Today I happened to be passing Lakenheath, and was complaining to my wife that I couldn't see any planes. Then we got near the runway and saw a few planes taxiing. Pulled into the observation car park and proceeded to watch 12 F15s take off in succession! What a noise! *cheeky edit to correct my cock up...thanks for pointing that out 😂
Then about 15 miles later, just happened on a V22 Osprey landing in a field 😁
Geeks'll tell you they were F15s 😉
Well-jell!
Talking about F14s, when's Top Gun out? And have a pic of an F15 courtesy of https://www.instagram.com/leighton_owen_photography/
F14’s we’re retired in 2006 I believe, do you mean F 15’s? There was some LN F15’s knocking around over Harrogate yesterday.
Those airshows at Lakenheath, Mildenhall & Alconbury in the 80’s we’re fantastic!
Mind you, the bloke I asked (who was a proper plane spotter with a notebook) said they were F16s. I was wondering if they were 15s or 18s...even I was pretty sure an F16 only has one tail fin....but he said all F15s went to the navy.
Navy - F14 (old) and F18 (current), both with two tails
Airforce - F15 (old and current) with two tails
Airforce (incl some European airforces) - F16 (old and current) one tail and big air inlet under the cockpit.
F22 and F35 (newer and rarer), both with twin tails and examples at the bottom of the Med.
Am I being outed as a plane geek 😉 I don't have a notebook tho...
Geek wasn't intended as a slur 😁
My most incredible plane experience was about 10 years ago windsurfing in Maui (humblebrag)...one of the beaches you sail off is just off the end of the runway at Kahalui airport. I was sailing out and a pair of F-somethings (2 tail fins) did a touch and go on the runway, and as they got over the sea (directly above me) just went vertical....just astonishing, the noise, the vibration ...stunning.
I didn't see that when I was in Maui (parallel humblebrag 😉 ). You non-geeks get all the luck.
but he said all F15s went to the navy.
Sounds like he needs to upgrade his notebook and pen.
Lakenheath has a load of F-15Es and possibly some F-35s (they are due to be start being based there around now)
I happened to be watching the flight tracker when the G7 was underway in Cornwall and spotted an F15 heading up up the NE coast and then hanging a slight left as it crossed into Scotland.
It dropped off the tracker just after Perth. Very shortly afterwards a plane went over my house in Inverness very low and very loud - I didn't see it unfortunately. The F15 popped up on the tracker again at the Fort William end of the Great Glen and head back down the West side of the country and back to Lakenheath.
Some sightseeing by someone in the Biden entourage perhaps?
I've never caught them* but F15s are not uncommon through the Mach Loop. Want to see one fly past lower than you at close range? That's the place to go. 😉
* Went for a few days in '19 and the PROPER geeks could hear the chatter from a USAF squadron in F15s refuelling over the Isle of Man, they thought they might be heading home via the Loop but I had to dash. One day... 🙂 Have seen an Osprey come through, though. 🙂
Then about 15 miles later, just happened on a V22 Osprey landing in a field
There's an army training area just north of Thetford forest, that's probably where you saw it. The other good place to see them is Sculthorpe airfield near Fakenham, they train there. Good for para drops as well!
I walk my dogs near Holbeach range on The Wash, the dogs don't even flinch now when the F15's and Typhoons are swooping in and firing at the targets. Usually get Apaches, Chinooks, and Ospreys practicing their gunnery a couple of times a week as well.
Talking about F14s, when’s Top Gun out?
May 2022. 🙁
Release has been put back and back by Covid.
F15's play over my house nearly every day (South Lincs). I'm often in the garden shouting the Top Gun lines at the sky like a mad man - though they were F14's (obv).
One fewer after this literally just up the road...
Talk about geeks. I love fast jets but wouldn’t call myself a geek.
I popped into Leeming viewpoint the other day cos I knew some Swiss AF F18’s we’re in. Top geekery there, like the aircraft world of train spotters.
Those airshows at Lakenheath, Mildenhall & Alconbury in the 80’s we’re fantastic!
Mildenhall was great. The only place I ever saw an SR71 in the air.
Lots of F-18s over the Lake District today. Dunno where they are from though.
I grew up with it - my father was at one point an aircraft engineer. He worked on a lot of 1950s/60s stuff. I also grew up right next to the A12, so we'd get all sorts flying over my village. One summer lunchtime when I was at primary school, I was treated with a formation of eight swing wing jets (a recall a mix of Tornado and F-111) - I'm vague on the type, but I vividly recall the four-jet formation of Lightning F6s (recognizable by the kinked wing and large belly tank) following behind. That was the first and only time that I saw a Lightning in the air.
Tornadoes and F-111s were ten a penny, along with Phantoms, Buccaneers and the occasional Harrier. We had a few F-18s too, presumably Canadian based in W.Germany.
Lots of F-18s over the Lake District today. Dunno where they are from though
As I said, the Swiss Air Force are at Leeming. So probably them.
