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[Richie London]

the red arrows used to fly over my mums in northolt, was just a loud woosh over the house, and that was real low as well. never needed laxative when they sneaked up on you  

[webby23]

I would say that where you are it's more likely to be a F-14 Tomcat going into Lakenheath

F14s are no longer in active service with the US.

[stuart30]

I would say that where you are it's more likely to be a F-14 Tomcat going into Lakenheath

F14s are no longer in active service with the US.

Link a couple of posts back is a very good liking...not up with jets but looks the same.

[webby23]

I think the lowest permitted altitude on (RAF) training exercises is 250 feet

[iainb]

Just wondering if the Blue Angels are back at Waddington with there F18's   (USAF)

[stuart30]

the red arrows used to fly over my mums in northolt, was just a loud woosh over the house, and that was real low as well. never needed laxative when they sneaked up on you  

yeah but they dont have ""lets nuke the sons of bitchs"" yanks at the controls.

Just see it now.....after blowing the town centre up yank pilots excuse ""Geee sorry ma"am i thought that shopping trolley was an bin laden"s grocerys....""

[webby23]

More than likely a Tornado out of Coningsby or Cottesmore, if not a Harrier out of Wittering.

[webby23]

Just wondering if the Blue Angels are back at Waddington with there F18's   (USAF)

Drove past Waddo today and no sign of the Angels, although the Red Arrows were there

[stuart30]

More than likely a Tornado out of Coningsby or Cottesmore, if not a Harrier out of Wittering.

Wasn't a harrier...completely different front end.

Had a pointy beak like a tornado.

Sorry not a plane fan..

[Kevin Wood]

Id say Huntingdon Town centre is fairly built up.....

Er.. Yep. Failure of a "power unit" could have been interesting, then.

If it's the U.S. military we're talking about...   Suffice it to say in my very limited experience of flying gliders I have never seen a UK military aircraft come anywhere near me, despite flying from an airfield 2 miles away from RAF Odiham. They spot you and keep out of your way. Not so with our friends from across the pond IME.

Put it this way (as i cant say for sure the height not being trained in such matters) its very very rare too see the local Plod chopper this low....even when hovering eating there dunking donuts.

Depends on the donut load, of course. There's only so many Donuts you can lift with 650 shaft horsepower.

Kevin

[stuart30]

Id say Huntingdon Town centre is fairly built up.....

Er.. Yep. Failure of a "power unit" could have been interesting, then.

If it's the u (as YOU is too hard to spell for me).S. military we're talking about...   Suffice it to say in my very limited experience of flying gliders I have never seen a UK military aircraft come anywhere near me, despite flying from an airfield 2 miles away from RAF Odiham. They spot you and keep out of your way. Not so with our friends from across the pond IME.

Put it this way (as i cant say for sure the height not being trained in such matters) its very very rare too see the local Plod chopper this low....even when hovering eating there dunking donuts.

Depends on the donut load, of course. There's only so many Donuts you can lift with 650 shaft horsepower.

Kevin

Thats what i thought intialy...he was in trouble and was making a run for either Brampton (i know its no longer in service) or wyton...Wyton made sense as he was banking round hard in that general direction.

Could just be ""One of those things"" i guess....would love too know for sure though.

[Lazydocker]

I would say that where you are it's more likely to be a F-14 Tomcat going into Lakenheath

F14s are no longer in active service with the US.

Wasn't aware of that... Saw one in about the same area a little over a year ago (I think), flying VERY low

[Entwood]

Outside of a MATZ (Military Air Trafic Zone) they are limited to a MSD (Minimum Safe Distance) of 250 ft.... ie .. a "bubble" around the aircraft that nothing is allowed to penetrate ... so if at 250 ft over a field and an electricity plyon 200 ft is ahead .. you climb to 450 feet to cross the pylon. Within a MATZ, Range or OLF (Operational Low Flying) training areas then different rules apply.

These are the Minimum heights , local rules, areas can instigate higher restrictions, eg .. around a riding school a local area restriction of 2000 ft may be applied.

It is extremely difficult to estimate the height/speed of an aircraft accurately, as looking at the sky you have nothing to compare it to, it is just a fast moving shape. Small aircraft ALWAYS appear to move faster than a large one, and as your brain doesn't actually "know" the size of fast jet ... you guess, and because its making a lot of noise it must be close .. therefore it must be low ...

HTH

[webby23]

f14s were retired a couple of years ago......check Wikipedia for full info

[Gaffers]

most likely a Harrier, they do low fly training cause they have to do that in Afghan to avoid missile locks from RPGs

You cant get a lock-on from RPGs, they are a simple yet crude rocket with an explosive charge which propels molten metal forward on impact.  This charge will go through armour (size and thickness dependant)  Although simple to use it does require a bit of time to get the aim right and even then it is not very accurate, esp at distance.  Flying low and fast means that by the time the rocket is in the shoulder that the aircraft is already out of range.

SAM (surface to air missile) requires a lock on with either a heat or radar signature.  Takes a while to get a lock and needs a certain amount of time to travel before it arms.  Flying low and fast negates this risk but does not eradicate it.

Fighter jets are restricted to a minimum of 1000' above built up areas and cannot go supersonic unless out at sea or they are very very high up.  There may be local exceptions on occasion, if you see one dont complain people pay good money to see such displays.  I love hiking in Wales as they come up the valleys and you can look down into the cockpit and have the pilot wave up at you!