Mildenhall could be out of bounds to us all

[donegalone]

I. Will. Still. Go. Down. Folly. Road. And. meet. My. Friends. Let's. not. over. react.

[slogen51]

Hey hey

I can't wait to see a ladder perched on top of the lorry trailer

[PORTPHANTOM]

American supervising basically said only place "designated" is the TRAILER on Johns field. With the best will in the world we cannot all get on it! Was very distressing to witness. It has done more to damage relations with us all in a few hours than anything i can think of. If anybody has the RAF Commanders email address I will write to him, if not, they can come round here! and yes donegalone, will see you Sunday "CHELSEA!!"

[ETUO-09]

any pics available from whats going on there ?

[Ravendriver2008]

any pics available from whats going on there ?

Theres photos of the erecting of the fencing on the Anglia Military Aviation and Mildenhall and Lakenheath Spotting FB groups

cheers

[BOLLO]

I. Will. Still. Go. Down. Folly. Road. And. meet. My. Friends. Let's. not. over. react.

Fair play ta ya,see ya down there over the weekend .

[andrewn]

any pics available from whats going on there ?

Theres photos of the erecting of the fencing on the Anglia Military Aviation and Mildenhall and Lakenheath Spotting FB groups

cheers

If this is permanent then its really bad form by the USVF and I don't see what it's achieving, other than to annoy a bunch of harmless planespotters!

[POL]

any pics available from whats going on there ?

Via Facebook/Martyn Honeybell

[reheat]

Let's hope the RAF don't follow suit at their bases.

[Pune]

Looks to me like a good hard storm and high winds and that lot will be off all over East Anglia!!!

[Tronk 11]

At the risk of being unpopular (although this never really bothers me) People might want to look at the larger picture. I doubt the usaf is really worried about photography of planes, although I'd guess they will be sensitive about some parts of this. However I'd put it another way. If I was at work and worked for the security services I doubt I'd be pleased if people were photographing me at work, especially around military equipment! It's easy for us to say I'm just taking pics of planes but with the size of lenses and clarity you get nowadays the images can be used for a lot more sinister uses.
At johns field with landing shots you are less likely to get faces in pictures than ground/static pictures. Protecting your employees is a good thing, especially for a special operations base.

[romeo bravo]

Well said Tronks. Some people should remember that 'spotting' is a hobby and it does not only exist because of a certain group of people who like watching, spotting and/or photographing aircraft. There is now a whole new group of people who use the hobby to track movements for clandestine reasons; and its not all ISIS backed individuals these days either. Its a working environment and the whole security thing has changed the hobby forever, get over it.

[deerhunter]

Hear, hear

[slogen51]

The green canvas only seems to be at the Folly road end and a bit near the gate where the old waving bay used to be - It look like they are filling in some blanks missed by the erection! of the wooden fencing along beck row some years ago.

You can still spot from Folly by the crash gate and it is easy to crouch below the canvas but parking for any length of time will be tedious.

I don't think it's anti spotter as the gate area was mainly for visitors and staff.

I remember it was all doom and gloom when the waving bay closed but Johns field is fine.

(Edit: IS tend to target civilians - inside the fence at Mildenhall is probably the safest place in the world)

[filmman]

It's nice to see they are being politically correct and allowing for wheel chair viewing. Most Follyites have steep ladders and radios so what's the point?

For the benefit of the military monitoring this site, you should do something about the crows around Folly road, inevitably there will be major damage to a plane by the flocks of crows and if a plane crashes into civil areas ...? Providing more seclusion for the crows seems to be counter productive.

[Andy_99]

I'm thinking maybe too much into this but........

Could this just be a temporary measure for something that's upcoming that we may not yet know about ? a sensitive deployment maybe ? Or is it there as a temporary measure to alleviate the threat perceived from the recent events at Marham ?

I'd expect it to be something more robust than canvas screening if it were a long term solution.

Let's face is IS are a major threat at the moment & anything that can be done to protect the lives of servicemen & Civvi contractors should take priority over spoiling our hobby.

We can still take pic's of aircraft from the Mound, Johns Field etc. without the screens causing an issue.

[quid21]

Interestingly the Lakenheath approach to fencing seems a bit more sturdy!

It now gives people somewhere to hide which is surely counter-productive to security forces being able to see through the fence if that is why it's there!

Bring back the days of the proper viewing area!!!

[Agent K]

........On the other side of the fence if they (the 100s of cars that go round all day),
can't see out how can they also report anything.
I call this short sightedness that they might regret......

Steve.

I'd like to think that the might of the USAF and US Military, and their security people, that of course, manage a daily global operation may have thought through this one without forumites needing to point it out to them.....

[page_verify]

Hi chaps, as I've tried to hint at in a few threads the USAF is stepping up physical security - including visual security - at its bases. It does not like spotters posting photos and reporting its aircraft movements to public forums, which affected some operations in recent times. This doesn't mean it doesn't want to be friends with its local communities and "supporters", but operational security comes first. Expect more of the same.

[apex]

At the risk of being unpopular (although this never really bothers me) People might want to look at the larger picture. I doubt the usaf is really worried about photography of planes, although I'd guess they will be sensitive about some parts of this. However I'd put it another way. If I was at work and worked for the security services I doubt I'd be pleased if people were photographing me at work, especially around military equipment! It's easy for us to say I'm just taking pics of planes but with the size of lenses and clarity you get nowadays the images can be used for a lot more sinister uses.
At johns field with landing shots you are less likely to get faces in pictures than ground/static pictures. Protecting your employees is a good thing, especially for a special operations base.

Makes sense, so no need to feel unpopular, even if you are used to it! After all, you can still see what's going on at Folly Road by elevating yourself or crouching down. If the USAF really wanted to stop anybody seeing inside the wire from there, they would have full length canvas on the fence and security cameras active, which maybe suggests they don't want to encourage people to have the luxury of sitting in their cars for hours on end watching what is going on. Also you are very close to base personnel at that location, particularly joggers, which may well make them feel uncomfortable, which I fully understand.
I hope that is all it is anyway, I would not want to reach the point where we are not welcome and you are moved on pretty swiftly if you stop, like it was at some bases back in the seventies. I fear that one terrorist incident could change all of that one day and I hope that day never comes.
You can still do what you want to at Folly Road, although you might need to visit B&Q first, it's just that there won't be the nice view to help with the tedious hours between movements in the afternoon.