Trip Report August 2022

My trip started with a weekend visiting aircraft museums in Scotland and the north of England.

Saturday 20th - Dumfries & Galloway Aviation Museum, Scotland. The museum which is based around the control tower of the former RAF Dumfries has a varied collection of aircraft, including a Battle of Britain Spitfire which was recovered from Loch Doon, Ayrshire. My visit was hampered by heavy rain showers. As the aircraft collection is primarily located outside, I was there for the whole day, taking the opportunity to capture photographs when breaks in the weather allowed.
Photographs from my visit will be uploaded soon.

Dumfries & Galloway Aviation Museum, Gloster Meteor, WL375.

Sunday 21st - Solway Aviation Museum, Carlisle Lake District Airport, Cumbria. The weather was sunny and hot, a total contrast to the weather experienced yesterday, which made my visit much more pleasurable. In February 2020 the museum acquired a Fairey Gannet ECM.6 and when I visited shortly after it was looking the worse for wear and in a sorry state, covered under tarpaulins. Since my last visit, the museum has acquired a SEPECAT Jaguar T.2B and a lot of the aircraft including the Gannet have been cleaned and repainted. My favourite, the Lightning, has been repainted in the livery of a 1960's RAF No. 56 Squadron aircraft, serial XP748.
The Solway Aviation Museum page will be updated in the coming weeks.

Solway Aviation Museum, BAC Lightning F.53, ZF583 (marked as XP748).

After the weekend I had a four‑day visit to the Lake District LFA17 for some low flying aviation photography.

Monday 22nd - Great How, Thirlmere Reservoir. No aircraft were seen in the morning and I left the hill early in the afternoon when the weather started to deteriorate.

Tuesday 23rd - Silver Point, Ullswater. The weather conditions at Ullswater looked favourable, but looking towards Kirkstone Pass from where the aircraft approach, there was low cloud, which I consider would have prevented any aircraft from routing through. At midday, with Kirkstone Pass still obscured by low cloud I relocated to Coppice Corner on Thirlmere Reservoir. The conditions at Thirlmere looked more favourable, but no aircraft were seen.

Wednesday 23rd - Dunmail Raise (east side above the AA box). Today the weather improved but it was a slow day with the first movement being in the early afternoon at 13:51, when a Texan T.1, ZM329 from RAF Valley routed through. A Typhoon FGR.4, ZK367 at 16:20 from RAF Coningsby finished the day.

RAF Eurofighter Typhoon FGR.4, ZK367 routing through Dunmail Raise in the Lake District, LFA17.

Thursday 24th - Silver Point, Ullswater. Today was one of those days where I thought I had made the wrong choice of location, as the Thirlmere route was getting passes by several Typhoon FGR.4's, while I was getting nothing. I thought I was in for a blank (no aircraft seen) but patience is a virtue and I was rewarded in the afternoon at 15:08 when I observed an aircraft break the skyline at Kirkstone Pass, which resulted in my first Typhoon pass at Silver Point, a Typhoon FGR.4, ZK428 from RAF Coningsby.
Photographs from my trip can be viewed at: 2022 ‑ UK Military Low Flying.