Lakenheath (RAF)

1Spot1

The main gate is located along the A1065. Here you will find the F-100 gateguard. To get a possibility to photograph this gateguard, you should report yourself at the visitors centre. This is located immediately on you left, at the main gate.

2Runway 24 / Shelter-area / Visitors appron

This spot is also located along the A1065. Follow the A1065 northbound, according the map above. After the main gate you will pass several shelters on your left and after the road turns slightly to the left you will pass the visitors apron. When you exit the tree area, spot 2 is located on your right, near the forest entry. Rwy 24 in use: From this spot, you will have a great view of aircraft landing on runway 24 (+/- 300 mm needed), but the take-off can be observed from here as well. If you want to photograph the take-off, you should cross the road and peek through the fence. Rwy 06 in use: This is a great spot for runway 06 take-off photos. Most of the time, the aircraft will follow runway heading or break to right in front of you. To check any visitors or F-15s parked outside their shelter, you should walk a bit to the south, along the A1065.

3Landing runway 24

At this spot you are very close to the landing lights. There are several angles to watch and photograph from this point. To get here you should walk along the road (from spot 2) towards the landing lights and into the field from there.

4Landing runway 24 (north side)

If you drive further north and pass the landing lights, you will see a yellow sign 'Aircraft Viewing Area' pointing to the left. Take this left turn (Wangford Road) and immediately take the next left turn. From here, you will have a view of the aircraft landing on runway 24.

5Runway 24 / holding-platform (1)

This spot is part of the official viewing area. It is almost the same as spot 4, only slightly more down the road. At this spot you will also have a view of the holding-platform. Backlight could be a problem over here.

6Runway 24 / holding-platform (2)

This is the same as spot 5, but you can switch between these two spots to have a different angle with the sun (to minimize backlight problems). Photographing through the fence can give great afterburner take-off shots. If you go to the east a bit more and from this spot you will end up at a hangar where the HH-60s have their home. The only problem is that there are some bushes in the line of sight and the land west of spot 6 is private property.

7Taxi-track / Shelter-area

This part is not used anymore by the based squadrons. When there is an exercise/deployment, it is possible that you will see some of the aircraft operating from here. The security does not really like you to be over here because you are very close to their ammo dump. To get here from spot 4, 5 and 6; drive back to Wangford Road and turn left. Follow this road down to the end. Turn left at the T-junction onto B1112. You are now on the road that is on the left side of the map above and will lead into the village of Lakenheath. Turn left at Wings Road (opposite of the Post Office) and follow this road until the end.

8Landing runway 06 (north side)

This spot is located along High Street (B1112) and gives you a great view of the aircraft landing on runway 06. Aircraft departing from runway 24 are almost invisible until they pop-up at full-speed, but most of the time they are quite high. Park your car just along the road and look for a nice spot.

9Landing runway 06 (south side)

This spot is almost the same as spot 8 but now directly underneath the landing path. This could result in very special photos, especially when they perform an unrestricted climb after departure. (Staying low after take-off and make a steep climb when they are near the road). When they are landing at 06, the aircraft are still banking a little before they are on finals, which is just great for photos.