Aircraft viewing

[mrlovepantsuk]

Hiya
I know it isn't an exact science but is there a best time or day to go and view aircraft at Brize or Fairford also I will be going to New Quay in Wales in October, I was wondering if there was anywhere near to see some military flying?

thanks for any answers.

[Russ]

Best time to view aircraft at Fairford is usually mid-July!

[MikeB]

Fairford is not currently a active base so if you visit on the off chance you'll see nothing, the best time to visit Fairford in the future is between the 29th September and 17th October for Crown Condor (aka Dotex) when Swedish Gripens and Lossie Tornados are planned to operate from there.

Brize is a 24/7 active base therefore there's a chance to see something happen at any time. However the best times to visit are week days, when local aircraft often circuit bash for training. Also regular are AN-124's and Omni DC-10s (until october).

HTH,
Mike

[mrlovepantsuk]

Best time to view aircraft at Fairford is usually mid-July!

I should have expected that one.

[pikey01]

this saturday and sunday for the vulcan....

[st24]

Just go slightly inland from New Quay - good low flying in that area. You'll see some from the quay too if you look inland, also good for cetacean spotting! Nearest base is Valley, now people say Wales is a small place but it will still take you 3 odd hours to get there!

[mrlovepantsuk]

Just go slightly inland from New Quay - good low flying in that area. You'll see some from the quay too if you look inland, also good for cetacean spotting! Nearest base is Valley, now people say Wales is a small place but it will still take you 3 odd hours to get there!

thanks everyone for your answers. any particular place in land, thanks?

[raiford]

I know it is not quite relevant to your question, but I have a bit of tale to tell, back in the late 80's we had a family day out at the Elan Valley reservoires in Wales, our favourite spot has always been up at the big Claerwen dam, and walking round the lake. On this particular visit, which was in January, the weather had been frosty for at least a week, and the landscape up there was simply stunning, it was fairly mild for that time of year with clear blue sky.
I was hoping for some low level activity, and I was'nt disappointed, we started off on our walk around the lakeside track, then my brother in law and I decided to climb up the hill, quite easy, which would give a better view. We heard a couple of low level jets in the next valley, and then shooting vertically up over over the hill came two RF-4C's from Alconbury, they stayed around for at least an hour, chasing across the lake and around the valley, and passing over the dam, it was quite a spectacle. Then came an F-111 across the lake, there was a few TWU Hawks as well doing their stuff through the valley, with numerous passes over the dam, and a couple of FTS ones performing high up, a TWCU(45sqn) Tornado GR.1 was probably the lowest thing of the day, my brother in law ducked! it skimmed across the hill, made a slight right turn and came over our heads, fantastic .
It went on like that all morning and into the afternoon, RF-4C's, Hawks, Jaguars, Tornado and Harrier GR.5. An unbelievable day, on the off chance and with no camera, just a pleasure to be there and watch the show.

[Tiger_26]

Fairford is not currently a active base so if you visit on the off chance you'll see nothing......
Mike

Absolutely right - but lunchtime today, as I was passing through, an FAA Challenger (N85) was doing calibration runs on the 27/09 axis, with lots of blinking lights on 27 - thus explaining the NOTAM for Fairford today that someone kindly mentioned a couple of weeks ago