FighterControl

Hello everyone,
Well last week my uncle James (stingrays4 on here) and i left England for Switzerland. The road trip took us through France, Belgium, Holland, Germany and of course Switzerland. Between the 16th and 23rd we covered 1,930 miles in my R.S.250 and visited the Nurburgring, Spangdahlem and Meiringen. It was definitely a week i'll remember for the rest of my life. It was great to meet Kevin Martin at Meiringen hopefully see you again soon .
Anywho here's the best photos i got on the trip, Don't worry there not all of my car :
1. Ready to go at Dover

Ready to go by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
2. The Nurburgring was shut due to snow and ice

RS250 Nurburgring by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
3. So we went down the road for a few hours at Spang, We got a few photos of the gate guards. We also managed to catch 2 C17s and a KC135, No photos of these though due to the weather

Road trip 2013 day 2 038 by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
4.

SP Viper by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
5.

SP phantom by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
6.

SP Thud by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
7. Now onto the main event, A truly epic place. Stunning scenery, Fast jets everywhere, Night flying, Blue skies it does'nt get any better.

Hornet Burner by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
8. These 2 photos of the night flying were taken from the hotel window, We arrived about 17:30 after a 6ish hour drive so we were pretty tired. We weren't so tired when the Hornets went up . They flew 2 missions both in pairs, The first wave went up about 18:00 landed about 19:00, The second wave went up about 21:00 landed at 22:00.

F18 evening departure by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
9.

Hornet next to the Alps by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
10. Crossing the road

Hornet taxi out by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
11.

Hornet on road by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
12. These next 4 photos were taken on top of the restaurant

Hornet taxi by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
13.

Hornet scenery by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
14.

Hornet Departure by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
15.

Hornet return by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
16.

Swiss F18 by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
17.

Hornets nest by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
18.

Swiss F18 Hornet by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
19.

Hornet close up by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
20.

Hornet afterburner by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
21. Best Hotel i've ever stayed in

Hornet hotel by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
22. When the skies were clear this was a very common site, We even see a few F5s and Hornets dogfighting

F18 Combat air patrol by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
23. From this view point you get really close, You're only about 15 meters from 2 Hornets at full power, It's by far the loudest noise i've ever heard

F18 ready to go by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
24.

Hornet line up by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
25. End of the day so we went along to the lake for some photos

Hornet in black and white by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
26.

Brienz in the Alps by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
27.

RS250 mountain view by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
28. Back to the airbase for the next day with blue skies again (Last pic of my car, I promise lol)

RS250 scenery by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
29.

F18 Hornet departure by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
30.

F18 departure by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
31.

F18 taxi back by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
32. We were treated to a full PC21 display on one of the days

PC21 in the Alps by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
33.

F18 Tiger scheme by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
34.

Tiger tail by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
35.

F18 take off by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
36.

Pilatus Arrival by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
37.

Pilatus nose by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
38. Cool F18 pilot

F18 pilot by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
39.

F18 arrival by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
40.

Pilatus PC21 by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
41.

Pilatus PC21 departure by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
42.

F18 in the Alps by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
43. Buzzard or red kite hunting worms (Swiss FOD control)

Red kite hunting warms by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
44.

Tiger arrival by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
45. Just the one photo from spang, We did see 2 A10s go up before we were told by German police we were'nt allowed anywere near the base. They did'nt like my scanner, So if your planning a visit maybe leave the scanner at home.

C5 at Spangdahlem by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
46. Back on the Ferry to go home

Ready to return by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
47. Final mileage

Just a few miles by Nick Collins R.S. Photography, on Flickr
If you made it down this far thanks very much for looking. A massive thanks to my uncle James for the great company over the week, Plus thanks to richpittman, andyxh558, fighterfoto, Malcolm and dustybug. Who helped out in the thread i started a while ago about advice on the trip.

WOW!!!!!!!!! Looks like a good time was had over their. Love shots 15,16 and 17 though. would love the chance of a trip like this, oh for a lottery win so I could go. Thanks for showing us these amazing shots.

Rob

Absolutly quality nick

Amazing set.

Regards.

Mark.

Nick, what a wonderful trip and great pictures. Couldn't list a fav but that Vauxhall in the first shot is awesome The Hotel you stayed at is a place I was thinking of driving too, I see you had 1900+ miles thats 3 tanks of diesel for me or £170. Hate to think how much your fuel bill was!! Just love the mountain shots with the 18s Glad you had a great time and a safe trip.

Quality work!

Thanks very much mates , The fuel bill was fairly big but devided between the 2 of us it was'nt so bad. I actualy managed 450 miles on one tank of fuel, Goodness only knows how i managed that

Thanks mates

Hi Nick

Glad it went well.
Alot easier to fly Bristol to Geneva

Mind you , I woudnt mind some shots of my car along the Brienz

Great set of pictures and quite a trip.

Just a word of caution in regard to scanners in Germany.
They are illegal over here and while you are allowed to own one, you are NOT allowed to operate or use one (sounds stupid but that's the way it is). You are lucky that the German Police let you keep your scanner. There are countless stories, where the German "Polizei" simply confiscated the scanner and charges were filed, resulting in heavy fines and of course no scanner. So you all just be careful please!

Cheers

Andy

Top quality set of shots

awacsfan wrote:Great set of pictures and quite a trip.

Just a word of caution in regard to scanners in Germany.
They are illegal over here and while you are allowed to own one, you are NOT allowed to operate or use one (sounds stupid but that's the way it is). You are lucky that the German Police let you keep your scanner. There are countless stories, where the German "Polizei" simply confiscated the scanner and charges were filed, resulting in heavy fines and of course no scanner. So you all just be careful please!

Cheers

Andy

Nice shots, even the car!! And on the scanner front, had mine, and 3 others taken off us by the Germans, these were boxed as we knew they were not allowed, we were on the way back from Holland, so not being used, still they took them, charged us all and we were tried in a German court, we did not have to attend, but were fined. This was back around 1990, so looks like nothing's changed!

Awesome stuff!

Thanks mates, Yep i think the scanner will be staying at home next time , It sounds like we were incredibly lucky .

Hi Nick

What can i say except awesome photos from an obviously awesome trip, Glad the old french thing made it all those miles
Love the tiger tail on the hornet to, really good artwork.
fantastic pictures though mate, well done

Trev

, Thanks mate

Brilliant shots there Nick :thumbs:can't choose a favourite,but I love the tiger tailed Hornets,here's hoping for an appearance at Waddo or RIAT

Nick, your photography has come such a long way since you first started sharing your shots. What a truly superb set that followed such an incredible experience. I'm looking forward to my euro journey even more now.

Thanks for sharing

Pete

Thanks very much mate

Simply stunning! It must be one of the best locations to shoot planes.

Hoping to do a similar trip next year, I know I wont make Axalp this year so it'll be the second best thing!

Does the Hotel have a web address?

Thanks.

Dave