UK Low flying 1970s, 1980s

[Andy_99]

Remember one encounter with an A10 in Wales in maybe 80 or 81. We were on a school trip to Llandrindod wells & half the group had gone pony trekking, the remainder of us were walking along a ridge along the top of a valley. Suddenly we heard an approaching jet & all eye's went to the sky to locate it, however we should have been looking toward the valley bottom; next thing an A10 came roaring up the hill towards us at very low level. As it passed overhead it gave a wing waggle before dropping into the next valley. Lots of very excited chatter & maybe over the next 10-15 minutes we were buzzed by 4 or 5 other A10's each almost mirroring the actions of the 1st. Maybe it was just the one but a memorable day that I can picture now as if it were yesterday.

Also remember holidays in the lakes in the mid 80's where aircraft were beating up the lakes from morning till dusk & sometimes even later.

[phantoman13]

I remember during the six week school holidays during the mid to late 80,s there was a flight path south of Stratford upon Avon and we spent many a day watching low flying aircraft as many as up to 40 or 50 a day all sorts from Alconbury F-4s to WR A-10s lots of Tornadoes Jaguars Harriers Hawks Jet Provost Canberras and exchange aircraft like BT F-15s Italian Starfighters Dutch F-5s Belgium Mirage V and Greek A-7s.
To see 20 low flyers was a slow day!! oh to have them days again.

[razor23uk]

I worked out on the highways and bye-ways of South Wales during the 80's and saw so much then. A lot of my work was up on hillsides around Abergavenny and Wentwood where you spotted more if you looked down!...Hawks, Tornado's Jags, Eagles and even the Vulcan's would scream up the valleys below us. Used to see a lot of F111's , Canberra's, JP's,A10's and F16's from Europe.
My home was also very near the flight path for Filton (on the Welsh side of the river Severn) so saw a lot of the VC10 and Vulcan fleet leaving or going into Rolls Royce for work as well.

[Alfie]

I lived on the Wilts/Dorset/Somerset at a little village called Zeals, home to a disused WWII airfield. In the 60's I can remember Sea Vixens from Yeovilton flying just north of home quite low and Beverlys coming over low. 70's and 80's we seemed to be on a regular route for Herc's coming over at nearly tree top level also various Army Air Corp helicopters doing hedge hopping.

[TankBuster]

One of my most vivid memories of 1980's low flying is when a solo Phantom FGR.2 from 56sqn at Wattisham was flying circuits around Brightlingsea in Essex one afternoon. It was flying a triangular circuit and it went around several times before bu@@ering off! The noise was incredible and it was so low I could easily pick out the Firebird on the tailfin. I'll never forget that sight .

TankBuster

[willroney]

I remember, probably the early/mid-80s, of a pair of A10s mooching down the coast at Southwold in some sort of loose formation.
Me and the rest of the family getting a proper 90-degree wing-waggle after waving like crazy at them.

[Supra]

Rented a boat on the river Great Ouse, Cambridgeshire, in September 1987 and were moored-up for the night not far from Ely. Beautiful starry warm night and we were looking skywards when the first of about 12 jets following line astern came over us at about 10000 feet. Towards the end one of them started belching fire from behind it, which at that time worried us considerably, believing it to be in trouble. Have subsequently learned that it was 'torching' to burn off fuel prior to landing and therefore the aircraft would most likely have been F111's. Wonderful!

Most unlikely unless there were Australian Varks in the UK. The practise & resulting fiery spectacle was widely denounced by the USAF but became something of a source of national pride for the Australians! Your event would only have occurred if indeed the jet was..
(a)one of 5 types(including one that wasn't invented then) & (b)dumping fuel in full afterburner. (not great in line-astern?)
Whilst you mention "subsequently learned that it was "torching' to burn off fuel" & I was not there, it seems to me more likely you did in fact see a (partial?) engine failure!

[PeteHemsley]

My late father and I used to spend a lot of time in Northumberland in the 90s. There was a location known as Ros castle or chillingham hill fort. The highest point east of the Cheviot hills. You could watch the F3's from leuchars carrying out CAPs and then bouncing the mud shifters trying to sneak through OTA E low level.

This was before the time we had a scanner. Usually we'd rock up in the morning and watch overhead for the E-3 starting the race track orbit, we then knew trade Was coming our way.

Wished I could step back to those days

[nickowen]

There was a spot on the M1, not far from Watford Gap where one could almost guarantee to see A-10s crossing at low level, even long after the LFAs replaced the LFRs. This was of course in the days when the 81st TFW had 108 at Bentwaters and Woodbridge.

