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Lakesailor

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On Windermere yesterday. Despite having a white headsail.


Spyplane1631.jpg
 
Yer. They always fly North on Windermere. I guess it's to avoid the Typhoons which would be a bit of a shock if you met one coming the wrong way.

I always wondered how they avoid helicopters flitting about, but a few years ago I did some chopper shoots over Haweswater and asked the pilot how we knew there wouldn't be any Tornados (at that time) rushing about.

He told me that "He didn't file flight plans as if he did the jets would use him as target practice (electronic, hopefully) so he just relied on their radar spotting him !!!!!!!!"
 
I had the pleasure of "flying" the simulator for the Hercs, great fun - I landed (just) on an aircraft carrier on the Solent and my mate looped under the Bristol suspension bridge, we then flew (speeded up) to Loch Ness and saw the monster swimming along!
 
Had one fly over us at loch lomond on wednesday,quite low going up and down the glens(as said previously).I was expecting alot more noise from it for the size of it.
 
Thats actually quite high up. Best I ever saw was a mosquito coming down Coniston at a very low height, I swear he had to pull up to go over the mast of my little sailfish. Sadly I read about that craft crashing a couple of weeks later.
 
We've had a rash of them recently. We get low flying most days but the Hercules have been rampant. Two just went over now. I'm expecting a Typhoon shortly, they often seem to follow-on.

Is this the lead up to another invasion?

Is Greece ready for this?
 
We've had a rash of them recently. We get low flying most days but the Hercules have been rampant. Two just went over now. I'm expecting a Typhoon shortly, they often seem to follow-on.

Is this the lead up to another invasion?

Is Greece ready for this?
If you mean by recently a few weeks ago, then the explanation is simple. There was a major exercise in the N of England and Scotland. Some of my people were involved in it. It was practicing 'littoral maneuver' amongst other things in a joint environment.
 
It looks to be flying North to me, they usually do, maybe on his way to play in the Glens?

Years ago one dark winter morning, no moon, going up M5 through Somerset levels, felt there was something outside the van. At the instant a wagon travelling south lights up a Hercules, black, no lights about 100 foot away @50 foot.

It woke me up :)
 
Thats actually quite high up. Best I ever saw was a mosquito coming down Coniston at a very low height, I swear he had to pull up to go over the mast of my little sailfish. Sadly I read about that craft crashing a couple of weeks later.

Well - its all a matter of perspective really - it may look a long way up but its only a little boat and the grand-daughter certainly saw the pilot blowing kisses to her.

Anyway - my thanks to you Lakey for not exposing our dirty botty. Its clean now, so opportunity passed!
 
They are VERY noisy inside...

They're blurry noisy OUTSIDE!

They come right over the house here, day and night, heading for Lyneham after a jog through the Valleys, rattling the glassware and frightening the mice.

They get as far as Short Finals at Royal Wootton Bassett International, suddenly remember the gist of the morning's briefing, then hang a quick left for RAF Brize Norton..... Pilots! Who needzum...? :cool:


As for Halcyon's wake-up call
At the instant a wagon travelling south lights up a Hercules, black, no lights about 100 foot away @50 foot. It woke me up

I'll bet it woke the pilots up, too. 'Eyeballing it' at night, low level, is seriously fraught with frequent 'Oh, my Gawds'. Our Buccaneers used to do it at under 50 feet, at night, and over 500 knots. Our Hercs - with 'glass cockpit' - do it at more than twice that altitude and less than half that airspeed. But them Herc jocks expect to get home each night to see their grandchildren.... and they don't have Martin-Baker assisted homecomings :D
 
Our Buccaneers used to do it at under 50 feet, at night, and over 500 knots
I'll say they did!
HMS Invincible, early 1982 (first of my three winters that year), Exercise Alloy Express somewhere up the top of a Norwegian Fjord when we get "Air Raid Warning Red, bandits Port 30" announced on the broadcast. Interesting because that was just a sheer rock face to the side of the fjord. Next thing is two smoke emitting things popping over the skyline, coming vertically down the cliff face before levelling out and before you can say boo to a goose, I'm looking over the side of the ship into the cockpit of a Bucc as goes past.
Very impressive flying, in an awesome aircraft.
The disgraceful aspect of the whole thing was that the Bucc had Royal Air Force painted on it instead of Royal Navy!
 
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If you mean by recently a few weeks ago, then the explanation is simple. There was a major exercise in the N of England and Scotland. Some of my people were involved in it. It was practicing 'littoral maneuver' amongst other things in a joint environment.

Stepson was up there doing "Logistics", he said it was luxury compared to training - camp bed, mains electric, even and XBox! :D
 
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