Boeing takes promotional photos at airport

Crew shoots Air France 777

MOSES LAKE — Grant County International Airport is once again in demand for camera crews.

Back in June, the airport was the site of a photo session for the 2005 Chevrolet collection of vehicles, for promotional advertisements appearing in Chevrolet dealerships across the country.

Tuesday afternoon, a crew was in town to get high-definition video footage and still photography of the 777-300ER at the request of Air France, one of the initial customers of Boeing's 777, for use in their promotional material, and for Boeing for promotional material.

"This flight is specifically for the photos," said Boeing Video Services Director Marin Faure. "This is not a test flight."

The plane arrived in Moses Lake shortly after 5 p.m. It took off from Paine Field Airport in Everett, where the plane is built.

Two video cameras and a still photographer were beside the GCIA runway shooting as the plane would fly in, touch the ground and take off again, and then as it landed and passed by on the ground several times.

The sequence was repeated again later in the lower light of twilight.

"Air France wants some kind of dramatic, different pictures of the airplane for their purpose, rather than the usual noonday sun kind of thing," Faure said.

A second camera, a Gyron, a gyroscopic ball with a camera in it, was attached to a helicopter and intended to do maneuvers around the plane as it taxed and turned, and get photos in that way, but a technical malfunction had, at press time, put a crimp in those plans.

Faure said that the footage would be used in Europe for Air France's promotions, and in Boeing's marketing and promotional efforts.

Moses Lake is a much more photogenic location for the camera crew's purposes, Faure said.

"Boeing does a lot of testing out here anyway, but the nice thing about Moses Lake for this sort of thing is that it's not a cluttered airport area," he said. "It's kind of open, whereas if we do it at Paine Field or in Boeing field, there's buildings, trees, roads. You don't get the wide open spaces."

Faure pointed out that the aerial cameraman was award winner air to air photographer John Dibbs; Faure was directing the ground photos.

"I think it further adds to the ability of the airport to support any type of mission, aviation wise," said Larry Godden, owner of Air America, which helped support the photo session. "It's a large facility, it's grossly under-utilized and it gives us a chance to showcase the facility and to let people know on a world class level that we can handle their operations regardless of the size of the airplane."