With 2018 drawing to a close I decided to upload some of my favouriite photos from this year.
An RAF Typhoon landing at RAF Lossiemouth in May.
An RAF Shorts Tucano trainer flying through the Kirkstone Pass in The Lake District at low level. This came through when I was still in the car park. Despite spending several hours perched on a hillside, I saw nothing else all day.
Air Force 1 and the presidential motorcade during Donald Trump’s visit to Scotland in July.
The Red Arrows departing Prestwick for their display at the Scottish International Air show in September. I like the effect in this photo.
The Red Arrows performing on the second day of the Scottish International Airshow in Ayr.
The highlight of this year’s show was the Swiss Air Force F/A-18. This is the best photo of the Hornet I took. In 2017 we got a Belgian Air Force F-16, I wonder what we will get in 2019.
G-DRAM, known as “Wee Dram” included some touch and goes on the water as part of its display.
Every year there is a balloon festival in Strathaven a few miles from where I live. Usually, the winds carry the balloons east over the village where I live before they land in the fields nearby. I managed to get this photo of a rather colourful balloon against the blue sky as it flew overhead.
@Balloonchaser will probably like this one.
In October I returned to the Mach Loop for the first time in over a year. The visit could not have been timed better for two reasons. Firstly, I got to see four US Navy F/A-18 Super Hornets, which are rarely seen in The Loop. Secondly, the week after I left, an incident involving an RAF Typhoon resulted in a ban on all RAF aircraft in the Mach Loop. This ban ist still in place as of December 2018 and will hopefully be reviewed in January.
Aside from the F-15s and F/A-18s I only saw RAF Hawk T.2s. The photo below is of a Hawk flying through the Cad Pass on the 17th of October.
Another Hawk flying through Bwlch Pass on the 18th of October. Due to the RAF ban, Hawks have been absent from the Mach Loop since October.
I’m looking forward to 2019, when I’ll be taking more photos. In January I plan to go to RAF Marham to see the Tornados before they are retired from RAF service later in 2019.