A while back I was driving along Loch Ness at work, one of the higher up bits near Urquhart Castle. A pair of F15's came towards me at just below my level, the view of them was incredible. They were crazy low and I could see them approach for ages!
That reminds me of a day we skied up cairngorm, it was a blue bird day and as we reached the summit a tornado bank turned around the summit, the pilot clearly visible. It was so loud and it crept up on us, I thought my heart would burst with surprise! It felt like you could touch the fuselage
Yesterday a duo of Chinook thundered by at a couple of hundred feet, tail gates open. What a racket.
Not a plane spotter, more bird spotter but while walking the dog along the Ouse yesterday afternoon at approximately 2.50 a plane flew overhead heading for Lincolnshire which I now know was a V22 Osprey. The power of STW never ceases to amaze!
We used to get a lot of Vulcans flying over our house when I was a kid cos we were about 8 miles (as the Vulcan flies) from St Athan. Flipping heck they were loud.
I've never windsurfed at Maui, but I have done at lake Bala where a variety of planes use it as a low flying playground. I swear I once got (need to be careful with the wording here) by the exhaust of a very loud engine just over my mast.
One set of grandparents lived near Peterborough so that was always good for planespotting as a kid. Loads of Harriers (RAF Wittering was just down the road) and back then of course there were quite a few varieties of aircraft.
Phantoms, Jaguars, the Tornadoes were still very new at that point. Lightnings had more or less been phased out (replaced by the Phantom) so they were a much rarer sight.
Saw a few V bombers overhead as well.
I miss the Tornadoes. That massive tailfin and the swing wing. Tornado (and the F16, and to a certain extent, the Typhoon) just look right. The new Lightning looks awful.
Also near Peterboghorror...
I remember Vulcans flying along the ridge above Rutland Water in the early 80's. They must have been ex Scampton or Waddington. The noise, I SAID THE NOISE! And the crap they threw out the back - dirty Vulcans/Concorde...
We also had Harriers all the time from Wittering and Jags then Tornados when they set up the TTE at Cottesmore. One of the local Yank bases has a T38 as a gate guardian. That's a lovely looking thing even though it's older than Methuselah himself...
We just seem to get F15's now from Lakenheath and occasionally the Red Arrows during transit.
I remember Vulcans flying along the ridge above Rutland Water in the early 80’s. They must have been ex Scampton or Waddington. The noise, I SAID THE NOISE!
I’ve said it before but I think I’m the only one on here who was at the RAF Finningley air show in 1981 to experience a 4 Vulcan scramble.
The racket was earthshaking.
Found this on YouTube. Vulcans about a minute in.
I was a regular at Finningley from late 70’s, however I don’t remember it which is a shame cos either I wasn’t there or I was too excited about something else. Would pay £££ to see it nowadays. Will ask my dad.
The two lancs flying together was pretty special a few years back. The thrum of 8 merlins 😍 I went up to Saddleworth Moor to see / hear that. A couple of squadrons of that would have been a real experience bitd.
I saw the (lone) Vulcan many times during it's relatively limited return to flying. Took the opportunity every time cos I knew it wouldn't be around for long. It was noticeable towards the end of it's tours that they were flying it much more carefully, the first few displays when it was back flying were amazing.
My Dad definitely remembers some of the big Vulcan scrambles.
I was working right next to Cottersmore (Kendrew Barracks) when the Vulcan did its final flight and flew over the old airbase.
My picture of the Vulcan which I snapped at a Country show in Oxfordshire in 2009 when it was flying between other displays:
I grew up in North Devon in the 80s / 90s when Chivenor was still an operational airbase operating the Hawk.
I got very used to it's sound and would be straight round to the observation point on the old railway line just beyond the perimeter fence when I heard anything different. Tornado . Phantom / Harrier were frequent visitors.
One fewer after this literally just up the road…
How did that crash then @boblo, couldn't it climb high enough to get over the hills? 😂😂😂
How did that crash then
Terrain following radar altitude set to zero feet I imagine? 🙃
The pilot punched out (uuuugh that phrase) and after lighting a cigarette and displaying a bit of insoucience, was driven back to base for a debrief in the officers mess bar (presumably)... 🙃
Apart from seeing that scramble ^^ I also saw Vulcan XM610 fly over our school in County Durham before crashing into a school field in Wingate. I also saw the Vulcan at Sunderland Aviation museum come into land for its last time. & on one of XH558’s farewell flights it went over the jail I was working in.
Love Vulcans me!
Best plane experience I had. During a ride near Dursley a B2 bomber and a surrounding group of F15's flew directly overhead. JUST AWESOME.
I was told the F15's were used to diguise the sound of the steathy bomber.
Later I found the bomber came all the way from Missouri non stopand back again.
Probably for an airshow.
And at KNAP of the EARTH.
The two lancs flying together was pretty special a few years back.
That’ll be these two then! 😎
Probably for an airshow.
