FighterControl

Gents,

Thought I'd try for a day over at the bases given the nice weather but wasn't really sure what to expect this close to Christmas. I ran past Lakenheath just after 8 and never stopped, it looked pretty certain that nothing was going to happen so carried on to Mildenhall and Folly Rd.

Two RC-135s coming past Folly was nice.











'Strix' went out for some local flying.



'Knife' section had gone off the other end earlier so I waited them out as I watched them playing around in Norfolk. The lead ship just turned in and went down to the 'Alpha' pad.



No 2 was up for some circuit work. Landing opposite Folly before departing for a circuit, followed by a very low and fast run down the runway, allowing me to finally get a CV-22 with the blades forward. No idea what shutter speed you would need to blur these - I thought Apaches were bad enough!













Gary

Nice shots, how do you get to the point where these were taken?

Starbuck wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 23, 2019 8:05 pm

Nice shots, how do you get to the point where these were taken?

Hi,

These were all taken from the same spot - Folly Road. I don't know how familiar you are with Mildenhall so if you need more detail let me know, but here's a quick guide. Folly Road is in the industrial Estate on the South Eastern corner of the airfield. If you were to drive along the A1101 past the end of runway 29 heading South towards Mildenhall, then there is a small mini roundabout just before a Esso petrol station, turn right into the estate and keep on that road through the estate. Folly Rd is immediately after you go past the JEB engineering site on the right, about 2/3rds of the way into the estate. Folly goes right up to the base perimeter fence and a crash gate. The 100th ARW dispersals are directly in front of you.

A word of caution, these were all taken from a step ladder over the fence and for the CV-22s on a 400mm lens. Hope that helps.

Gary

Lovely images in cracking light, thanks for sharing.
Have a great Christmas and New Year..

Hi Gary

Cracking set there

Thanks for posting

Paddyboy

Cracking images

Superb shots, thanks for posting!

Have a lovely Christmas.

gary1701 wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 23, 2019 9:16 pm

Starbuck wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 23, 2019 8:05 pm

Nice shots, how do you get to the point where these were taken?

Hi,

These were all taken from the same spot - Folly Road. I don't know how familiar you are with Mildenhall so if you need more detail let me know, but here's a quick guide. Folly Road is in the industrial Estate on the South Eastern corner of the airfield. If you were to drive along the A1101 past the end of runway 29 heading South towards Mildenhall, then there is a small mini roundabout just before a Esso petrol station, turn right into the estate and keep on that road through the estate. Folly Rd is immediately after you go past the JEB engineering site on the right, about 2/3rds of the way into the estate. Folly goes right up to the base perimeter fence and a crash gate. The 100th ARW dispersals are directly in front of you.

A word of caution, these were all taken from a step ladder over the fence and for the CV-22s on a 400mm lens. Hope that helps.

Gary

Yeah I know the area a little, I normally just stick to Johns Field when I'm over that way. Might have to give that a go next year.

Great set, worth the trip by the looks of things. Pity there was nothing doing at the Heath, but its like that most of the time when I go over there too.

Merry Christmas
John 'flightpath'.

That's a nice set to end the year with !
Well done, lovely photos.
Dave.

Lovely set of photographs Gary, well done, look forward to bumping into you (and everyone else) along the wire sometime next year.

great shots of the CV-22s, your photos are appreciated here.

Sublime winter light - let’s have some more of it over the next couple of months please!

gary1701 wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 23, 2019 9:16 pm

Starbuck wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 23, 2019 8:05 pm

Nice shots, how do you get to the point where these were taken?

Hi,

These were all taken from the same spot - Folly Road. I don't know how familiar you are with Mildenhall so if you need more detail let me know, but here's a quick guide. Folly Road is in the industrial Estate on the South Eastern corner of the airfield. If you were to drive along the A1101 past the end of runway 29 heading South towards Mildenhall, then there is a small mini roundabout just before a Esso petrol station, turn right into the estate and keep on that road through the estate. Folly Rd is immediately after you go past the JEB engineering site on the right, about 2/3rds of the way into the estate. Folly goes right up to the base perimeter fence and a crash gate. The 100th ARW dispersals are directly in front of you.

A word of caution, these were all taken from a step ladder over the fence and for the CV-22s on a 400mm lens. Hope that helps.

Gary

Excellent directions Gary, with the usual health warning that common sense should apply where is the best place to park if you are using Folly Road ?

Hi Richard,

Most people just park alongside the road under the trees on the left hand side away from the base fence. It doesn't get a lot of traffic as it's a dead end that only leads to a crash gate that I've never seen be used. The only other cars down there will be other enthusiasts and the occasional visit by the MoD police, who are quite approachable and will usually say hello and maybe ask a couple of polite questions. I'd only been there about 30 minutes when they drove up on Monday. Folly Rd is normally fine, never personally had any problems. The one time I thought there might be a problem was when a big burly Sergeant on the 100th security parked up inside the fence and walked up to me as I was photographing. Expecting trouble, I was amazed when he started to ask me about the best eating establishments locally as he'd just been posted in and wanted to sample a traditional British Sunday Roast!

Gary

Good shots there,thanks for posting.As for prop blur on an Osprey.......I spent a whole day up at Leeming,and found that if you slow enough on shutter speed <1/60,with my shaky hands,everything else is blurred as well! Roll on the New Year and I must try harder...as my school reports said...

Hi gents,

Results from today's effort.

















Gary

Opening shot and second from last Osprey out of the first set for me Gary.

Love the Galaxy shots in the post update too.

nice photos

As seen in the Eastern Daily