Mach Loop (LFA7)
Well, the 1st of hopefully many visits to the Mach Loop for 2024 has finally started, keeping a close eye on the weather weeks ahead it was changing every single day, Mach Loop day was the coming Thursday, Wednesday evening it was forecasting Rain most of the day with low cloud cover, but we thought, Lets risk it, A choice you probably shouldn't make with the predicted weather.
For those that don't know what the Cloud limit should be, it was forecasting 250-350m cloud base which sounded far to low. But we where wrong...
Driving up the back of Cad East (lazy way) at 7.30am and hiking to the top by 8am, we saw a Hawk from RAF Valley tear through the Loop, we where only minutes to late, but it was a clear sign flying was on the agenda.
And, the weather was perfect, no sun glare in the wrong places, plenty of moisture for any vapour shots that may happen.
8.45am we heard that the RAF F35s are due through, this was my first time seeing proper fighter jets through the loop, so I wasn't wasting anytime, sure enough they appear out of no where, with only a matter of seconds until they have gone again, was a moment I have never experienced before, my pre planned set up payed off and thankfully the pair flew a 2nd lap.
9.15am we had two more passes of the Valley Hawks which are great fun to capture, the large clear cockpit and the colouring matches really well, also done 2 laps each.
After feeling like a long break...
10.15am, A Royal Airforce A400m Atlas (ZM418) purred through the loop, but only done 1 lap around, only living 30minutes away from its base at RAF Brize Norton, it was a pleasure seeing it Loop for my first witnessed time.
Meanwhile a few more Hawks whistled on through....
And Bang...we nearly missed it, 12.10pm a single RAF Red Arrow (XX239) Thunders through the loop, and even putting its smoke on for us which was a really cool experience.
Sadly, nothing from the USAF this day, so 10/10 for the good old Royal Air force.
From 12.15-4.30pm, did we see anything...Absolutely not, Totally dead, but we had an insane morning, We will be back ASAP.
Lesson learnt, even if the forecast is not great, It may still be worth it, after all, Its a Mountain.
Here are a few of my top images of the Mornings action!
Hope you Enjoy! As always all my images are available to purchase in what ever format you wish.
Until next time...
