Just a heads up for anyone planning a visit. I went to visit today (Tuesday May 13th) to find that hangars 3, 4 and 5, are shut due to flooding. Not sure how long this will go on for but might be worth checking with them before making a long journey. Well I guess there has been a lot of rain of late…

Typical UKDJ, cut and paste of a press release issued a few days back.

I was out there in March and similarly had no issues, but that’s not the point here. If some have had their ESTAs revoked then it would be very helpful to know where and what circumstances led to it.

Given the choice the RAF would go for more Wedgetails over P-8, just three E-7s isn’t viable.

The USAF is also here for US sovereign reasons. Take for example El Dorado Canyon, that wasn’t a NATO mission.

Yes the arrivals were logged.

First one is having its mission kit fitted before undergoing a period of flight testing.

Not just Lightnings, Canada are also buying P-8s. And Canadian companies provide components for all F-35s plus are the source of some of the rare earth minerals used in the engines.

So it’s a complex issue which will no doubt play out of the coming weeks.

If you google it you’ll see it’s the 511th.

511th TFS

Whatever the pros and cons of centralising rotary assets the reality is there is no money available to build the extra housing and other infrastructure required. Just look at how long it’s taking to move Phase 1 training from Halton to Cranwell which is years behind schedule. And re the often touted...

Yes I remember the C-5 coffee story, Lockheed argued that the machine would still work following a decompression of the aircraft. And in reality if the tempo is either -40C or +150C getting soap out of a dispenser will be the least of your concerns.

Well training at Sheppard works perfectly well for Norway which has much more inclement weather than do we, similarly the USAF students destined for Alaska. For UK students the extra training is minimal when they get back here, and the cost/time of that has to be balanced against the fact that stude...

Tusa has been grinding his axe over F-35 for years and his figures are way off. The benefit to UK industry from our percentage of the programme pays for Tempest many times over. And when has a large UK defence programme delivered on time and on budget, let alone an international one?

The Protectors also have older sequence serials allocated.

If I remember correctly the loos were some distance away necessitating a walk through the static park, suffice to say there was a lot of incontinence about on arrivals day. The SR-71 arrival was something else, did a couple of low overshoots, some footage here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhqZxj...

Maybe the bat logo isn’t a RAM coating?

Went to the one shown in the vid. Sun is ok but most of these are single flypasts or 360 deg turns some distance off the beach. Only exceptions were a Marine Corps V-22 and Aussie F-35. Looked to me as though the breakwater to the left was probably the best location. Well attended but traffic is not...

A consequence of closing Halton and taking some units from Henlow.

Reported in various places but from INews: https://inews.co.uk/news/world/crown-jewel-russia-air-force-humiliation-kremlin-3100331 Losing the crown jewel of Russia’s air force is a humiliation for the Kremlin The reported first loss of Russia’s most advanced fighter jet in an audacious drone strike ...