Welcome to Bombertown for the 25-1 bomber deployment at RAF Fairford featuring 4 B52 from Barksdale AFB in the USA.
We are very privileged to be so near RAF Fairford that frequently hosts bomber deployments from USA including B52s, B1s and even sometime the almighty B2 Spirit.
We are also only half an hour from the worlds biggest military air show (RIAT) hosted at the Fairford base which reminds me on a yearly basis how lucky I am as a military aviation photographer!
With the days running short and getting the Buffs in daylight action would of been hard with my full-time job, so I spoke to a good friend a received a schedule for a 10am Departure on Friday 15th November so I promptly booked the day off...Sadly though the departure didn't quite go as planned....
I woke up at 7am to get to Fairford early and was conscious of some loud rumbling over head (It was the buffs that took off earlier than expected!)
Plan B sprung to mind and I headed off to RAF Brize Norton for some "Heavy" action, which thankfully didn't disappoint,
x2 A330 tankers where out in the North Sea fuelling up our RAF Typhoons, so we got these two landing back at around midday, An A400M Atlas circuit bashing from Brize and also 2 Australian C130s which sadly didn't move but was great to see and tick another country off!
Thanks to the very friendly hobbyists, their was also another photographer at Brize who told me the B52s are due back into Fairford at around 3.00pm, so I set off there early, arriving back at base at around 1pm, as I wanted to do a fence walk and check out the BTS action...
…Which also proved to be amazing, I got up close to x2 Buffs and even two of the crew members from the Squadron came over for a chat and also gave me a free patch!
2.30pm came along fast, with my Scanner screaming in coming communications between the base and the B52 pilots, so I rushed over to the fence (15 min fast walk) and gained a good spot for the arrivals along with many other fellow enthusiasts which of course are very friendly and offer any advice that may be needed...It was now just a waiting game
2.55pm - The pilots called for a Full-Stop into Runway 27 which meant we would also get the taxing, as well as the landing which means you get the best of both worlds. Sadly it was a very cloudy dark day which made it difficult to get the exposure perfect, especially when you are in a rush!
Bang on 3.00pm these beasts touched back onto the Cotswold Tarmac looking as good as ever. Only pictures can speak a thousand words, So here is a small selection of my best shots from the day Including Brize Norton.
overall, A very successful day, seeing the UKs, American and Australian air force in one standard day isn't something that happens very often
Enjoy!
