Back after five incredible days in Scotland, our journey necessarily went through the very boring A1 motorway, where the condition of the road and the abandoned tires are the only thrilling spectacle...
To make the journey a little more Bondian, we stopped at the RAF Wittering. A stop in the proper sense: the base is literally at the edge of the motorway!
Koskov passes west through the air – Peterborough (Cambridgeshire)
Loyalty: ? ? ? ? – Access: Impossible
Located a few blocks from the wonderful Nene Valley (see article on train sequence in Octopussy), the RAF Wittering hosted the shooting of The Living Daylights for a very brief sequence: the Harrier took off on board Georgy Koskov, towards England.
The scene is supposed to take place in Austria, at the top of a gas meter (see dedicated article). Since the Austrian building was at the time completely empty, on-site shooting was not possible — Not to mention the military character of the sequence.
The scene where we see the Harrier T.4A exiting the gasometer is a superb composite plan: the transition between real shots and special effects is so successful that it would be easily deceived.
It is therefore in the Cambridgeshire, on this British base which at that time housed the main Harrier of the RAF, that the scene was shot.
In the film, we can doubt that Desmond Llewellyn (Q) have actually made the move: it is most likely a connection turned to Pinewood Studios. On the screen, only military personnel appear, including real RAF pilots.
The device visible in the film is a Harrier T.4A, double-seated training version of the famous vertical take-off aircraft. Unlike single-seater combat versions, the T.4A is distinguished by its tandem cockpit, shorter nose (without sensors) and absence of real weapons. Registered ZB602, the copy used to embody that of Koskov was manufactured in 1983 under serial number 212034, and delivered to the RAF on 18 May of the same year. On 16 September 2002, the aircraft was sold to Indian Navy and re-registered IN655.
Today, Wittering's base is still active, and our presence has not gone unnoticed: Military police quickly came to make sure that we photograph nothing but the copy GR.7 He sits in front of the entrance.
This one, much more recent than the T.4A of the film, belongs to the second generation of Harrier: more powerful engine, modern avionics and more massive profile, typical of the models Harrier II.
Expecting to enter this base is a matter of utopia... especially for two French visitors! So we stayed there, before we went back on the road on the unstoppable A1... towards Kent.
• The Making Of the living Daylights – Charles Helfenstein
• Googlemaps
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawker_Siddeley_Harrier
This blog shares my travel experiences, from unavoidable destinations to the most original and exclusive places. Each article is the result of careful work and a real time investment. If you use this information elsewhere or for your own adventures, consider citing your sources and thanking – that's what I do myself, and it's always fun.
Julien Abauzit (JaBoz)
