Hi, all you Mach loop experts......

jerry12953

jerry12953

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Jeremy Moore
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MY "nephew" is 13 yrs old, mad keen on aircraft and wants to join the RAF.

As I don't live far from the Mach loop I offered to take him up there and I'm sure he'd love it. He's coming next week, I think.

Is there any way of finding out which days/times are better than others to see some aircraft?

Is it a Monday - Friday thing? Bank Holiday Monday?
 
Defiantly a weekday thing, they don't fly weekends or bank holidays, personally I find a Tue, Wed or Thurs the best, but there's no guarantees anyway, go up, enjoy the scenery and if you get a jet or 3 then you've had a good day.

I was up last Thurs ( 16th Aug ) we had 13 passes or various aircraft - 5 x Tucano's, 4 x F15's, 3 x Typhoons and a Tornado from 08:30 to 16:00,

Nothing against Box Brownie, but pretty much ignore the timetables found on the web, its almost a time you can guarantee nothing will come throu.

The weather is the key, if visibility is poor, its extremely unlikely anything will come through, you may be very very lucky and get a Herc, visibility needs to be minimum Moderate, and for jets Good or Very Good
 
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Box Brownie said:
Looks like this might help. Machloop is LFA7

OLF timetable for the 20 to 24 August 2018
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&s...FjAOegQIBhAB&usg=AOvVaw1Ag8oGzbCNyqN2Af9vLZJd
Click to expand...


Yes, I did see that, but it doesn't relate to the Mach loop apparently.

chrism8 said:
Defiantly a weekday thing, they don't fly weekends or bank holidays, personally I find a Tue, Wed or Thurs the best, but there's no guarantees anyway, go up, enjoy the scenery and if you get a jet or 3 then you've had a good day.

I was up last Thurs ( 16th Aug ) we had 13 passes or various aircraft - 5 x Tucano's, 4 x F15's, 3 x Typhoons and a Tornado from 08:30 to 16:00,

Nothing against Box Brownie, but pretty much ignore the timetables found on the web, its almost a time you can guarantee nothing will come throu
Click to expand...

Thanks. that's useful. I expect I'll be able to leave it to the lad to identify anything that we see.....:)
 
chrism8 said:
nothing against Box Brownie, but pretty much ignore the timetables found on the web, its almost a time you can guarantee nothing will come throu
Click to expand...

:LOL: yes, timings etc I found the SPTA ones only a guide........what is it that used to be said of/about the military "hurry up & wait".

PS sadly :( my knees are no longer up to doing the Mach Loop......should have gone years ago when I was fitter ;)
 
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chrism8 said:
I find a Tue, Wed or Thurs the best, but there's no guarantees anyway
Click to expand...

The USAFE jockey's tend to "front end load" the flying week to get their hours in and have a Friday off;)

GC
 
You'll often be lucky to find a parking slot these days with all the photographers' vehicles, and they only go a few metres up the hill. Don't know what happens to people who actually want to walk somewhere.
 
Get there very early for a car park space, leave late. I have been once and struck lucky.

Avoid parking on the side of the road, the local ‘enthusiasts’ will have a thromby.

Times wise there are no guarantees you will see anything. As someone else said above, tue wed thur would be my preference, and Friday seems to be accepted as a quieter day.

Total pot luck I’m afraid. There’s a few groups on Facebook, but they can be a little snooty and protective.
 
The mach loop is like a bad bus service, you can wait for a day and get nothing but then suddenly 5 come at once. Or even just 1. It's hit and miss however monday-friday is good for flying (if they come through). Perhaps Valley would be good if you want regular flying.
 
Best get on Facebook and join a few groups, as some give details on which of the air bases are on nights etc.. get there early as parking during half term is an absolute joke... no consideration for other road users.
 
Up north there are far fewer flights than there used to be, less fuel, and fewer planes to fly, I guess.
 
First time I went was a blank, second visit got one Tornado, third time lucky as it was so busy they were bumping into the back of each other - around 20 passes of various aircraft.

As said, check the weather. You can Google ‘Mach Loop weather’ but also keep an eye on Cadair Idris mountain forecast. If you go up on Cad West or East, plenty of people will have scanners and there are a couple of aviation tracking websites that can give a little warning of stuff on the way in.
 
Been terrible all day here on the Dee estuary ,even Rhyl airshow got cancelled
 
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