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 Bored with Christmas Turkey?Then, next year why not try a bird of a different kind – enjoy an Eagle or two? Resident Fighter Control photographer/reporter Rick Sleight braved the cold winter snap and spent some time at Lakenheath recently, with additional photographic assistance from Stuart Freer and James Shelbourn. For those fortunate enough to enjoy a well earned Christmas break, thankfully the break in between the Christmas and New Year festivities normally provides an opportunity to visit Lakenheath in Suffolk, to hopefully see some modern military hardware in action. Here, providing the winter weather allows, the F-15C/D and F-15E Eagles of the three resident Fighter Squadrons of the 48th Fighter Wing, catch up on the flying hours, that have been missed, due to the festive break. Usually for two of the days in late December (normally between the 28th and the 30th), one can expect to see a large amount of flying activity and December 2004 provided no exceptions. |
Missions began in earnest at approximately 0900 local time on Wednesday 29th and all the recoveries were completed by 1230 local, with a total of 33 missions being flown, the base even finding time to conduct an aircraft air-test, as part of the total number of missions! Four aircraft were forced to divert to nearby Mildenhall on conclusion of their mission, due to an aircraft blocking the Lakenheath runway for 30 minutes, having suffered a minor problem on landing. These four aircraft flew their afternoon mission from Mildenhall but recovered to Lakenheath afterwards. Afternoon missions began at approximately 1330 local and the final recoveries were at approximately 1530L, with another 31 missions being flown, including yet another air-test! Unfortunately the good weather which had been forecast for Wednesday 29th, did not materialise and the early morning sunshine had all but disappeared by the time the first aircraft were recovering, which was a pity for all the photographers waiting under the approach to runway 24. All three resident units flew during the day with 38 different aircraft being recorded, with an even apportionment between the Squadrons. |
Thursday 30th December was a much better day for weather conditions, with clear blue sky over Suffolk (that was always on the cards, when yours truly had planned to visit Lakenheath the day before!) but unfortunately not as much flying activity took place. Only morning missions were flown, with activity beginning just after 1000 local and ending at approximately 1230 local. Only 22 different aircraft flew during the period but were again from a mixture of the three resident Squadrons, although the 493rd Fighter Squadron only flew four aircraft. |
Unfortunately, no visitors were recorded on the 29th and only two visitors were seen on the 30th. These were only two residents from Mildenhall, being a USAFE/100th ARW/351st ARS KC-135R, 63-8871 and a USN UC-12M, 163836, which performed some training approaches, before returning to Mildenhall. One bonus however was that during the two days, two F-15s with MiG kill markings (84-0015 and 84-0027) were both seen flying. |
Generally the first of the two days is the busier, with multiple missions in both morning and afternoon. The second day usually has multiple morning missions and little or no activity during the afternoon. Of course, weather will be the key factor in deciding which of the days is the busier, especially considering the fact it is winter time and good conditions are not guaranteed! Although not a ‘normal’ active day, to say the flying is limited, would be an understatement! The total number of missions was 86, with no less than 48 different aircraft airborne during the one and a half day period, which saw eight and a half hours of flying, at an average of over ten missions per hour! Some 18 different aircraft from the 492nd Fighter Squadron, 13 different aircraft from the 493rd Fighter Squadron and 16 different aircraft from the 494th Fighter Squadron flew missions, with some of these aircraft flying during all three launches in the period. So, for those who like Eagle action, Lakenheath was the place to be! |
Whatever happens though, these days are really a bonus in the U.K. military aviation enthusiast’s and photographer’s calendar, as where else in Britain can you see fighter jets flying during your Christmas holidays? So, next year, when you have had enough of stuffing the turkey, over indulging on food and drink, entertaining too many relatives, consoling screaming children, who have broken their new toys and watching those regular, all too often repeated films, (like ‘The Sound of Music’ for the hundredth time) why not take a trip out to Suffolk instead and shoot your final aviation photographs of the year?
For
a report of the aircraft logged during the two
days, please download
our datasheet of all of the
aircraft that flew during the period. Click
Here |
