Fast jets in Scotland

"Graeme Carrott" wrote in message
...
In article , Anonymous
writes

The skies are surprisingly busy round here, considering that the nearest
RAF bases are each over 80 miles away.

Not surprising at all, since you're inside LOTA Alpha, one of the RAF's
main low-level training areas, and just outside LFA 14(T). Also, live
bombing still takes place at Garvie Island just off Cape Wrath, which
isn't many minutes flying time west of you.

Incidentally, the A9 in the Pass of Drumochter is allegedly named 'Star
Wars Valley' by RAF pilots - as is a much narrower valley between
Selkirk and Moffat in the Borders - the latter being one of my favourite
places to see really low-level training taking place.

There are loads of places in Britain to see aircraft coming down into
the weeds to play.... I make a point of visiting them on a regular basis
to see a free airshow every so often!

Was walking on the North York Moors last week and saw Tornado fighters
flying low several times. Best was seeing three (3) Jaguars in a line fly
over a ridge and then turn down the valley right in front of me as I sat on
the other side of the valley (Bilsdale, above Urra on the B1257).
Day after that I witnessed a loaded F-15 closely followed by an F-16 as I
walked near Osmotherley. Brilliant stuff!
On Monday on the way home I stopped near Cottesmore and saw the noisy
buggers... ahem!...Harriers flying around.

Nick

In message , Nick Pedley
writes

"Graeme Carrott" wrote in message
...
In article , Anonymous
writes

The skies are surprisingly busy round here, considering that the nearest
RAF bases are each over 80 miles away.

Not surprising at all, since you're inside LOTA Alpha, one of the RAF's
main low-level training areas, and just outside LFA 14(T). Also, live
bombing still takes place at Garvie Island just off Cape Wrath, which
isn't many minutes flying time west of you.

Incidentally, the A9 in the Pass of Drumochter is allegedly named 'Star
Wars Valley' by RAF pilots - as is a much narrower valley between
Selkirk and Moffat in the Borders - the latter being one of my favourite
places to see really low-level training taking place.

There are loads of places in Britain to see aircraft coming down into
the weeds to play.... I make a point of visiting them on a regular basis
to see a free airshow every so often!

Was walking on the North York Moors last week and saw Tornado fighters
flying low several times. Best was seeing three (3) Jaguars in a line fly
over a ridge and then turn down the valley right in front of me as I sat on
the other side of the valley (Bilsdale, above Urra on the B1257).
Day after that I witnessed a loaded F-15 closely followed by an F-16 as I
walked near Osmotherley. Brilliant stuff!
On Monday on the way home I stopped near Cottesmore and saw the noisy
buggers... ahem!...Harriers flying around.

Try the A49 north of Ludlow for 6 Hercules in series 400ft over your
head...

Mike
--
M.J.Powell

"M. J. Powell" wrote in message
...
In message , Nick Pedley
writes

"Graeme Carrott" wrote in message
...
In article , Anonymous
writes

The skies are surprisingly busy round here, considering that the
nearest
RAF bases are each over 80 miles away.

Not surprising at all, since you're inside LOTA Alpha, one of the RAF's
main low-level training areas, and just outside LFA 14(T). Also, live
bombing still takes place at Garvie Island just off Cape Wrath, which
isn't many minutes flying time west of you.

Incidentally, the A9 in the Pass of Drumochter is allegedly named 'Star
Wars Valley' by RAF pilots - as is a much narrower valley between
Selkirk and Moffat in the Borders - the latter being one of my
favourite
places to see really low-level training taking place.

There are loads of places in Britain to see aircraft coming down into
the weeds to play.... I make a point of visiting them on a regular
basis
to see a free airshow every so often!

Was walking on the North York Moors last week and saw Tornado fighters
flying low several times. Best was seeing three (3) Jaguars in a line fly
over a ridge and then turn down the valley right in front of me as I sat
on
the other side of the valley (Bilsdale, above Urra on the B1257).
Day after that I witnessed a loaded F-15 closely followed by an F-16 as I
walked near Osmotherley. Brilliant stuff!
On Monday on the way home I stopped near Cottesmore and saw the noisy
buggers... ahem!...Harriers flying around.

Try the A49 north of Ludlow for 6 Hercules in series 400ft over your
head...

Mike

I work at Epping hospital, just two miles from North Weald. Saw a Hunter do
a low flyby today, couple of weeks ago it was the Catalina with a US-style
flag on the tail doing circuits. Everyday something different goes overhead.

Nick

I can still remember, in the early seventies, coming over a pass into
Teesdale (I think), only to find a Vulcan flying up the valley /below/ me.
It was almost surreal to look down on that great camouflaged tin
triangle, looking like some unlikely ocean ray swimming across the
landscape. I simply had to stop and watch it till it was out of sight.

In article , Alan Dicey
writes
I can still remember, in the early seventies, coming over a pass into
Teesdale (I think), only to find a Vulcan flying up the valley /below/ me.
It was almost surreal to look down on that great camouflaged tin
triangle, looking like some unlikely ocean ray swimming across the
landscape. I simply had to stop and watch it till it was out of sight.