I once stopped in Lincolnshire to watch a Pawnee spraying crops when a pair of A-10s appeared at low level. To avoid the Pawnee, the lead A-10 pulled up, while his wingman broke right, straight into the path of a Jet Provost which came from nowhere. The JP didn't have time to turn, or even twitch, as the A-10 passed beneath, and I wonder to this day if he even saw it.

[Green133]

Nickowen
I remember once working just outside Northampton and seeing 4 A10's winding around the sky for what seemed ages. Fantastic sight.
My job back in mid 80's to mid 90's involved driving to various places around the UK. Pretty much guaranteed to see some military traffic flying overhead. Happy days

[Davef68]

Being a keen hillwalker, the Scottish Highlands in the 80s were a great place to be if you liked aeroplanes as well -Tornados, Jaguars, Buccaneers, Hawks, Hunters, Phantoms, F-111, A10 and C130 were all regularly spotted in multiple quantities, along with more unusual types like Lightning, Jet Provost, Harrier and Dominie, and foreign visitors at exercise times.

Not Scotland, but i once walked from Robin Hoods Bay to Scarborough, and it was like having our own personal airshow - best memory is an A10 flying below cliff level.

These days, not so much - I spent a week in the Highlands a couple of years back and saw one Tornado all week.

[ChrisCwmbran]

My cousin had a house in a little village in south Wales called Devauden. The house was right on the top of a hill descending into a large valley. This is the view from just along from the house which gives you a general idea:

Keep Or Delete by Chris Long, on Flickr

Anyway, during the 1980s they actually had the top of their chimney brought down by an RAF Vulcan. Once they had reported the incident they were very quickly visited by RAF bods who arranged without fuss to fix the damage.

One presumes even if the damage was light it must have been visible on the aircraft too....

[binbrook87]

I'm restarting this thread in the hope of finding out some more information about my childhood memories. I lived just west of Stone in Staffordshire and as mentioned previously in this post I remember seeing lots of military low flying on a daily basis in the 70s and 80s and especially when there were exercises, and it got me to asking why this particular area was used so frequently? I presume that even back then there were certain routes and corridors that had to be used? Was it a route to and from North Wales or just a random area as to me it didn't seem to have any major significance? It's well north of the current Lichfield corridor area so doesn't match any current transit routes. Does anybody have any more info if this area in particular or maps perhaps?

[Andyph]

I'm restarting this thread in the hope of finding out some more information about my childhood memories. I lived just west of Stone in Staffordshire and as mentioned previously in this post I remember seeing lots of military low flying on a daily basis in the 70s and 80s and especially when there were exercises, and it got me to asking why this particular area was used so frequently? I presume that even back then there were certain routes and corridors that had to be used? Was it a route to and from North Wales or just a random area as to me it didn't seem to have any major significance? It's well north of the current Lichfield corridor area so doesn't match any current transit routes. Does anybody have any more info if this area in particular or maps perhaps?

I don't have a chart anymore but you would have been on a flowed LL arrow into Wales at least in the 80s and 90s - they would just have let down into Low level- the nearby 'out' was to the south and over Cosford if I remember correctly.
Essentially once in Wales the jets could go where they liked apart from the one way system round the loop and A5. A similar in and out flowed system ran near the Brecon Beacons in the South
Back in the 70s the low fly system was quite different and was just a route system system round the country - if you were on it great - if you weren't you saw nothing!

Most exercises you would have seen little exercise traffic -The Air Defence ones and Mallet Blows were over the North and East - Although OSEX/ Highland Cardinal were over Wales

You might enjoy the recent thread about Mallet Blows too viewtopic.php?f=287&t=238774

[Blackcat1]

I'm restarting this thread in the hope of finding out some more information about my childhood memories. I lived just west of Stone in Staffordshire and as mentioned previously in this post I remember seeing lots of military low flying on a daily basis in the 70s and 80s and especially when there were exercises, and it got me to asking why this particular area was used so frequently? I presume that even back then there were certain routes and corridors that had to be used? Was it a route to and from North Wales or just a random area as to me it didn't seem to have any major significance? It's well north of the current Lichfield corridor area so doesn't match any current transit routes. Does anybody have any more info if this area in particular or maps perhaps?

I don't have a chart anymore but you would have been on a flowed LL arrow into Wales at least in the 80s and 90s - they would just have let down into Low level- the nearby 'out' was to the south and over Cosford if I remember correctly.
Essentially once in Wales the jets could go where they liked apart from the one way system round the loop and A5. A similar in and out flowed system ran near the Brecon Beacons in the South
Back in the 70s the low fly system was quite different and was just a route system system round the country - if you were on it great - if you weren't you saw nothing!

