During a family trip to the Mosel area I went a few hours to Büchel last Monday (US public holiday..) and Spangdahlem on Tuesday. At Büchel I had to wait for over an hour for the first Tornado to take off. Another hour later a 2nd single-ship went airborne. Only 1 of them returned just after noon, and although the area is beautiful, with deer and hare sniffing around my vantage point, my patience ran out.
Spangdahlem was interesting, I didn't expect that much in the morning due to the long Labor Day weekend and the Iceland TDY, but 5 minutes after I arrived at the chapel a wave of 10 F-16s went airborne (4+4+2). They were all without droptanks so were airborne and banking quite early, but after relocating to a spot closer to Binsfeld and the fence (near a small base entrance) I was OK for their return and the next wave's departure. They flew short 1-hour missions, dogfighting overheadand near Ramstein (acc. to ADS-B). 4 Spanish Hornets (some say 5) came in on their way back home from Siauliai and I was hoping to catch their departure but they unfortunately were still on the ground when I left around 3 PM. Travis C-5 70030 was on the tarmac but unfortunately didn't witness that one taking off either.
My pictures are perhaps not so interesting (showing just locals), but I had a good time. Got what I came for and on top of that: Excellent weather!
Regards, bart