It seemed that every Aviation enthusiast depended upon Gloucestershire in the late autumn of 2021.
A deployment of B-1B Lancers from Dress AFB proved too much of a lure to many, your’s truly included.
Many others spent hours on the fence waiting for a mission with no luck, thankfully on the first day I spent outside RAF Fairford the ensembled masses were treated to a launch and return of a solitary Bone, the other one going tech of course! It’s as noisy as I remember.
Not only did I manage to capture the Bone departure and return, I also managed to see one of the 99th Reconnaissance Squadron’s U2 – Dragon Lady return from a mission. Ice covered wings giving away the altitude that beast can fly at.
Sadly day two was a little disappointing, standing in a different position hoping to get a departure, the only action we saw was a group photo of the deployed team, however the Dragon Lady ran her usual Friday morning training mission with a few bump and go’s.
I headed over to Brize and was lucky to catch a missed approach by a French Navy Falcon 20, and the arrival of a Royal Air Force A-400 and C-130 Hercules.
Not long left for the Herc in RAF service, more stupid cuts to an already depleted force. When will they ever learn?
