Airliner just passed over Sheffield really low 31/05/15.

[smilersarah]

it will probably have been the EMIRATES A380 from Manchester it has a shallow take off climb due to the size and weight compared to others according to my daughter who is cabin crew with Emirates.

[charmer]

It was that low I could see the time on the pilots watch! lol

 

ha ha ha ha ha I can see why you laughed out loud at that one, really funny lol!

 

Low flying planes are quite fun to watch. I like to think of the people on board, their dreams and hopes etc.

[L00b]

We live not too far from Robin Hood airport and low planes on approach or take-off are frequent enough...but one thing I saw the other week and haven't ever seen before (in 6 or 7 years of moving here) is a pair of low-flying Tornadoes (deffo Tornadoes, low enough to clearly distinguish type, flying SSE to NNW, so I'm guessing they just took off from somewhere in Lincs). Saw them again at the weekend, same height and bearing. Can't be sure they were on afterburner, but they were certainly hauling.

 

Now once would have been a coincidence, but twice in 2 or 3 weeks? Were the Russians buzzing our North coasts again?

[hyper]

We live not too far from Robin Hood airport and low planes on approach or take-off are frequent enough...but one thing I saw the other week and haven't ever seen before (in 6 or 7 years of moving here) is a pair of low-flying Tornadoes (deffo Tornadoes, low enough to clearly distinguish type, flying SSE to NNW, so I'm guessing they just took off from somewhere in Lincs). Saw them again at the weekend, same height and bearing. Can't be sure they were on afterburner, but they were certainly hauling.

 

Now once would have been a coincidence, but twice in 2 or 3 weeks? Were the Russians buzzing our North coasts again?

funny, because last week we saw a couple of fighters fly low over ladybower, so low they startled us and you could see the pilots.

We were commenting that as youngsters you would regularly see fighter jets, but never see them these days and wondered if this is because they are constantly being deployed in war zones or down to MOD expenditure cuts

[L00b]

We were commenting that as youngsters you would regularly see fighter jets, but never see them these days and wondered if this is because they are constantly being deployed in war zones or down to MOD expenditure cuts

I'm having a guess that the end of the Cold War meant the readiness levels and associated exercises could be reduced

 

As a kid in north east France, quite near the German and Benelux borders, in the 70s and 80s, low-flying fighter jets and combat helos were a pretty common occurrence (not-quite-daily-but-close), with a mix of everything: French Mirages, German Alphajets, German and US F4s, French Alouettes, TOW Gazelles and Pumas, the odd US Kiowas and MD-500s. Thrown in the 2- or 3-yearly joint forces exercises on a grand scale with tanks, APCs, combat troops and whatnot running through and around local roads, towns and villages.

 

There hasn't been any of this 'circus' for well over 2 decades now.

 

Re. the Tornadoes: they also had whites on the rails (live missiles) both times, which is what struck me most.

Edited June 1, 2015 by L00b

[Obelix]

We live not too far from Robin Hood airport and low planes on approach or take-off are frequent enough...but one thing I saw the other week and haven't ever seen before (in 6 or 7 years of moving here) is a pair of low-flying Tornadoes (deffo Tornadoes, low enough to clearly distinguish type, flying SSE to NNW, so I'm guessing they just took off from somewhere in Lincs). Saw them again at the weekend, same height and bearing. Can't be sure they were on afterburner, but they were certainly hauling.

 

Now once would have been a coincidence, but twice in 2 or 3 weeks? Were the Russians buzzing our North coasts again?

 

The quick reaction flight is based out of Coningsby and uses Typhoons now rather than the venerable Tonkas. Could they have been supporting an airshow perhaps?

[L00b]

The quick reaction flight is based out of Coningsby and uses Typhoons now rather than the venerable Tonkas. Could they have been supporting an airshow perhaps?

Dunno, and see late edit re. whites. If they were on an intercept (even just a look-see), not that I expect the MoD to wax lyrical and spread the news about it, mind. As I said, deffo Tornadoes, with large tail fin and wings swept fully back with a high attachment point (relative to Typhoons that look much more like Rafales, with canards and a low wing attachment point). Edited June 1, 2015 by L00b

[Obelix]

IT's not beyond the realms of possibility they would have live rounds for an airshow, but I'd have thought they would be more likley to have blue training ones if the public are going to get close. Could have been an excercise, QRF, anything I guess really...

[JFKvsNixon]

I think that we've retired all the interceptor Tornados now, the one that are left are the strike versions and the electronic warfare versions.

[tinfoilhat]

Dunno, and see late edit re. whites. If they were on an intercept (even just a look-see), not that I expect the MoD to wax lyrical and spread the news about it, mind. As I said, deffo Tornadoes, with large tail fin and wings swept fully back with a high attachment point (relative to Typhoons that look much more like Rafales, with canards and a low wing attachment point).

 

Im sure I read there was a big NATO exercise on recently somewhere. Heading up to Lossiemouth maybe after that?