Apache Surprise

[Stonefaction]

Been a long time since I posted anything on here as I no longer actively seek out aircraft to photograph, and with Leuchars no longer an RAF base there's not a huge amount happens around here. However when I'm out and about birding I do sometimes see the odd interesting aircraft and take a few photos. On Saturday I was down at Coldstream in the borders to see a Common Crane which had been lingering for a few days in a field by the river Tweed. As we arrived a Wildcat Lynx flew past along the river, followed shortly after by an Apache. A nice surprise for a Saturday.

What happened next was even better - an Apache flew into the field we were walking round the edge of and hovered there about 20 feet off the ground giving us some great photo opportunities. It flew a circuit round the field a couple of times, so close that I had to resort to filming it with my iphone, before returning to hover nearby. It eventually moved off down the field to hover there, before another 2 Apaches arrived and it flew off with them. A short while later another Apache arrived and hovered over the field for a while and a second briefly joined it before both flew off. Well chuffed with the photos I got - though I have only cherry picked a batch to post online from the 500 or so I took.

Interestingly there was a flock of Mute Swans (and the Crane) feeding in the field and the Apache flew over them low without the birds taking flight, though they were scared off by a dog shortly after and only returned after the Apaches had flown off.

Business End. by Barry Farquharson, on Flickr

Ugly But Deadly. by Barry Farquharson, on Flickr

Expensive Leaf-Blower. by Barry Farquharson, on Flickr

Double Trouble. by Barry Farquharson, on Flickr

In The Turn. by Barry Farquharson, on Flickr

Mean Machine. by Barry Farquharson, on Flickr

Apache. by Barry Farquharson, on Flickr

Hover. by Barry Farquharson, on Flickr

Longbow Apache. by Barry Farquharson, on Flickr

Lean, Mean & Green. by Barry Farquharson, on Flickr

Low. by Barry Farquharson, on Flickr

Coldstream Guard. by Barry Farquharson, on Flickr

Down The River. by Barry Farquharson, on Flickr

In The Sun. by Barry Farquharson, on Flickr

Arrival. by Barry Farquharson, on Flickr

AAC Apache. by Barry Farquharson, on Flickr

Hope you like them. There's a few more on my twitter feed here - https://twitter.com/stonefaction/status ... 9180625920

Baz

[Unknown74]

Wow, Wow, Wow, Wow. Amazing. Great catch I wish I had your luck.

[Airwolfhound]

That's awesome, great shots

[ArabJazzie]

Absolutely stunning in luck and quality!

When you mailed the other day, i really hoped you would put them up somewhere!
Arabest,
Geoff.

[Amp]

What a great surprise!

[Stonefaction]

Thanks everyone for the comments. I wish I had luck like this all the time. Great light and great subjects, so here's a few more....

In The Turn. by Barry Farquharson, on Flickr

Helo Heat Shimmer. by Barry Farquharson, on Flickr

Green & Blue. by Barry Farquharson, on Flickr

Holding Steady. by Barry Farquharson, on Flickr

Catching The Sun. by Barry Farquharson, on Flickr

Kicking Up A Storm. by Barry Farquharson, on Flickr

Descending. by Barry Farquharson, on Flickr

Lynx Wildcat. by Barry Farquharson, on Flickr

Looking South. by Barry Farquharson, on Flickr

Front End. by Barry Farquharson, on Flickr

No Beauty Prize. by Barry Farquharson, on Flickr

Coming Around. by Barry Farquharson, on Flickr

Hovering Helo. by Barry Farquharson, on Flickr

Being Watched. by Barry Farquharson, on Flickr

Autumnal Apache. by Barry Farquharson, on Flickr

and the reason I was there too, a juvenile Common Crane.

Crane. by Barry Farquharson, on Flickr

Just Landed. by Barry Farquharson, on Flickr

[Tmyers123]

Great set, very lucky to get so close to the action. But FYI, the “Lynx Wildcat” is just Wildcat, the Lynx was retired from the Army earlier this year.

[PirateTrickster]

Could have been part of exercise 'Iron Python'?