Did you know that registration to Fighter Control is completely free and brings you lots of added features? Find out more....

Loaded and ABLE F-15Es depart RAF Lakenheath 25th May 2015

Only modern military and government aviation can be posted in this section.
Post Reply
mikee115
Posts: 739
Joined: Mon Apr 16, 2012 8:38 pm

Loaded and ABLE F-15Es depart RAF Lakenheath 25th May 2015

Post by mikee115 » Tue May 26, 2015 8:58 pm

Hi all,

Wasn't expecting any movements at Lakenheath on the Bank Holiday as it was Memorial Day. But the radio kicked into life early as ABLE flight called up for departures.

I headed up the Warren as its the closest place for me to get to from home. Listening to the radio i heard that QUID91 flight at Mildenhall were ready to depart too. I guessed that the Strike Eagles were off down range. ABLE flight departed in pairs and had to keep 15 mile trail as advised by ATC. 01 and 02 headed south following QUID91 and 92 as ABLE 03 and 04 were holding over East Anglia as back up aircraft. They were in the end supported by 5 KC135s.

The photos aren't the best but good enough for a record of Strike Eagles loaded with weapons. They look to be loaded with 7 JDAMS each and A2A missiles. Pilots wearing sand coloured flight suits too.

Enough chat!

ImageABLE Flight 25th May 2015 (15) by mikee115, on Flickr

ImageABLE Flight 25th May 2015 (14) by mikee115, on Flickr

ImageABLE Flight 25th May 2015 (10) by mikee115, on Flickr

ImageABLE Flight 25th May 2015 (11) by mikee115, on Flickr

ImageABLE Flight 25th May 2015 (6) by mikee115, on Flickr

ImageABLE Flight 25th May 2015 (3) by mikee115, on Flickr

ImageF15E (8) by mikee115, on Flickr

They returned after 11hrs down in the Mediterranean but unfortunately i wasn't around to catch them.

Thanks for looking.
Mike

podge
Posts: 1077
Joined: Fri May 14, 2010 5:39 pm
Location: Walsham-le-Willows, Suffolk

Re: Loaded and ABLE F-15Es depart RAF Lakenheath 25th May 20

Post by podge » Tue May 26, 2015 9:14 pm

Very nice and a rare sight. Thanks for sharing :thumb:

User avatar
lowlevelRAF
Posts: 712
Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2009 10:39 pm
Location: Brum :)!!

Re: Loaded and ABLE F-15Es depart RAF Lakenheath 25th May 20

Post by lowlevelRAF » Tue May 26, 2015 10:24 pm

Great catch indeed!!
vRAF.net
MSPG Simulations - http://www.facebook.com/mspgsimulations

User avatar
TeeJay
Posts: 3336
Joined: Thu Jun 21, 2012 6:43 pm
Location: Mid Suffolk
Contact:

Re: Loaded and ABLE F-15Es depart RAF Lakenheath 25th May 20

Post by TeeJay » Wed May 27, 2015 4:41 am

Well caught, Mike. Nice pics too :thumb:
Trev

Grifter
Posts: 120
Joined: Thu Mar 21, 2013 9:33 pm

Re: Loaded and ABLE F-15Es depart RAF Lakenheath 25th May 20

Post by Grifter » Wed May 27, 2015 7:30 am

Can someone confirm looking at those if they've got a light blue band on the JDAMs?

POL
Posts: 16963
Joined: Sun Oct 04, 2009 3:26 pm

Re: Loaded and ABLE F-15Es depart RAF Lakenheath 25th May 20

Post by POL » Wed May 27, 2015 7:43 am

No blue bands anywhere other than on the aircraft. AIM-120s appear to have a pinkish-gold band on them too.

Grifter
Posts: 120
Joined: Thu Mar 21, 2013 9:33 pm

Re: Loaded and ABLE F-15Es depart RAF Lakenheath 25th May 20

Post by Grifter » Wed May 27, 2015 8:15 am

EGVP wrote:No blue bands anywhere other than on the aircraft. AIM-120s appear to have a pinkish-gold band on them too.
I think only Mike can get a decent close-up on his photos. With the bad light it's hard to tell, but I'm pretty sure there's a light blue band on the front of those bombs.

The AIM-120s do appear to be live.

POL
Posts: 16963
Joined: Sun Oct 04, 2009 3:26 pm

Re: Loaded and ABLE F-15Es depart RAF Lakenheath 25th May 20

Post by POL » Wed May 27, 2015 8:18 am

You can download 3800px wide images from Flickr, which is what I did, then drop them in to Photoshop and lighten them (which I didn't do) to be sure, but I'm almost convinced there is no blue band.

