MiG_Eater wrote:I have only been up to Marham once, and never seen 01 in use - where did you park, and where did you shoot from?
The main runway is still closed for F-35 construction, so RWY 01/19 is the only one currently in use.
This is the guide I posted on FC about two weeks ago:
[spoiler]Knocked up a couple of maps to help with the spots at each end. As I say. I'm no expert and there may be better places, but this is what I've found from two visits so far, starting at the southern end with RWY01.
RWY01 by
DanB, on Flickr
In the morning we parked up by the gate (not blocking it) near the yellow camera icon. From here, the aircraft arriving will be sun-lit in the morning, but hedges on both sides rather limit the amount of time you have to track and pan the aircraft. You might be able to open up the field of view if you were to just enter the gated field and stand beyond the tree.
Panavia Tornado GR4T ZG771 "RAFAIR 7081" - Royal Air Force - RAF Marham, October 2018 by
DanB, on Flickr
For the afternoon, you want to be closer to the junction. I was just in the grassy area bordering the farmers field for this shot:
Panavia Tornado GR4 ZA607 "MARHAM 80" - Royal Air Force - RAF Marham, October 2018 by
DanB, on Flickr
There's a gap in the hedge between these two locations that is quite central to the runway heading where you can get a view of the runway, and it's not too bad for RWY19 departures coming towards you, but the angle is quite limiting for photos unless you have a massive lens. Overshoots I saw last week were mostly fairly low, so you'd probably better off sticking to one of the other two spots on this road to get more side-on, although the restricted view from the hedges might be a hindrance to panning.
Panavia Tornado GR4 "MARHAM 31" - Royal Air Force - RAF Marham, September 2018 by
DanB, on Flickr
For Runway 19 landings, the layby has parking room for several cars and with a big lens, you could quite happily shoot the approaches from the parking area. The RAF100 Tornado below was from there but was a bit of a crop on my 300mm lens:
Panavia Tornado GR4 ZA554/046 "MONSTER 02" - Royal Air Force - RAF Marham, September 2018 by
DanB, on Flickr
I moved to the gate on the private road marked in yellow to get a bit closer. It's not far but made a big difference in terms of how much of the frame I could fill:
Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II ZM147 - 617 Squadron, Royal Air Force - RAF Marham, September 2018 by
DanB, on Flickr
Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II ZM147 - 617 Squadron, Royal Air Force - RAF Marham, September 2018 by
DanB, on Flickr
The field just north of Swaffham Road gets you very close to the taxiway. As I said, the fence is about 5ft high so may be a problem for some. You can enter at either end, just stick to the edges as you make your way to the fence.
Panavia Tornado GR4 ZA607 "MARHAM 80" - Royal Air Force - RAF Marham, October 2018 by
DanB, on Flickr
I'm not sure what the normal routine is, but on Monday the landing aircraft were all backtracking, so I assume they would just roll to the end and vacate along this taxiway after a RWY19 landing too, so this could be a good spot regardless which runway is in use. As it's an east-west taxiway, there should be good sunlight on this spot all day from now until the Tornados retire.
The edge of the field is marked out in green (double line is where you can view and get good photos from), the taxiway is red and the disused runway is blue.
I've only been twice, but the Tornados will taxy along this area if they're using runway 01. If they're on 19, you *might* get some that taxi back the full length, but from what I understand, they mostly taxi back via the disused runway. They also taxi back in from this end after landing on runway 01 as the top end of the base is being worked on, but I can't say how likely it is they would go the full distance. You might get one or two, but I would imagine most would go back via the disused again.
As you look at the map, I entered the field from the left, and exited along the right, returning to White Road via the verge on Swaffham Road.
Yesterday we parked at the entrance to the field north of Swaffham Road (bottom right hand corner of the green line on the map) - there is room for about 4 or 5 cars if you're sensible and leave access clear for the farmer.
The landing shots yesterday evening were taken from the area near the concrete patch north of the green line West of the runway heading. It was a better location than the field at the junction as there are less obstructions from hedges etc so you can track and pan with the jets for longer.
I should also stress that if you or anyone else reading this do decide to go, you should keep to the edges of the field along the green line, and take any litter home with you. Sadly yesterday there were people walking through the middle of this field and things like that might ruin it for everyone else. Please be respectful.
HTH[/spoiler]
