Back garden action from the 80's

[jester]

Came across a box of photos today, thought I'd scan a few to share the delights of Mid Devon in the mid to late 80's.
We lived beneath the run in and exit to the Dartmoor low level area.
Sorry about the size of the post and the terrible quality but hopefully they will be of interest to someone, somewhere ...

Hawks
Chivenor was a few miles to the North and we had non stop Hawk action












Harriers
Yeovilton supplied the Sea Harriers and we had a few RAF versions too






This one is interesting as it shows a Herc and a Harrier in the same shot, the Harrier had to pull up quickly to avoid him


Choppers
Always busy with choppers, the Lynx would be active until stupid o'clock in the mornings














Tonkas
These operated in all weathers, sometimes in terrible conditions and always low & fast




















Hercules
The sky always seemed full of Hercs, mostly in threes and always very low


















Buccaneer
The only one I ever caught


VC10
We were directly below the refuelling area too


Jaguar




Phantom
Never saw many but they did occasionally show, the first were 2 Wild Weasels that played for a while at sunset




F-111
Loved these, regularly came over in pairs








So there you go.
Sorry once again for the amount and the poor quality but hopefully the content is good enough.

It used to be so busy !!!!

Adam

[fs9demon]

You had to have had one of the most enviable back gardens ever

Really enjoying these pictures

[Andover]

Yes, a great area to live in - so much variety...in those days.

The shots a great because the landscape shows how low they are, and no matter what the quality is - it's a record of what you saw.

[Blackjack]

Thank you for posting these, a lovely set of pictures. What a marvellous place to have lived, must have been great to have had that kind of activity going on around you!! Thank you

[awacs]

Thanx for sharing, reminds me of my own hometown back in Holland.....same conditions,never photographed the scenes unfortunately, but followed them with my brand new binoculors
Please share some more....

Cheers
Reinier

[alanp]

That's just how it was back then. Tell young people today and they won't believe you.

[tankbuster81]

Interesting post.

[poopsie]

Is this area still used for low level flying?

[silver fox]

You had to have had one of the most enviable back gardens ever

Really enjoying these pictures

Agree totally, trouble is today you'd have Mr Angry of Acacia Avenue firing of letters to the local press at every opportunity.

Good record of the aircraft you saw, you say the Tonkas came in low and fast, what is it about Tonkas even on a photo they always seem to be knocking on a bit.?

[jester]

Thanks for the replies chaps.
Scanning these brought back some great memories and also a bit of sadness knowing that we will never see days like that again

Poopsie, yes the area is technically still designated a low fly area but these days you could wait many weeks for even a single fast jet to fly by.
You still get a few choppers but again a fraction of what it used to be.

[Wingnutt]

Not the best quality, but very enjoyable to look at.

Thanks for sharing them.

[coanda]

Those photos take me back - I didn't live near you - I lived in staffordshire, and the local church/railway bridge combination appeared to be a good low fly turning point.

3-ships of hercs......those were the days!

Thanks for sharing.

[Demic]

Thanks for putting them up. We were nowhere near a LFA but there always seemed to be a steady stream of low flying Tornados screaming over, as well as the constant drone of Jet Provosts from nearby Church Fenton.

Brought back many happy childhood memories of being chastised by teachers for running to the window on hearing a low flying jet! or being miles away dreaming of one day it being me.

Sadly the dreams never did come true and all we get over nowdays is the occasional Lynx

[Maisie]

Cool photos, thanks for posting!

[kc10]

This is how i remember seeing some of these aircraft as a little 'un, hearing the sudden jet noise and managing to get a quick glance as it vanished behind the house across the road. Brought back some good memories this thread has.
Thanks for posting.