April 2015

The Mach Loop, Snowdonia, 8th & 9th April -

I was only up for the afternoon on the 8th, and with little traffic on the scanner LL in Wales, only managed a few passes from the Hawks at RAF Valley, and a slow pass from a "sightseeing" RAF Typhoon.

And an even slower day on the 9th, with no frontliner passes at all, but it was nice to catch the 208 Squadron first world war centenary marked jet.

Thirlmere, Lake District, 21st April -

With the intention of spending a few days in the Lakes, it was a 3.30AM start for me and the long journey to the Lake District National Park, in the hope that a few of the visiting Turkish F16 jets, hosted by 100 squadron at RAF Leeming, would like to have their photograph taken in the fantastic scenery and light of the Thirlmere pass. After meeting up with my guide, local aviation photographer Gareth Brown (lowflyingphotography.com), we drove through the fanatastic scenery that is the Lake District... Couldn't have wished for better conditions. All these taken with an iPhone!

       

As you can see, perfect conditions. Mirror flat calm waters, and wall to wall blue skies.

After what can only be described as "an assault" on the body climbing into position, the long wait for the aircraft began.

       

As we were in a position that favoured the afternoon passes, there was no immediate rush for the aircraft to make an appearance. The later the better...

There were a few movements mid morning in the form of a Typhoon twin stick and a pair of 100 squadron Hawks, but the light was far too harsh for the time of day.

Hopes for a good afternoon when the light was on our side were soon dashed when a pair of Tornado's, C/S Fang 1 and 2 went up the adjacent valley in front us, then a singleton Tornado up the valley behind us.... And that was to be the way things would continue for the rest of the day, with aircraft in the area opting to use the many other valleys in the Lake District. Unlike the Mach Loop, there isn't much chance of the aircraft "coming around again" as the Lakes' valleys are low level transiting routes to Scotland and the ranges... The final straw would come as the 2014 Triplex (XXX) display jet pulled out of low level just short of our location.

So frustrating, but that's how it goes somedays. Perfect conditions, and zero aircraft.

The descent back to ground level was as hard as the ascent, but after a short drive to Lake Windermere, we would be rewarded with a fantastic view to eat our fish and chips

So that was the end of my trip to the Lakes, but I'm sure I'll be back soon...

Here are the few images from the month of April...

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