Your best spotting day ever (non-airshow)

Discuss all things 'aviation' that do not fit into a more appropriate forum
Post Reply
User avatar
Thunder City Veteran
Posts: 69
Joined: Wed 25 Jan 2012, 3:49 pm
Location: Derbyshire, UK

Your best spotting day ever (non-airshow)

Post by Thunder City Veteran »

I came across one of my old spotting/tail number notebooks recently, and it got me reflecting on some great spotting days I had as a youngster.

One day in June 1982 in particular stood out. Location - RAF Binbrook. Weather noted as warm and sunny ( unusual for Binbrook, even in June 😄)

Numerous Lightnings active that day, but the visitor list was excellent. There must have been an exercise on…
- 3 German Phantoms
- 4 Belgian Starfighters
- 4 French Mirage F1
RAF Jet Provost T5 missed approach
2 x A-10 missed approach
1 x F-111 touch n go
2 RAF Jaguars
2 Alconbury F5’s

That was the joy of this hobby back then around most of the active bases..Looking through the binoculars at a landing light in the distance, not knowing what you’re going to get. The variety was the likes we’ll never see again.

Wondering if anybody else has a particular spotting day, outside of airshow activity, that lives in the memory. 🤔

User avatar
sdad
Posts: 474
Joined: Mon 24 Sep 2012, 2:53 pm

Re: Your best spotting day ever (non-airshow)

Post by sdad »

Mriya at Brize, June last year. UK painted A330 showed up too.

cabbage
Posts: 47
Joined: Sun 17 Nov 2019, 9:29 pm

Re: Your best spotting day ever (non-airshow)

Post by cabbage »

Any one of numerous days spent in the "laybys" near Lossiemouth.
Jaguars, Buccaneers, Shackletons, F-111's, C-5, amongst many memories, and with photos to prove it.

User avatar
cometguymk1
Posts: 76
Joined: Mon 04 Nov 2019, 8:30 am

Re: Your best spotting day ever (non-airshow)

Post by cometguymk1 »

Years ago my dad and I went to the BofB memorial and while there four Tornados flew straight over in a loose formation. They were apparently rehearsing for a flypast but as I was quite young details may have been lost in the years since.

User avatar
psquiddy
Posts: 1276
Joined: Sun 31 Aug 2008, 10:33 am
Contact:

Re: Your best spotting day ever (non-airshow)

Post by psquiddy »

Was driving near Corfe Castle in Dorset when the D-Day 50th flypast occurred - I was totally unaware that it was happening before that. Pulled over and watched.
Over 300 free things to do in London
http://www.toplondondaysout.co.uk

JMC
Posts: 1382
Joined: Fri 11 Mar 2022, 10:50 am

Re: Your best spotting day ever (non-airshow)

Post by JMC »

The unexpected ones are always the best ones.

I'll never forget being a kid and staying in Suffolk with family friends (I think around 2002, so just after 9/11) and they lived pretty much about a mile off the end of the runway of Lakenheath/Mildenhall not sure which one and I recall plane after plane after plane taking off.

User avatar
aceyone
Posts: 2864
Joined: Tue 23 Jun 2009, 12:25 pm
Location: Bromley Kent

Re: Your best spotting day ever (non-airshow)

Post by aceyone »

Sometime in the mid to late eighties while climbing two fairly remote mountains in Scotland ( Gleouraich/Spiden Mialach ) on a sunny day ,it seemed as if the whole RAF were out to play ,Tornadoes and Harriers seemingly playing hide and seek around the mountains ,mainly below us,on and off most of the day, and the occasional Jaguar /Buccaneer, unforgettable experience !
Don't know about those jets ,they spoil a very nice place

cabbage
Posts: 47
Joined: Sun 17 Nov 2019, 9:29 pm

Re: Your best spotting day ever (non-airshow)

Post by cabbage »

Visiting Tain bombing range, to change over the signal pistols, and watching a Hunter "T" bird fly past level with my feet. (I looked directly into the cockpit).
Also watching a F-111 pop up from behind the tree line and attempt to hit the target circle. in a shallow dive. (It Missed).
Then a Buccaneer came in straight and level, and bullseyed the target area with a practice bomb.

