trade aspect of the show is the biggest temporary exhibition of any type in the UK, drawing business from across the globe to invest in aviation paraphernalia from toilet seats and pilot helmets, to aeroplanes themselves.
National carrier Gulf Air were among the many airlines to sign on the dotted line with one deal involving B/E Aerospace supplying the business class seating for its 10 new Boeing 787-9 aircraft.
According to Phil, the public days had almost a carnival feel to them, with more than 200,000 attending to celebrate the best in aeronautical engineering.
The Farnborough Airshow, just like its Bahrain counterpart, takes place in even-numbered years. Phil hopes to be there yet again in 2018, and readers interested in his work can check out his Bahrain Life images which appear regularly in GulfWeekly. The latest has been published on Page 2.
