French visit the 'Loop' 7th Aug 2009

07th August 2009

In: Low Level Military Aviation 2009

A days holiday today took me to a new location within the 'Loop' - Bwlch Exit. Located a few hundred yards from Bwlch the exit sees the aircraft suddenly appear from the narrow pass and fly straight past, often side on.

Xup kindly showed me the way and I was surprised how steep the climb towards the latter stages.

While the day belonged to the detachment of French Air Force Alpha Jets my photo of the day was the image of the Harrier below.

GR7A Harrier from 1Sqn RAF Cottesmore.

French Air Force Alpha Jets

Exiting Bwlch - Click on any of the images to open them in a new window

The French guys made 17 passes in total past my location. Some of the flying was very impressive, especially the rolls coming out of the Bwlch. I was fortunate to have got some photos from their detachment to RAF Valley last year while at Corris Corner. They are based at Tours AFB in the Loire valley and perform a role similar to that of the RAF Hawk where students are trained to become fighter pilots.

RAF Harrier GR7A from No1 Sqn RAF Cottesmore

The Harrier almost took us by surprise, I just caught a glimpse of it snaking its way from Dinas before it disappeared only to suddenly re-appear low and fast out of the Bwlch. The slow shutter speed at 1/250 emphasises the speed.

Another enjoyable day in the Welsh hills.