Most exercises you would have seen little exercise traffic -The Air Defence ones and Mallet Blows were over the North and East - Although OSEX/ Highland Cardinal were over Wales

You might enjoy the recent thread about Mallet Blows too viewtopic.php?f=287&t=238774

I was on the south to north route from the Swansea area north up the Glyneath valley to the Brecon Beacons, a common route for the Vulcans and Hunters.

[binbrook87]

I remember seeing most of the RAF fast jet ground attack inventory with the occasional NATO aircraft too. The most common jet types would be Jaguar, Harrier and Tornado almost on a daily basis, but with Hunter, Vulcan, and Canberra also seen. Can't remember seeing much in the way of Phantoms, Buccaneers or Lightnings though. Had a few F-104s, A-10s, Mirage and Saab Drakens presumably when there were exercises or exchanges on? I can't remember any USAF F-4s or F-111s either. Plus a few other odds n sods.

I lived here.....

52.912155,-2.254638

Most aircraft seemed to be going NW or SE to / from the Cheshire Gap / Wrexham area rather than mid Wales. The only thing in the area that may have been 'a target' was the MOD Army camp at Swynnerton...but I can't see this being worth a flyover?

[reheat]

I recall A10s, usually two or four at a time, flying at around 250 to 500 feet, weaving left and right as they flew, transiting over East Yorkshire usually Southerly over Hedon to the East of Hull. Tornados and Lightnings too, but particularly A10s. This low level corridor seems to be gone now. Great memories, not forgetting RAF Cowden weapons range just up the road on the coast. Great days and great memories.

[Blackcat1]

I remember seeing most of the RAF fast jet ground attack inventory with the occasional NATO aircraft too. The most common jet types would be Jaguar, Harrier and Tornado almost on a daily basis, but with Hunter, Vulcan, and Canberra also seen. Can't remember seeing much in the way of Phantoms, Buccaneers or Lightnings though. Had a few F-104s, A-10s, Mirage and Saab Drakens presumably when there were exercises or exchanges on? I can't remember any USAF F-4s or F-111s either. Plus a few other odds n sods.

I lived here.....

52.912155,-2.254638

Most aircraft seemed to be going NW or SE to / from the Cheshire Gap / Wrexham area rather than mid Wales. The only thing in the area that may have been 'a target' was the MOD Army camp at Swynnerton...but I can't see this being worth a flyover?

F111s used to fly over me on a regular basis and over the Brecon Beacons , used to get all types over here, now I’m lucky to see a Wildcat or Atlas, although the SJ F15Es paid me a visit a couple of years ago as did the German Tornados which was awesome and extremely rare, I think they were lost

[roughcutter]

My first low level experience was in the Summer of 96, when a couple of mates (both VAS members) treated me to a day out to 'their closely guarded location' in the Mach Loop. It was up the side of a mountain called Bwlch Groes. Where we saw a few Valley Hawks, and some TTTE Tonkas passing through, nothing out of the ordinary admittedly. As the afternoon lingered on, we shivered in the cold winds for hours, while waiting for anything to show, followed by mere seconds of organised panic when there was an appearance. Anyway, while we waited, my two mates reminisced about the 'good old days' at the Bwlch, specifically the quantity and diversity of traffic that used to transit. Apparently one of their colleagues (a local spotter) actually logged an incredible '77 movements' in one day there. Granted it was probably in the late 70's, early 80's when there was an abundance, I've no reason to doubt their word about this, and would dearly love to see that log.

[Blackcat1]

My first low level experience was in the Summer of 96, when a couple of mates (both VAS members) treated me to a day out to 'their closely guarded location' in the Mach Loop. It was up the side of a mountain called Bwlch Groes. Where we saw a few Valley Hawks, and some TTTE Tonkas passing through, nothing out of the ordinary admittedly. As the afternoon lingered on, we shivered in the cold winds for hours, while waiting for anything to show, followed by mere seconds of organised panic when there was an appearance. Anyway, while we waited, my two mates reminisced about the 'good old days' at the Bwlch, specifically the quantity and diversity of traffic that used to transit. Apparently one of their colleagues (a local spotter) actually logged an incredible '77 movements' in one day there. Granted it was probably in the late 70's, early 80's when there was an abundance, I've no reason to doubt their word about this, and would dearly love to see that log.

Ah many happy days at Bwlch y Groes in the glory days. They did like to roll inverted at the top and then head to Lake Vyrnwy and attack the dam. This thread is bringing all the good memories back ! And yes I’ve also logged a massive load of passes back then . Even my local area the Brecon Beacons, you would get 30-40 jets a day and that’s individual aircraft , some just in 1 afternoon. Will have to dig out my logs!

We need a thread for nostalgic low fly logs