gary1701

All, Yesterday, I went back for the second Friday in a row. The hope was to get some of the 492nd F-15Es that had returned from the desert just before Christmas as these had been seen flying during the week still with their nose art. Five flew in the morning, four with nose art, returning around midday. Unfortunately, they recovered straight in without any circuits. 91-0316 'Kratos' 97-0219 'Hermes' The next three ship contained two with nose art, although the lead jet was c

Thanks guys and Hi Aaron. It's been a long time since I built, I have to make do with being a diecast collector nowadays! Gary

Hi all, Yesterday was the first flying day at Lakenheath in 2025. I was a little surprised that they started on a Friday but a bright, although bitterly cold day was worth a run out. The drone menace seems to be history now as unlike the day I spent over here in early December, the visual circuit was back open and the returning flights were able to fly circuits. All fairly standard pics, with just the locals operating. The 492nd was still away as they only returned from the desert the week before Christmas. Morning flights were split between the two F-35 units and I caught one of t

Hi again, We do have a very good relationship with the USAF bases at Lakenheath and Mildenhall, also down at Fairford although I can't speak from personal experience down there. The way it works is that the USAF police have the authority inside the fence and MoD police (unlike regular UK police, they're armed) patrol the outside. No change has been made to access around the bases since this started so from our point of view it's pretty much business as normal. As you say, there have been some video streamers on youtube who have been filming at night from some of the usual spots aro

Hi all, It's been a while since I posted any piccies up so here's a selection from a sunny day last week. Nothing special, just the local 48th FW residents at RAF Lakenheath, a base that has been in the news for all the wrong reasons in the last fortnight. Part of the reason I went over was to try and find out from some of the locals who I know what the reality is behind all the media coverage concerning the supposed drone incursions in and around both Lakenheath's and neighbouring Mildenhall's airspace. Being a licenced drone pilot myself, and having had a life long interest in th

Thanks gents. There may be more later on this week as exercise Cobra Warrior started today and I have the rest of the week off and the weather forecast is actually pretty decent. Gary

Hi all, It's been a while since I posted any pics up, mostly due to a lack of opportunities to get out. I did manage a trip out Friday morning to both Lakenheath and Mildenhall so here's a selection. Wind was out of the East and with it being Friday, it was a morning of unrestricted climbs! 'Panther 21' was a real gent, pulling it over just as he came past the photographers by the road.

Gents, I managed a morning over at Mildenhall/Lakenheath to try and catch some of the visitors for the large multi-national exercise Cobra Warrior currently being hosted here in the UK. The stars of this one was the contingent of CAF CF-1888's that had deployed to RAF Waddington for the duration. Lincolnshire was a little out of my reach this time, so had to settle for the guests slightly more local. Starting at Mildenhall, which unusually for a heavy base was hosting the majority of the 480th FS's F-16's from Spangdahlem. These guys, despite being located on the North

Gents, Managed a quick evening run over to Lakenheath on Thursday. Nothing special on but haven't been able to take anything for 2023 so far so knowing that they were doing some evening flying I put a couple of hours in on a fine summer evening. No F-35s, just the 494th went out but a nice bonus was the Top Aces Alpha Jets that have been here for most of 2023. A pair of these went out with the Panthers for some ACM in the North Sea ranges. They have also had some of their A-4s here as well but none currently. 'Ambush 71/72' returning.

Hi, yeah I would agree if that was the availability rate for the 21 jets on the unit at this time but that wasn't necessarily the case, just that they flew half of their total jets at the same time, and have been consistently doing that for a while now. They may well have been able to fly more if required, just that was all that was scheduled for the morning and all that was required. I believe on a Friday morning, missions at the 48th are generally picking up what they couldn't get off earlier in the week as the 48th plans it's sorties for just the four days. Quite a few yesterday but the wea

Hi again gents. An update as I went back again yesterday morning. Even colder here in the South East, Lakenheath was broadcasting -8 on its ATIS and it sure felt it. Morning wave only and you could tell the guys were nervous about a weather diversion as similar conditions on Wednesday afternoon caused the base to go from fine and clear to blanketed in fog in about 15 minutes causing weather diversions for a number of F-15s and F-35s. Luckily it stayed clear all morning. The two remaining F-22s from the diversion on the 8th are still here so I would imagine it's now touch and go as

Thanks gents. Yes, I am rather lucky in that Mildenhall/Lakenheath is about a 50 minute drive for me, Wattisham (British Army Apache base) is about 10 minutes! Have the rest of the week off so looking at the weather forecast it might be worth another run out Thursday - gotta take advantage when you can! Gary

Hi and thanks. I'm normally using two bodies and two lenses. One body will have the 100-400mm fitted, the other a 300mm prime. For a conventional landing shot I will usually use the 100-400 and go back to about the 200mm mark, give or take a little. All the shots of the F-35s and F-22s were taken on the 100-400mm, with the side on's being around the 200mm mark and more nose aspect angles zoomed further. I can't get further back because I'm backed up against the fence in a field with a treeline behind me. I like the flexibility of the zoom but the image quality of the prime is better. The decis

Gents, I won't go into a lot of background on this one, as I've covered it many times before but I spent Thursday and Friday morning at my usual spot - the 24 approach into Lakenheath. Sub-zero at the moment here in the South East of the UK but lovely and clear once the fog and mist clears. Big post this so here goes. Local F-35 flights Thursday morning returning. 10 aircraft launched from the current 21 on strength. More superb and spirited circuits for the cameras.

Gents, Many thanks for the kind comments. The F-35...a marmite jet if ever there was one. I tend to think it shoots better from behind the wing, rather than nose on. Now I've been over about 5/6 times since they arrived there's a few points I've noticed. As I'm sure is obvious from my long running series of pics from Lakenheath (and Mildenhall), it's very accessible and easy to photograph at. Whilst we can get around virtually all military airfields in the UK, Lakenheath is one of the few that has a proper, dedicated viewing car park, it's even signposted from the main