"I live for Prop Blur..."

Air Force One

2009-04-16T06:04:00.000-07:00

Well, managed to capture this "thing" coming into Stansted...no idea who was on it...

A blooming cold Lakenheath and Mildenhall!

2008-12-30T09:37:00.000-08:00

Well hit the "Heath" and "Hall" after a few months without any outings!

Waddo Arrivals! - 4th July 2008

2008-07-06T09:38:00.000-07:00

Well after a 4am start I got up to Waddington about 7ish and set the stool out for an absolutely roasting day!

The action was pretty much constant and there was a great variety on show. Below are some of my efforts!

Timed arrival!

2008-05-17T15:18:00.001-07:00

Well I decided to head up to the "hall" last saturday (10th) and just as I got there, the P-3C from the previous day was sat on the under run posing!
5 mins latter and he was off!

Eagle Heaven!

2008-03-25T12:40:00.001-07:00

What a day! 36 F-15's Launched, a NATO 707 doing an approcah practice, a C-130 deprture and then a loan C-17 from the Hall...alsooooo....a KC-135 base tanker from the Hall doing circuits...sorry so short and sweet but hacking through 563 images!

A do I or don't I day at the Hall!

2008-03-22T12:19:00.000-07:00

Well, I put some petrol in the car and it started snowing so I headed home...2 mins later it was beautiful sunshine...what do I do? stuff it, i'll chance it! So off to the Hall I headed! Well, it was an OK day, C-17's aborting but a little Gulfstream and a Fedex MD-11 showing the big boys how its done!

A slow weekend...

2008-03-16T14:37:00.000-07:00

Well it was a slow old weekend at the Hall after all the movements last weekend! I'm starting t feel that i'm bad luck for the other spotters as two thirds of five eighths of F'all seems to happen when i'm about! Below is just a few of the picks from a not very productive effort but such is life! I had a chance to catch up with my good buddy James and meet a few new people who I dare say will share many more long boring hours with!

A lesson learned....

2008-03-02T12:01:00.000-08:00

Location: Chelmsford

Time: 10.09AM...

Neil: Hello....

Nigel: Wheres your kit and where are you? RAMA 74/75 divert to Mildenhall...

Neil: F***...its at home....

Nigel: You idiot....

At this point i wriggled out of my sleeping bag and fell off Si's sofa, legged it to my car and battled for 40 mins to travel 20 miles home...grabbed my kit and broke many traffic laws trying toget to the "Hall"...50 miles and 35 mins late i was there.....10 minutes too late....bo*ox

So after a 10 minute lecture from my uncle and a lone Tanker we wasted the rest of the day for nothing to happen...

Sunday...

With the promise of 14 F-15's and support and maybe some Turkish F-16's I headed back off up to the Mound...nothing...then a lone C5...well, at least I got some shots...

So we headed to the "Heath" only to find out the NOTAM had been cancelled....crap!!! and that pretty much left the day to snap a few more Tankers from the Mound ad Trailer and then home...

The Eagle has landed...well, almost!

2008-01-27T11:30:00.000-08:00

Well...my second outing was a little less productive that the first but many a vital lesson was learnt! Mainly...when getting to Lakenheath from Colchester, don't try and be smart, you only get stuck behind 4 dustbin lorries!

I got up to the "Heath" early and nothing was happening so i dosed off only to be woken by the gentle whine of Mr Pratt and Mr Whitney and the sweet tangy smell of JET-A...."we're in buisness" i thought! A quick call to my American buddy and about 30mins later 2 F-15C's rolled out onto the Line...then followed by 3 more pairs...after watching them all depart and having my insides shaken by the bass of the afterburner we headed out to the base leg turn for some topside shots...and just as we strolled off, 8 F-15E's all departed...

A very long cold wait followed but finally they all returned...disappointingly they all took shallow wide turns into finals (due a strong gusty wind) so not many decent pics where had...

So we trotted off to warm up and head home...although not a great day for photography it was enjoyed by me and my two cohorts....

Virgin Spotter!

2008-01-12T07:39:00.000-08:00

Well, yesterday was my very first outing doing some spotting and photography. After a very cold and wet morning of nothing, my Uncle and I headed for a burger and re-think of location. So from Lakenheath we headed over to Mildenhall. Well, the morning was made up for by a couple Herc's doing some touch and go circuits and then the sky just lit up with some beautiful light....a big big Thank you to my Uncle Nigel for taking me and hopefully will get out again soon!