The 5 Rafales listed above were all pulled from the former navy hangar near the fence at around 08.40 this morning and the following 1FTS Tucano T.1 were noted,
A look at the map of the United Kingdom concluded that a drive towards Leuchars was a possibility from my layover station Newcastle.
So up north it was...
However, strangely as it may seem, according to the same map, there is no highway between Newcastle and Edinburgh.
So the A68 was our routing to the north along small villages like Blackadder and so.
We did our best to kick our 'reasonable priced car', being a Chevrolet Matiz, around the tracks although the hills did prove to be a nuisance for the small engine.
We arrived around 0930lt with only one Rafale at the VAS, noted from spot 2.
With the easterly winds, spot 1 was the place to be. Indeed, not the best spot ever, as the aircraft do pass a bit high but better than nothing.
It was rather cloudy with very bright white clouds, not easy on the black Tucano's.
In the end, all five Rafales flew, which was good, and I liked the approaches of the Sentry.
The only flight by a Tornado F3 was a really disappointment, especially with the news the Tornado F3 is in its final stage to decommissioning.
Based:
G-BYUD / UD Tutor T1 East of Scotland UAS 1EFTS
G-BYUN / UN Tutor T1 1EFTS
G-BYUO / UO Tutor T1 1EFTS
G-BYUR / UR Tutor T1 1EFTS
G-BYUX / UX Tutor T1 1EFTS
At 11.53L, Bent 22, HC-130HN 88-2102 of 102RQS (although unmarked) landed at Leuchars. Followed at 11.57L by Bent 21, 88-2101. They appeared to transit the coast and did not follow the normal TACAN route up - unsure whether they are over-nighting.
Also of interest were Alpha Jets E45 : 314-TF and E90 : 314-TH, both EAC.00 314 landed 16.20ish 22/7 and departed 23/7 at 10.28L and 10.35L heading south as FAF 6441 and 6442 respectively.
Makes up for a ramp empty of Tornadoes except for one on maintenance ZE965 : HZ in full 111 sq mks.
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