British Airways Flying Club is one of the oldest flying clubs in Britain. It was originally formed in 1948 by employees of the then British European Airways (BEA) and British Overseas Aircraft Corporation (BOAC) with ex RAF Tiger Moths, named the Airways Aero Club.
The dinner for 900 guests was staged in one of the airfield's large hangars, which presented some major challenges for lighting, explained Blinding Light's Paddy Stacey who designed the system for the event. "We had to make the hangar look intimate and feel cozy with carefully thought through and understated lighting - a tall order in such a massive - and basically utilitarian - space designed for aircraft storage."
Blinding Light supplied a centre line of trussing running down the hangar, which was flown from the roof on 12 points and made up from Blinding Light's new Litec Q40 trussing. This was also used to suspend a 1m mirror ball above the dancefloor, and was rigged with lighting for a small stage featuring the after dinner band and entertainment.
12 Martin Professional MAC 700 Profile and 12 MAC 700 Wash moving lights were the core of the design, spaced equidistantly along the trussing, interspersed with bars of PARs and some ETC Source Four profiles.
Source Four profiles and PARs were also utilised to up light an airplane centrepiece - complete with the BA Flying Club's new livery - on a revolve - and a selection of classic cars which were installed in the room as eye-candy for the occasion.
Smoke and cracked oil were used to produce an atmospheric haze that enhanced the beams and helped increase the intimacy of the space, aiding the space reduction objectives.
All lighting was run off an Avolites Pearl 2004 console, programmed and operated by Dan Huxley. Power came off a generator feed, and Blinding Light also supplied power distribution for the AV and sound equipment as well as for their own lighting kit, and co-ordinated all the production trucking and logistics.
(Jim Evans)
