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Latest
Low Level
Latest shots from the Mach Loop. Shots include F15E Strike
Eagles, F16 Fighting Falcons and A10C Thunderbolt's.
New
RIAT 2011
Arrivals and departures from the 2011 Royal International Air
Tattoo in Fairford. Photos shot from Rhymes farm and the east
end Park & View.
New
F15E's @ LN
I spent the day inside RAF Lakenheath on the 6th of May to
photograph the United States Air Force F15E Strike Eagles of the
48th Fighter Wing. |
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6 Squadron Typhoon -
Low Level At Last
My first low level trip of 2012 and I was fortunate
to catch a rare visitor in LFA7. On the 8th of
February I made my way up to the Bwlch Exit. It was
probably one of the coldest days I've spent up the
hills. A 20mph wind in -10 degrees isn't fun
especially when your trying to hand hold a 600mm
lens. The day started off with a couple of Hawks and
a high F15E. Just before midday we heard the
distinct sound of a frontliner heading towards us
from Dinas. It wasn't long before it popped out from
behind the Bwlch and we realised it was a Typhoon.
Once I caught a glimpse of the distinctive blue 6
squadron markings I was one very happy chap. We
don't get many 6 squadron aircraft in Wales as
they're based at RAF Leuchars in Scotland.
The rest of the day was made up from another F15E
pass from RAF Lakenheath and a Tornado GR4 from RAF
Marham. A couple of Hawk T2's ended what was a
freezing but exciting day. Shots will be added soon. |
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First trip of 2012 - Civies at Manchester
To broaden my collection of aviation images I've
decided to shoot more civilian aircraft this year. On
January 14th & 28th I headed to Manchester Airport. It was
my first time there so it was hit and miss with
regard to photography locations. It was a beautiful
day, crystal clear with hardly a cloud in the sky.
Being a Saturday it meant the Airport wasn't as busy
as it is during the week but there was still plenty
to photograph.
Manchester is a fantastic Airport to shoot from as
there are many locations that get you very close to
the action without having too many obstacles in your
way. I used both my 300mm and 600mm lenses but you
can get some superb shots with a 70-200mm. I'll be
heading back to Manchester again soon in 2012 so I'll
hopefully have a few more shots to post up. I now
have a civilian aircraft section in the photo
gallery which will be updated on a regular basis. |
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October 28th 2011 - Eagle Day
Nearly a year ago to the day I was up
on the Bwlch Exit photographing USAF Strike Eagles
in stunning sunshine. Well a year later and I was
back up on the Exit, the weather was fantastic once
again with
clear blue skies and superb visibility. We heard
that a pair of Eagles from the 494th Fighter
Squadron "Panthers" at RAF Lakenheath were due around lunchtime
but what we didn't know was that they weren't going
to be alone. All in all we had 6 F15E's head in for
LFA7. A friend of mine called saying he'd had a pair
of low level F15's fly over him in Gloucester heading
in our direction. It wasn't long before we caught
glimpse of the lead aircraft as it hurtled around
the corner at Dinas followed shortly by his wingman.
Both aircraft came past nice and low as they turned
left and headed in for the lads at Cad East/West and
Corris Corner. Three minutes later and they appeared
once more, a superb sight watching the lead aircraft
drop in before the Bwlch leaving behind streams of
Vapour. They headed around towards Cad once more
before climbing out.
We only had to wait around 10 minutes before the
second pair arrived. They kept it low through the
Bwlch and Exit, a pure adrenalin rush as they flew
past us towards Cad. This pair were having fun, they
came in from all angles dropping in from some
serious height before they levelled off. For the
next 20 minutes or so we had more passes from
another pair of Eagles, altogether we had 18 passes,
the most I've ever had in one day. Once the Eagles
left we only saw a couple of Hawks from RAF Valley,
nothing else showed up for the rest of the day but
we could hardly complain. Photos from the day can
now be found
here. |
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All good things come to those who wait.
It was back in 2007 that A10 Thunderbolts were last
seen low level in Wales. I missed them by only a
couple of days and since then I've prayed they would
soon return. Well four years later and my wish
finally came true when ten A10C's came over from
Spangdahlem in Germany and based themselves at RAF
Lakenheath for three weeks. They were working on the
ranges on the East side of the country for most of
their time but were booked into Aberporth for a few
days on their final week. On Monday the 15th of
August we set up camp on Corris after being told
that two A10's would fly through after their morning
slot at the range. We had them on the scanner at
11am, they usually spend around 20 minutes on the
range but technical issues meant they were there for
much longer. Unfortunately this used too much fuel
so they had to RTB back to Lakenheath, so close and
yet so far.
Two more A10's were due at Aberporth in the
afternoon. I decided to change location and headed
over to Cad West as the light is a little better
there in the afternoons. Both aircraft were picked
up on our scanners at around 4.30pm, they had
finished at the range and were hoping to get some
low flying in before they returned to LN. At 4.45pm
I caught sight of an A10 as it came in from Barmouth
with another not far behind. Both aircraft made a
bee line for Cad and were nice and low, what a great
sight and sound. They came around for another two
passes, the light was just about right which really
was the icing on the cake. There was a chance that
they would come through again the next day but the
weather closed in and it spoilt any chance of us
seeing them again. Photos can be found
here. |
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Belgian F16's low level?...Surely not!