I heard a wonderful story, no idea how authentic but here goes:

One RAF Harrier squadron had a lot pilots who were also very keen
bikers, when not flying fast and low, they liked to ride the country
lanes close to base very fast. The local police heard about bikers
riding fast and started to set up speed traps. One day they pulled over
the CO for speeding. One Sunday morning a few weeks later, a policeman
was manning one of these speed traps, all of a sudden the quiet was
broken by a Harrier doing 450 knots at 40 feet directly over his head.
The speed gun was making a strange sound, flashed an error condition and
was later found to be un-repairable. The police chief constable wrote to
the squadron CO, explaining the incident and requesting payment for the
broken speed gun. The CO wrote back, saying the aircraft's threat
receiver had identified it as hostile and jammed it, the damage was
unfortunate but they wouldn't be paying for it. He finished the letter
by suggesting that to avoid further similar incidents, the police should
inform him when/where speed traps were going to be setup.

--
John

On Mon, 21 Jul 2003 01:00:33 +0100, John Halliwell
wrote:

In article , Alan Dicey
writes
I can still remember, in the early seventies, coming over a pass into
Teesdale (I think), only to find a Vulcan flying up the valley /below/ me.
It was almost surreal to look down on that great camouflaged tin
triangle, looking like some unlikely ocean ray swimming across the
landscape. I simply had to stop and watch it till it was out of sight.

I heard a wonderful story, no idea how authentic but here goes:

One RAF Harrier squadron had a lot pilots who were also very keen
bikers, when not flying fast and low, they liked to ride the country
lanes close to base very fast. The local police heard about bikers
riding fast and started to set up speed traps. One day they pulled over
the CO for speeding. One Sunday morning a few weeks later, a policeman
was manning one of these speed traps, all of a sudden the quiet was
broken by a Harrier doing 450 knots at 40 feet directly over his head.
The speed gun was making a strange sound, flashed an error condition and
was later found to be un-repairable. The police chief constable wrote to
the squadron CO, explaining the incident and requesting payment for the
broken speed gun. The CO wrote back, saying the aircraft's threat
receiver had identified it as hostile and jammed it, the damage was
unfortunate but they wouldn't be paying for it. He finished the letter
by suggesting that to avoid further similar incidents, the police should
inform him when/where speed traps were going to be setup.

I love this story. So British (a compliment, not a snipe).

There's a similar story, which I think I read in Straight and Level,
about a couple of policemen out on the moors (or something) laying a
radar speed trap for motorists. A Harrier whipped by overhead (shades
of the Falklands penguins) and the policemen, for kicks, acquired it
with their radar. The Harrier pilot unleashed some kind of
countermeasure, breaking the radar, and the local police complained to
the RAF, only to be told that they were very lucky that the pilot had
not pickled off the SEADS ordnance (HARM?) that had pinpointed them
and was begging, figuratively, to be set free.

Mary

--
Mary Shafer Retired aerospace research engineer

"A MiG at your six is better than no MiG at all."
Anonymous US fighter pilot

In article ,
Mary Shafer wrote:
police complained to
the RAF, only to be told that they were very lucky that the pilot had
not pickled off the SEADS ordnance (HARM?) that had pinpointed them
and was begging, figuratively, to be set free.

ALARM I would think, but yes, that would really have done some damage to
police equipment. :-)

--
____ ___ ____ ____ ___ ____
| _ \|_ _/ ___| / ___| / _ \/ ___| /| Patrick Bean, My site is at
| |_) || |\___ \| | | | | \___ \ / | www.btinternet.com/~pdbean/
| _ | | ___) | |___ | |_| |___) | /__|__ Using Risc OS4 on a Windows free
|_| \_\___|____/ \____| \___/|____/ | System. See www.riscos.org/

In article , Mary Shafer
wrote:

I love this story. So British (a compliment, not a snipe).

There's a similar story, which I think I read in Straight and Level,
about a couple of policemen out on the moors (or something) laying a
radar speed trap for motorists. A Harrier whipped by overhead (shades
of the Falklands penguins) and the policemen, for kicks, acquired it
with their radar. The Harrier pilot unleashed some kind of
countermeasure, breaking the radar, and the local police complained to
the RAF, only to be told that they were very lucky that the pilot had
not pickled off the SEADS ordnance (HARM?) that had pinpointed them
and was begging, figuratively, to be set free.

I think that one is an urban legend. In a similar vein, though:

The local constabulary near one of the Harrier stations had received
reports of cars driving fast at night without headlights - well, more so
that the local population of 18 year old boys could sustain. So they set
out to catch the villains. And they did - harrier pilots with their new
helmet-mounted NVG, out to see how well it worked before they had to fly
with it.

Aetherem Vincere
Matt
--
To err is human
To forgive is not
Air Force Policy

"Matt Clonfero" ] wrote in message
...
In article , Mary Shafer
wrote:

I love this story. So British (a compliment, not a snipe).

SNIP

I think that one is an urban legend. In a similar vein, though:

The local constabulary near one of the Harrier stations had received
reports of cars driving fast at night without headlights - well, more so
that the local population of 18 year old boys could sustain. So they set
out to catch the villains. And they did - harrier pilots with their new
helmet-mounted NVG, out to see how well it worked before they had to fly
with it.

On that note, here's a story I heard while in the USA 5 years ago.

After a new highway was built somewhere near a border, Police patrols got
into the habit of visiting a local cafe for a takeaway snack and taking
their breaks parked on an unlit stretch of the old highway. One night the
cops were surprised by the sound of a car screaming past at high speed but
couldn't see anything go past in the pitchblack moonless night. This
happened a few times over the next few months leading to ghost stories of
the 'Haunted Highway'...

When it was found by chance one night that this 'ghost car' registered on a
speed camera at 140mph it was decided that it might not be a phantom. A few
weeks later, one high speed helicopter chase and a roadblock later revealed
it was a blacked-out sports car (with taped out reflectors, lights, matt
paint etc) driven by a pair of young drug smugglers wearing NVG's!

Nick