User avatar
GhostFlight91
Posts: 4896
Joined: Thu Jul 18, 2013 7:22 pm
Location: Lincoln

Re: Loaded and ABLE F-15Es depart RAF Lakenheath 25th May 20

Post by GhostFlight91 » Wed May 27, 2015 8:22 am

very nice mate

Grifter
Posts: 120
Joined: Thu Mar 21, 2013 9:33 pm

Re: Loaded and ABLE F-15Es depart RAF Lakenheath 25th May 20

Post by Grifter » Wed May 27, 2015 8:23 am

EGVP wrote:You can download 3800px wide images from Flickr, which is what I did, then drop them in to Photoshop and lighten them (which I didn't do) to be sure, but I'm almost convinced there is no blue band.
Ok I've done that...looks like my eye is just distorting the grey.

Have we had the discussion about them not using yellow bands all the time to denote live weapons? I'll assume we have :)

Andy_99
Posts: 988
Joined: Tue Jan 28, 2014 12:37 pm
Location: Hebburn

Re: Loaded and ABLE F-15Es depart RAF Lakenheath 25th May 20

Post by Andy_99 » Wed May 27, 2015 8:35 am

Of Course the next question is did they return with the JDAMS still on-board, assuming the AIM-120's weren't needed :P

User avatar
BOLLO
Posts: 102844
Joined: Sun Oct 04, 2009 4:22 pm
Location: Nottingham/Mildenhall.

Re: Loaded and ABLE F-15Es depart RAF Lakenheath 25th May 20

Post by BOLLO » Wed May 27, 2015 3:21 pm

Shame no one was there to get them coming back,or was they ?? Nicely done Mike
http://www.airfighters.com/photosearch.php?phgid=SHED" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; LOADES
http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.s ... _entry=140+" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; at last

What do cry when we see The Man With the Stick???

User avatar
paddyboy
Posts: 24477
Joined: Mon Oct 10, 2011 7:32 pm
Location: Somewhere in Norfolk

Re: Loaded and ABLE F-15Es depart RAF Lakenheath 25th May 20

Post by paddyboy » Wed May 27, 2015 3:55 pm

Top, top shots, buddy :thumbs:

Cheers

Paddyboy :clap:
XH558, always the first lady in my life
Just remember, please don't tell the wife


Image
GRIM REAPERS SUPPORTER

Ramsey

Re: Loaded and ABLE F-15Es depart RAF Lakenheath 25th May 20

Post by Ramsey » Wed May 27, 2015 6:46 pm

Fantastic capture. GBU-38's onboard too.

mikee115
Posts: 739
Joined: Mon Apr 16, 2012 8:38 pm

Re: Loaded and ABLE F-15Es depart RAF Lakenheath 25th May 20

Post by mikee115 » Wed May 27, 2015 9:12 pm

Thanks all for the comments. Would've been good to catch 03 and 04 returning fully armed, but also 01 and 02 to see if they dropped their weapons.

http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/uk-bas ... 1707131274

Article written about the mission is found here. Not much detail but sums it all up.

Thanks
Mike

Grifter
Posts: 120
Joined: Thu Mar 21, 2013 9:33 pm

Re: Loaded and ABLE F-15Es depart RAF Lakenheath 25th May 20

Post by Grifter » Thu May 28, 2015 7:19 am

It isn't the Libyans that are fleeing Libya on the migrant boats.

And were those AIM-9s or AIM-120s? The JDAMs appear to be minus any sort of yellow or blue banding that SHOULD be there. This one is going to be a mystery until news reports start to trickle out of extremists wandering out of the desert suffering from severe headaches.

Doughnut
Posts: 1254
Joined: Mon Oct 05, 2009 10:21 am

Re: Loaded and ABLE F-15Es depart RAF Lakenheath 25th May 20

Post by Doughnut » Thu May 28, 2015 9:11 am

Intersting Link. Very well written, obviously not your average tabloid hack

Andy_99
Posts: 988
Joined: Tue Jan 28, 2014 12:37 pm
Location: Hebburn

Re: Loaded and ABLE F-15Es depart RAF Lakenheath 25th May 20

Post by Andy_99 » Thu May 28, 2015 11:16 am

My monies on them returning minus a few JDAMs.

Get them undercover ASAP to prevent people seeing what they may have been up to

Post Reply

Return to “Current Military Photography”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: BOLLO, NAW, Pauld339, Stocky59, wildcat1, Worldnis and 103 guests