When I heard that three Belgian F16's were flying
into RAF Valley to stay for a few days I would of
put money on it that they would not fly low level
not to mention through the loop. They were due in on
the Tuesday (2nd of August) and fly out on the 4th.
I decided to have both the Wednesday and Thursday up
the hills just in case we would get lucky. On the
Thursday morning I set up camp on Cad East, the
weather was pretty poor, low cloud with the
possibility of rain but we decided to hang around.
We'd heard that they were due to fly out at 11am and
at 10.30 we picked them up on the scanner. We
thought we heard them say that they were flying in
formation to RAF Marham so it looked as though there
was no chance of us getting them low level. A phone
call a few minutes later seemed to confirm this so
we decided to head down and call it a day. After we
packed our gear in the car we headed down the road
for a few miles when I noticed a missed call off a
friend that was up on the Bwlch. We pulled over and
gave them a ring, what we were told was that the one
F16 had departed but the other two were taking off
at 12pm and hoping to fly through the loop before
heading home. The time was now 11.50am, we had ten
minutes to drive nearly 5 miles to where we just
came from, get our gear and climb back up the hill.
We managed it in record time, luckily there's very
little hiking to do on Cad East. We unpacked our
gear, caught our breath and not three minutes later
caught sight of two F16's fly in towards us from
Dolgellau. They looked to be high but both dropped
in making for some land locked shots. A few minutes
later they appeared again this time much lower and
in a tight formation. Although the light wasn't
brilliant I really can't complain, the first time
I've ever shot F16's low level :-) |
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Royal International Air Tattoo 2011
My first and probably last airshow of the year
(where does the time go?). I headed down to Fairford
on the 15th of July to
photograph some of the arrivals that would be
taking part in this years show. I met up with a few
friends at Rhymes farm which is located at the
opposite side to the main viewing area. The one
thing I wanted to see was the USAF A10 Warthog
display and it didn't disappoint. The day was filled
with F16's, Tornado's, Rafales plus many more
movements. I was hoping to be at RIAT for the
Saturday show but the weather forecast looked a
little unsettled so I decided to head home and
return on the Monday (18th) for the departures.
I spent Monday inside the main Park and View
enclosure on the East side. Although we got there
for 6am there were many already queuing at the gate.
At 7.30am the gates were opened and we set up camp
ready for the first aircraft to taxi down. Things
started to move at around 8.30am and it was non stop
until gone 2.30pm. We packed up not long after as
most of the tasty stuff had left so it was back to
the car for the 180 mile journey home.
Photographs from both days have now been added to
MJA and can be found by clicking on this
link. |
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Latest trips to the Mach Loop
Although things have seemed pretty quiet lately
around the Mach Loop I've been extremely fortunate
to photograph some great flying from the likes of
USAF F-15E's, RAF Typhoons plus the Warton camo RSAF
Tornado IDS. The 19th of May was spent on the top
ledge of the Bwlch, its a location I'm not that keen
on but it has a great height advantage to some of
the other locations so anything that comes through
high can usually be land locked. Our day started
very early with a nice pass from a 17sqn Eurofighter
Typhoon, my first for 2011. It wasn't long before a
pair of USAF F-15E Strike Eagles from RAF Lakenheath
came screaming around the corner only to turn the
wrong way and miss our location.....bummer! An
MC-130 appeared not long after and gave two lovely
passes in superb light, they're becoming a regular
visitor lately. Things slowed up during the
afternoon and just as we thought our day was over we
were blessed by the appearance of another two
F-15E's, this time both were spot on with their
flying and came around twice, I never get tired of
the sight or sound of these beauties :-) |
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On the 9th and 14th of June I perched myself up on
Cad West., a location I dearly love. I'd heard that
the camo Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) Tornado IDS
from Warton was going to be through mid afternoon on
a test flight. Fingers were crossed that we'd get
another chance photographing her as I'd not seen it
since January 2011. At 14:45 we caught sight of a
swept wing Tornado coming straight in
from Bala, was this the Saudi camo? As it got closer
it was plain to see that it was what we'd been
waiting for. A fantastic fully swept wing run
through Cad was an awesome sight and sound. Three
minutes later out they popped from the Bwlch Exit,
still in the swept wing position. Just as they got
to us the pilot did a superb 'pull out' manoeuvre
and rocketed skywards before heading back towards
Bala.
On the 14th of June I arrived back up Cad West. I
didn't arrive until 3pm but it wasn't long before
the Boscombe Alpha Jet appeared, the first time I'd
seen it for some time. The next hour or so saw a
couple of Hawk passes one being the new T2. At 17:15 we
caught sight of a Typhoon heading our way from Bala.
It turned out to be a Warton aircraft and flown by
the same pilot as the Saudi Tornado we'd had the
week before. He came past in the usual 'Warton'
style, one normal run then a fantastic 'pull up'
manoeuvre on his second pass....brilliant! Shots can now
be found
here. |
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High Definition Videos
Click
the link for a list of HD videos from the loop and other locations.
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