FarnboroJohn
Posts: 3035
Joined: Tue 28 Aug 2012, 6:57 pm

Re: Your best spotting day ever (non-airshow)

Post by FarnboroJohn »

Sitting up at Cwm Idwal in summer sunshine watching 4X 4 FTS Gnats fly through the A5 pass low level in finger four: during the afternoon we also had an F111 that didn't manage the corner and escaped up over Y Garn, as did a Canberra PR9, plus a load more Gnats as singles. Awesome.

User avatar
DerekF
Posts: 5204
Joined: Sun 07 Sep 2008, 7:54 am
Location: Handforth, Cheshire, UK

Re: Your best spotting day ever (non-airshow)

Post by DerekF »

The Champions League final day in May 2003. The final was played in Manchester between Juventus and AC Milan and airport handled a huge number of extra charter flights and biz-jets.

User avatar
capercaillie
Posts: 9325
Joined: Mon 01 Sep 2008, 3:04 pm
Location: Leominster

Re: Your best spotting day ever (non-airshow)

Post by capercaillie »

A ramp tour of Edwards AFB, photographing ARIA EC-135s and EC-18s, Speckled Trout, camo C-17, EC-130V, red and white F-16s and F-15s, tester T-38s and T-39s, the NT-33, having an active SR-71 taxi past and then shoot it taking off and landing alongside the hallowed runway, a tour of the museum to be collection AFTI F-111, YA-7F, red and white F-4s, U-6, A-7, A-37 and finally a runway session with based stuff in the circuit.

Silly grin leaving the airfield and it didn't end there as there was still time to shoot F-106s and F-4s over the fence at Mojave in the evening!

Cheers Geoff!
"The surrogate voice of st24"

My flickr photos https://www.flickr.com/photos/146673712@N06/

User avatar
AndyXH558
Posts: 2068
Joined: Sat 04 Aug 2012, 2:37 pm

Re: Your best spotting day ever (non-airshow)

Post by AndyXH558 »

Woodford 31st march 1984. Just finished school and got word something special was going to happen at Woodford...

Got a lift to the bridleway as 4 Vulcans in formation flew overhead.. it was the end of service your of 50sqn.

One of the Vulcans, xl426 did a display.

Another time during the Kosovo war I ended up at Fairford. As 4 b1bs took off on their mission for the night. Never heard anything so loud..

Amci at waddington one year and seeing mirage 2000s and f16s, can't remember what year but one of the mirages had to go back to France as the pilots wife was about to give birth...

Awesome unrestricted take off with a full afterburner come lighting the runway up as the aircraft took off

College back in 88 was an old raf base back during the war. Always got a few aircraft flying over.. Tonka's, harriers, f111s but the greatest memory was a pair of A10s using Harpur hill as target practice.. every Wednesday for 6 months at around 10am they'd turn up.
Funny I failed food service.......wonder why?
Life's a piece of S*** if you look at it!

FarnboroJohn
Posts: 3035
Joined: Tue 28 Aug 2012, 6:57 pm

Re: Your best spotting day ever (non-airshow)

Post by FarnboroJohn »

AndyXH558 wrote:
Fri 09 Sep 2022, 3:55 pm
Woodford 31st march 1984. Just finished school and got word something special was going to happen at Woodford...

Got a lift to the bridleway as 4 Vulcans in formation flew overhead.. it was the end of service your of 50sqn.

One of the Vulcans, xl426 did a display.

Another time during the Kosovo war I ended up at Fairford. As 4 b1bs took off on their mission for the night. Never heard anything so loud..

Amci at waddington one year and seeing mirage 2000s and f16s, can't remember what year but one of the mirages had to go back to France as the pilots wife was about to give birth...

