I had a couple of days off work recently, and managed to make the Loop a few times, and I'm liking the Bwlch Exit at this time of year. Was good fun on the whole, bar the freezing cold and biting wind - got to say, after being up there in driving winds, rain, and indeed snow at times, a small pop-up tent bought in Millets was one of the best £25 I have ever spent!
The Loop actually seems busier in terms of aircraft movements than the same time last year, but maybe that's me. One thing I have noticed is a lot of first-timers which is nice to see, though it is a pain in the arse that the Bwlch car park fills up at 6:30/7:00 these days
Less nice to see, though, is people who clearly underestimate the Loop, and either think that it's wall-to-wall action (which, of course, it's not!), or think that climbing the Bwlch in t-shirts and converse will be completely fine. I was telling some of the other staff members, back in February a family walked up the Bwlch with two very young children in the driving wind and snow, wearing little else but t-shirts and leggings relying on the RAF lowfly timetable. They realised their mistake pretty quickly; and following a chat from us about how much danger kids were in/shelter/and hot tea, they swiftly made their way back down, but I don't get who looks at a snow-covered hill in Wales in February and thinks it's sensible to climb it with two young kids with no proper gear or protection. The mind boggles...Anyway, I finally caught an F-15 shot I'm at least moderately happy with! Shame it's not landlocked, but beggars can't be choosing. Rather, more frustrating was seeing several Eagles yesterday, and a Typhoon on Thursday, all make their way into the Loop, or attempt to, only to develop technical problems and either divert to Valley or immediately RTB.... To say nothing of the 208 and Goldstars Sqn special tails come through the valleys in crap light, only for the clouds to part minutes later!
Most of the below are from Thurs/Friday this week, except for the Tonka, taken a month ago.
As per, would love some C'n'C on these, if anyone has some. It's been tricky photography with my lowly Tamron lens, what with the conditions changing so much, and it shows but hopefully they are at least passable, though I think I need to have another crack at noise reduction. Anyway, I'll stop prattling...
1.
Loopers by Tom Jones, on Flickr2.
BatTonk by Tom Jones, on Flickr3.
DSC_0163Resize by Tom Jones, on Flickr4.
aRAF sLOW by Tom Jones, on Flickr5.
From Valley in the valleys by Tom Jones, on Flickr6.
Black Hawk by Tom Jones, on Flickr7.
Points by Tom Jones, on Flickr8.
DSC_0124Resize by Tom Jones, on Flickr9.
Mouse from Ouse by Tom Jones, on Flickr10.
Tuc Tuc by Tom Jones, on Flickr11.
F-15E-agle by Tom Jones, on FlickrHope they're of interest. A big thanks to all of the blokes (and blokesses) up there who kept the boredom at bay with plenty of laughs and banter. Nice to see some familiar faces, and meet some new ones.
Thanks for looking,
Tom
