gary1701 Posted April 15, 2017 Share Posted April 15, 2017 (edited) Hi gents, Quick post as I'm up against the clock today. These were taken about two hours ago when six of a planned eight F-35s from Hill AFB arrived at Lakenheath at the start of a European deployment, similar to the F-22s last year. Operational security on this deployment was good and rumours only started to circulate during the week, with a press release yesterday saying they would deploy 'to Europe' over the weekend. Even then we weren't sure where they were going even when they were enroute earlier today as they're comms security was good as well. I went over to Lakenheath anyway, as did a lot of others, and it was only when they started ATC and runway checks that I was sure they were coming here. The first pair (including the 388th FW jet) caught the clouds, but the last four saw some decent light. Laughed when one of the pilots asked over ATC about all those people in the field down by the runway! He's in for a shock next couple of weeks now that word is out. The pics, all showing 'Alta 21' flight of four. Not bad considering a hour or so before it was overcast. They don't like a cross wind, as they were wobbling all over the place on finals. They've been put away in F-15 shelters rather than kept out on the usual visitors ramp. Two more may turn up as well, as two from the first flight diverted to Bangor. Gary Edited April 15, 2017 by gary1701 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BeeJee Posted April 15, 2017 Share Posted April 15, 2017 nice! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Stephen Posted April 15, 2017 Share Posted April 15, 2017 Great pics as always Gary, thanks for sharing them. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
janman Posted April 21, 2017 Share Posted April 21, 2017 Always glad to see your photos, Gary! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gary1701 Posted April 21, 2017 Author Share Posted April 21, 2017 Thanks gents. Got a couple of days off late next week to give them another go. They're up to eight now and have been flying daily since Wednesday. Mostly basic ACM with the resident F-15s so far but press releases suggest they are certainly going to operate with RAF Typhoons and possibly Dutch F-16s. Believe they will make a few short publicity visits to some of the other NATO nations but don't know details as they're keeping that rather quiet until after it has happened. Gary Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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