Seen Over Your House Today

[NARSES2]

The ops room is 100% authentic, Chris, the replica is/was at Hendon.  The totes at the back and the table have been 'reset' to 15 Sep 40.

Ah, cheers mate 

[Nick]

So not quite seen over my house today, more like what I saw yesterday over the other side of the garden wall of a house I lived in a few years ago.

The last station I was accommodated at was RAF Uxbridge, during WW2 the HQ of 11 Gp Fighter Command and the site of the bunker where 11 Gp Fighter Command ops were directed during the Battle of Britain, where air ops over the D-Day beaches were controlled, and many, many other operations.  The Ops Bunker is the other side of the wall of the last married quarter I lived in.  Visited it many times and me and my lad used to kick a football around over the top of it.

RAF Uxbridge closed down a few years ago and the site is being redeveloped.  The bunker has been preserved and a brand new £6.5m visitor's centre officially opens to the public next weekend.  I was fortunate enough to attend a preview courtesy of my next-door neighbour who is a volunteer worker at the museum.  Very much worth a visit, the ops room (a replica of which was in the RAF Museum's Battle of Britain annex until that closed down, don't know where it may be now) is set up to look as it did late morning 15 September 1940 (Adler Tag).

Now that looks worth visiting again! 
I went there 6 years ago when it was just the two (plastic?) gate guardians outside the WW2 bunker and the old generator hall. We were given free run of the place and there's a lot to see down there! 

[TheChronicOne]

Not exactly over my house... more like sitting on the ground 3 miles south of here at the Lawton/Ft. Sill Regional Airport(LAW).

I spotted it nearly 2 miles away.   

At first, I said, "Oh look, a C-17 at the airport, must be here for the airshow or something."  Then I joked to myself, "Hell, maybe it's a Galaxy!"  I got closer and once buildings and trees were out of the way I saw it and I'll be damned if it wasn't a Galaxy after all!      I ain't seen one around here in over 20 years! Not that there hasn't been one, though, just that I haven't seen it. I sure wish I got to see it fly around and land. I'll try to watch it leave, for sure... 

At risk of having some moron think I'm a jihadi or something I went ahead and took myself right onto the airport, parked, and walked about a quarter mile to grab a few pics. This is with really bad Sciatica pain and after having worked 8 hours solid. Needless to say, I was motivated!!!!!!!!    Like I'm NOT going to go look at this thing.   


I should have snapped a picture of the control tower. The T-tail is EASILY as tall as it is.   




Can't see it, but, "Travis AFB" and the number was something likt 60061


Golf course adjacent to the airport, hence lawn equipment. (I'm sure the airport has it's own, of course.. )


This made my day.

[zenrat]

"What plane officer?  I was just taking pics of the cool mowers..."

[scooter]

This was the easiest way we could tell there was a C-5 on the flightline from our barracks when I was in Iceland.

[kitnut617]

That isn't just any C-5 either Brad, it's the latest version of it, the C-5M  (look at the engine nacelles)

[TheChronicOne]

"What plane officer?  I was just taking pics of the cool mowers..."

I was all prepared to spew facts and figures about that crap sitting there and regale them of my time spent working on a golf course and doing mechanic work on these machines. Mowed greens, also. "Yeah buddy, this lawn equipment is awesome, I don't care about the B-40 Solar System sitting there. " 

This was the easiest way we could tell there was a C-5 on the flightline from our barracks when I was in Iceland.

    Kind of like a shark fin.    "what lurks below.." 

That isn't just any C-5 either Brad, it's the latest version of it, the C-5M  (look at the engine nacelles)

I saw 'em, indeed!  That's one reason why I didn't notice it flying around perhaps;  because I couldn't hear it!  Supposedly it actually landed that morning. I was on that side of town for most of the day but left for about an hour. That might be when it landed but even with lawn equipment going I probably would have heard it do its circling business had I been around and it still had TF39s.    TF 39's are half of what made Galaxies flying around so cool. 

I wish I knew how to figure out when this sucker is departing...     Camping at the fence is a bit uncouth. 

[zenrat]

...I wish I knew how to figure out when this sucker is departing...     Camping at the fence is a bit uncouth. 

Have you tried asking?
They can only say "why do you ask?  Please step this way sir.  Does anybody know you are here?"

[KiwiZac]

I'm a bit late, but on Monday two Yak-52s went over (our place is under the flightpath for NZWU) on their way home from the big Wanaka airshow, followed a couple of hours by the Catalina. A lovely surprise to end my Easter break! There's something about the Cat that makes me happy.

[PR19_Kit]

........ followed a couple of hours by the Catalina. A lovely surprise to end my Easter break! There's something about the Cat that makes me happy.

Oooooh, green with envy mode on!

[perttime]

NH-90 helicopter.
Actually, I saw one twice. My first guess is that there's an exercise at the police school, for co-operation between army helicopters and police personnel.

[TheChronicOne]

...I wish I knew how to figure out when this sucker is departing...     Camping at the fence is a bit uncouth. 

Have you tried asking?
They can only say "why do you ask?  Please step this way sir.  Does anybody know you are here?"

I sure would have had the opportunity arised. I'll be back in that area again Saturday so I'll see if it's still there and if so I might just snoop around some more. 

[Rheged]

Over Hereford Cathedral whilst Rheged minor and I were stewarding the Weeping Window Poppies display, three pairs of Typhoons, high enough to be difficult to recognise but low enough to be VERY noisy.

[TheChronicOne]

I had been hearing if off and on for a couple days now but was unable to lay eyes on it until just now! B-1B flying around.  How cool is THAT?! I've never seen one in flight or in person, either, so this was pretty cool.



EDIT: WELL I TRIED.    It looks closer in person than on the camera, as always, but it's still way up there. Not up at airliner heights but no less than 12,000 ft. If you try really hard, you can see what looks like a spec of dust on the lens... in the middle of the photo, just left of a blue patch. This was zoomed in! 

[Rheged]

Not my sighting, but Rheged Minor reports two Mustangs landing at Shobdon