Some Low Fly Wales

Dino f

Dino f

Wiiiiilmmmaaaaaaaa
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Dean Feltimo
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Well, just got back from another trip to The Bwlch, Wales.
It was a 400+mile journey so a bit knackered. Havent had time to process the pics properly, but here are a few.

Neil (morph) and myself, left at 03:15hrs on Thursday morning and arrived at the Mach Loop at 06:30hrs, we pitched the tent and drove the couple of miles to the loop. Put on 3 tops, 3 pairs of trousers and waterproofs we waddled to the style at the foot of the hills.
After the fairly easy (lil white lie) climb to the middle ledge, that took about 15mins (bloody big lie) we were greated by a fantastic view.
From the entrance....
view2.jpg

and the exit of the loop.
view.jpg


First things first, set up camera, drink Red Bull, sit down and relax.......But not for long...
incoming
incoming.jpg

whooosh...
harrier.jpg


Okay nice start, a frontliner, my first Harrier through the loop. Time to sit down for a drink, now where did i put that Red Bulllllllllll incoming.....
hawk1-1.jpg


Then we hear the sounds of something a little more sedate.
A RN Jetstream
Jetstream.jpg
 
Then straight back to the big boys.....
incoming2.jpg


incoming3.jpg


harrier2.jpg


harrier3.jpg


This happened throughout the day, with short breaks in between, before the last Harrier says goodbye before heading for the exit.
harrier4.jpg


5 Hawks
4 Harriers
1 Jetstream
2 happy lads
mee.jpg
neil.jpg

4 aching legs
4 sore feet.
Bring on next time.
Thanks for looking.
Dean
 
Great images...:clap:

You lads need a good :beer: after that trek...:D
 
Well done Dean, all great shots.. its something id like to do one day..
 
Not into pictures of planes - noisy old things so don't hold much interest for me, but good photos though. Now the first 2 are a different matter, lovely pictures of the hills, really nice colours, brilliant skies, and good foreground interest. Well done.(y)
 
Useless fact of the day - did you know that the previous (to the current) Squadron Leader - Red 1 - of the Red Arrows was from Maidenhead. I know, cos I went to school with him (at Desborough).

:)

Great pics by the way!
 
So did these planes fly close by or do you guys use big lens equipment?
 
In the Zone boys, I will be there one day soon. I love it when you post these shots.
 
Me and a friend of mine are planning to do this one day, when I say planning I mean talking :D Both into planes and togging so seems like the ideal trip out (y) Shots and and stories like these just add fuel to the fire :D

Great captures :clap: just amazing how close up you get from this place! and now I have my new 120-300 with tc, this will make an ideal field test :D

Love to meet up with some of you guys in the know about these locations if we ever get our plans into action!
 
Great stuff Dino! The first Harrier is a 4 squadron plane (Reconnaissance). It is fitted with long-range tanks (standard fit really) with no armaments or reccy pod. Think the other is a 1 squadron plane.

Careful with those trousers, a heat-seeker would have no trouble "locking on". :LOL:

(y)
 
Hey well done guys pleased to see that you got some decent weather and a bit of good action.

Good shooting nice to see.

Bill
 
Fantastic set of action shots there, and what views eh!

I'd love to have a go at this type of shot at some point, can I ask... would a Sigma 50-500mm be sufficient for these type of shots...?
 
Thanks for the comments.
For anyone planning to go to Wales (who havnt been before), be prepared! A lens of 200mm or more is sufficient for the Bwlch (bulk) but you may meed longer for places like the Bwlch exit. There are several places to see the planes at this location, each with different b/gs and angles of the planes. I use a 100-400L and it is perfect. Neil was using a 70-200L and still got frame filling shots. Neils HiVis trousers acted as a kinda beacon for the pilots, so they knew where to dip their wings etc;). I had a pair of tracksuit bottoms, then a pair of army issue combat trousers, then a pair of waterproof trousers, 2 teeshirts a zip up fleece, a wind cheater and an army issue water/wind proof dpm jacket and was still freezing at times, a good pair of walking boots is a must too.
For full directions see LOW FLY WEBSITE.
It IS great fun, and very addictive, but hard work.
I will be going again later on in the year, so a possible jolly up with some of you guys would be great. When i know when we could sort out some kind of meet.
Dean:)
 
Fantastic informative website. Didn't know where half these places were.

The 'Mach Loop' is 2 hours away from me (and 2 hours from Jon - tMM) so is very doable. I will have to have a look at getting over there some time to have a go at this.

Thanks for sharing
 
That's an ungodly hour to start off at! I bet you felt like a zombie at the end of the day.

Good to see you got some good traffic, there has been the more than a few quiet days lately with the good stuff going Bill's way up in the Lakes.

All the Harriers will be 4 Sqn (despite the markings). The Harriers are swapped around on a regular basis so the markings don't tie up. 4 Sqn have just got back from deployment and after a small break started flying again. They were replaced on deployment by 1 Sqn.
 
Early bird catches the worm Gord:LOL:
Think we caught the tail end of Op, Joint Warrior.
Still, would have been nice to catch an F15.
Dean:)
 
Great shots Dean, missed the harrier's by a day, but got some F15's through the Bwlch, as Gord said, seem most of the traffic heading through Tebay to "Explora56" Bill at the moment, unfortunately at the wrong end of the country, 4 hrs to the loop and a 3'Oclock start, Tebay would be 5 hrs, might as well go after work and sleep in the car for that one :bonk:
 
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Cheers Pete, Tebay later on in the year me thinks, better get the airshow season out the way first.
Dean:)
 
Dino f said:
Cheers Pete, Tebay later on in the year me thinks, better get the airshow season out the way first.
Dean:)
Click to expand...

Oh you don't wanta do that combine the 2, Biggin Hill probably first of the season, probably another trip June, but Fairford weekend will be combined with a week in the loop, and the hotel and transport booked for Axalp in Switzerland October (mountain climbing training underway, Snowdon, the Lakes etc), with one or 2 more trips (Tebay) and airshows (Shoreham) in between.
 
Looks like an excellent day out. With some very good shots to boot
 
Some good Low Level action from Bwlch Guy's.......a few Harriers around!.....good shots from a very good location...the top side harrier is a cracking shot..........glad you enjoyed the trip....Cheers Barry
 
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