RAF
Cottesmore - 16/03/2009
With
the weather forecasts suggesting
a very pleasant day and with
little of interest happening
elsewhere, I decided to chance
my arm at Cottesmore in the
hope that the recently returned
aircraft and pilots from the
Naval Strike Wing would be
getting back into the swing
of things.
I
arrived at 1000 and immediately
heard the encouraging sound
of a Harrier running, so I
immediately donned my boots,
coat etc, and headed up to
the 22 end. Upon arrival it
became obvious that the aircraft
running was actually in the
tie-down facility, and thus,
the prospects of it flying
were slim to non-existent.
The
sun was present but it was
partially obscured by a bank
of high-level cloud which
gave the sky an unappealing
white colour.
After
an hour of inactivity a singleton
taxied out, crewed by a Navy
pilot. She got airborne and
stayed in the circuit, performing
a conventional roller on the
main, a high-hovering approach
to the same, and then a couple
of approaches to the strip
and the mexi pads, before
taxying back.
While
she was in the circuit I'd
heard what I thought was the
sound of one more startup,
but as it turned out it was
"Jedi", a four-ship
of 1(F) Sqn crews who headed
into Wales for some low-level
action.
They
were carrying a mix of fits,
including Paveway IV and AGM-65
Maverick weapons.
They
disappeared for about 90 minutes
and I was, coincidentally,
joined by an old email contact
of mine, Paul Forbes and his
dad (coincidentally because
we'd never met before and
had only exchanged emails
over the previous weekend,
with no mention of our intentions
for this day having been made!).
On
the Harriers' return they
kep the circuit busy for a
while with various approaches.
The
next action was served up
a short while after when a
32(TR) Sqn BAe 125 arrived,
and was later followed by
the 2008 display schemed Tucano,
who performed a roller before
departing.
We
had to wait until 1530 for
the next Harrier action. Again
they were "Jedi",
but this time one of the four
went tech and so they went
as a three-ship.
Quite
soon after the BAe125 taxied
out from VASS and departed.
The
final action of the day for
me was served up by the return
of Jedi, though they were
all straight in approaches,
which was a shame as the light
was starting to improve by
the time the last one landed.
It
had been a quiet day, there's
no two ways about it, but
I'd come away with some of
my sharpest Harrier images
to date and it'd been good
to meet Paul and his dad.
Paul's
uploaded some video
footage from the day to
YouTube.
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