Awesome unrestricted take off with a full afterburner come lighting the runway up as the aircraft took off

College back in 88 was an old raf base back during the war. Always got a few aircraft flying over.. Tonka's, harriers, f111s but the greatest memory was a pair of A10s using Harpur hill as target practice.. every Wednesday for 6 months at around 10am they'd turn up.
Funny I failed food service.......wonder why?
Fairford during Kosovo.... B-52s with pylons festooned with cluster bombs and thousand pounders: the rails looked like lengths of railway track to hold all that ironmongery, bomb-bays presumably also full. Heaving themselves into the air with all eight engines screaming and pouring black smoke.

B-1s taking off in full afterburner, stuck to the runway till every spotter was urging "get her up!" and then lumbering off and climbing very slowly for minutes still in afterburner when they must have been thirty miles out. We all knew as soon as they were over the Channel they would be tanking.

Just amazing.

farnboroughrob
Posts: 2117
Joined: Fri 05 Jun 2009, 8:31 am

Re: Your best spotting day ever (non-airshow)

Post by farnboroughrob »

So many memories but a few stand out

Miami 1990 standing at the end of the runway with the last two comercial connies in the world. One at the hold while the other landed. There were also about 20 DC-6's, a couple of DC-4's, a DC-7 and a pair of C-97's also active at the time!

Coach trip to Eastern Germany 1991 and going to the GAF Mig-29 base, forget the name, but we saw the entire fleet, including a formation take off. CO was ex F-4 pilot, he knew what we wanted and gave us free riegn. So when people mention RIAT and German Mig-29's its old hat to me!

Most unexpected one was going on holiday to Barbados 2002 and stumbling across a SAR exercise. French C-160 and Customs C406, RN Lynx, Dutch P-3, USN P-3 and SH-60 and Argentine Navy F-28 on ship support duties.

In the UK probably being around for the bombing of Lybia, was camping at Mildenhall at the time, loads of F-111 and tanker activity and the SR-71 going out at stupid o'clock with full afterburner.

User avatar
AndyXH558
Posts: 2068
Joined: Sat 04 Aug 2012, 2:37 pm

Re: Your best spotting day ever (non-airshow)

Post by AndyXH558 »

Thanks for the reminder. Yes I remember the 52s coming home and taking off for both Kosovo and gw2 Greta would have had a fit.

Miami airport...stuck at the gate for 3 Hours waiting for our flight to st Louis then on to Gatwick.. .it overlooked the bone yard of transport aircraft. Opa loka?

Anyway, saw a couple of daks, dcus dcys and I think a c46 commando. Then the huge surprise Was a Connie Fired up and took off. What am awesome sight.

Malta around the same time they filmed airline. I saw G-daks at saafi with around 9 daks and 4 caribous all parked up with them .
Last edited by AndyXH558 on Mon 12 Sep 2022, 7:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Life's a piece of S*** if you look at it!

User avatar
boff180
UKAR Staff
Posts: 9826
Joined: Sun 31 Aug 2008, 2:28 pm
Location: Solihull
Contact:

Re: Your best spotting day ever (non-airshow)

Post by boff180 »

Two days stick in my head.

My one and only visit to Coltishall as a child.
I was amazed at the low fence in the field, watching the Jaguars and a deployment that we didn’t know was there, I believe they were Mirage III or V all day. It was close to the Phantom retirement and the day was topped off by a touch and go from an F-4.

The second was 2013 at NAF El Centro. This base is a spotting mecca but, it is very hit and miss as based aircraft can be counted on one hand. You either get something or you don’t. This day the base was rammed.

On deployment were VFA-106 with their Super Hornets from Oceana - a rarity on the West Coast, a RCAF Hornet unit, the Blue Angels on workup, a T-45C Goshawk unit and a detachment of USMC helicopters. That’s not mentioning the Army Air Corps Apaches that were on rotation.

The day was non-stop and ended with something a bit special - aircraft from VFA-122 rocked up - the West Coast Super Hornet training unit - a lovely bonus.

Andy

Post Reply