Almost certainly RIAT Fairford, I was there when it came over, it did a number of passes, then, to everyone’s surprise, it landed and taxied over to hangers on the other side of the airfield, so the crew could meet the patron and organisers, then a bit later it taxied out, lined up and took off just as the escort F-15’s came over. Great experience that was. One year they had an SR-71 on static display, that was quite a thing to see, with big puddles of fuel underneath it where the tanks leaked.
Makes sense.
Still remember it now... like that film Broken Arrow.
Sadly no pictures, but remembered with my eyes 🙂
Ps Did'nt know it landed. Must of been great to see a Fairford.
You'd have thought they would have lined up the props before posting on here.
You’d have thought they would have lined up the props before posting on here.
I have just noticed I managed this for the last flight of rescue Sea Kings.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/1674/23748749003_78be886d19_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/1674/23748749003_78be886d19_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/CbAxFH ]Rescue 177 final flight[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/matt_outandabout/ ]Matt Robinson[/url], on Flickr
I live up the road from Fairford and was lucky enough to ride there to watch the F15s from Lakenheath land there on exercise a couple of months ago.
In the space of 30 minutes one of the U2's stationed there landed, then a few of the F15s and then as I was about to leave and out of nowhere, two B2's flew in to do an approach practice from their base in Iceland! The first one did a huge wing wave as it flew past the tower and they both did a low pass over the runway and straight off back to Iceland. I have it on video if there was a way of posting on here, blinking amazing stuff.
I also saw the last two B1b's take off home to the USA a couple of weeks ago, that was special but that 30 minute spell with the B2's will take some beating.
I was a plane nerd as a kid as my dad was a pilot in the RAF. Living on bases we used to see all sorts and I've had any number of dinner invitations with dad's old friends from around the world. Chatting to Indian Airforce retired Wing Commander about the dissimilar training they'd often do with loads of western air forces (as the Indians flew MiG-21s) was a particularly memorable evening.
I remember also getting into trouble for telling my school friends in Hong Kong that there was a U2 on the pan at Kai Tak when "There most certainly was not" according to my dad...
@eskimonumber1 That sounds fantastic. It is beholden on you to post the vid (please).
I was a plane nerd as a kid as my dad was a pilot in the RAF
Keep going..... What did he fly?
there was a U2 on the pan at Kai Tak
As opposed to a 747 in the nullah... I was there when it went off the end whilst landing in a typhoon. It was full of Macau GP racecars and other expensive goodies. The British army blew the fin off as it was obstructing other stuff trying to use the runway.
Like this:
[url= https://i.postimg.cc/3NqCqcF6/6dd73c3fa4a9870ac378d4dbe1f9c005.pn g" target="_blank">https://i.postimg.cc/3NqCqcF6/6dd73c3fa4a9870ac378d4dbe1f9c005.pn g"/> [/img][/url]
Keep going….. What did he fly?
Javelins (very short stint for 43sqn) then Hunters, again 43sqn, with a tour in Aden then with the Day fighter school in Chivenor, Lightinings with 92sqn Germany, stint on the ground in Kai Tak, then to Lossie with Tactical Weapons Unit, again Hunters. Was looking to go to either Phantom or Tornado, but chose to end his career at Strike Command instead
One year they had an SR-71 on static display, that was quite a thing to see, with big puddles of fuel underneath it where the tanks leaked.
Wasn't this one was it?
TBH I can't remember whether that was Fairford or Mildenhall but I saw one fly at one of them.
I was surprised at how 'not very big' they were but surprised at how massive these are..
https://flic.kr/p/2mP5vgC
Here's a TR1 at some airshow.
I remember taking a walk through a C-5 Galaxy once. That impressed me. Not sure where though - could've been Finningley but more likely Fairford. Never went to Mildenhall.
Thanks nickc. What was he fondest of?
What was he fondest of?
Nick's brother. Nick was so depwived... 🤪
A few F-15s flew oer us in the Lake District this summer, quite slow and low, I was surprised at how big they are.
What was he fondest of?
Nick's brother. Nick was such a depwived child... 🤪
When I was in my early teens, my mate lived on a farm bordering the BAE place at Woodford, where there was an annual airshow. I have memories of sitting on a farm gate, about 50 feet from the runway, as a Lightning flew along, sat on it's rear-end and went skyward on full chat. That was loud.
The Vulcan's were always there too, both at the airshow and fairly regularly through the year. And Nimrods, loads of Nimrods.
What was he fondest of?
He loved flying the Hunter, apparently it was almost vice free, quite powerful for it's day, and was stable, but he was of the opinion that it wasn't much air to air though. He loved flying Lightinings, but honestly there were few that didn't, it was a rocket ship and in the right hands was formidable, but was convinced it was going to kill him one day. He's said on more than one occasional that of all the planes he flew you needed to be on top of it all the time, and flying in German weather was just plain scary He also got to fly in a two-seat German F104 which he thought very similar to the Lightining.
He also flew in Mirage, back seat in a couple of Phantoms, (USAF and Royal Navy) and US Navy A-4.
