Trip Report May 2023

Five months into the year before I've had the opportunity for a military low flying photography trip and a chance to use my new Canon RF 600 f4 lens. My trip to California, USA, in February was to be for low flying photography, but the unseasonable weather put the kibosh on that plan (see Trip Report February/March 2023 this page).

Tuesday 23rd - The first of two days in the Lake District. The weather forecast for the week was looking favourable with light winds, sunny spells and more importantly, no rain. I decided to spend the two days at locations around Ullswater. Today I tried Silver Point on the east side of Ullswater opposite the village of Glenridding. Silver Point gives you a clear view of Kirkstone Pass, the direction from which aircraft approach. It also gives you time to react if they suddenly appear out from Pasture Bottom which is an alternative route they can take. The only downside I find with the location is that the surrounding hills reduce the transmissions picked‑up by my airband scanner, so listening and a visual lookout for approaching aircraft is vital.

The morning was quiet with no aircraft seen. After midday, I heard the low rumble and screech of that unmistakable noise made by a frontline jet, as one routed down Thirlmere Reservoir to my west on the other side of the hills. I anticipated (or hoped) it would route around and come past my location. Approximately four minutes later at 12:21 I heard a high‑pitched howl as an RAF F‑35B Lightning appeared out from Pasture Bottom routing towards my location. It took a short while to find the aircraft in my viewfiner (as getting used to the longer focal length of the 600mm lens) and when I did, it went blurred and I lost it. The same happened a second time. I did not observe the aircraft serial and I only captured a couple of blurred images as the F‑35 routed past. Disappointed, I put the experience down to being tired after a six‑hour drive.

At 14:01, I spotted an Embraer Phenom T.1, ZM333 of RAF No. 3 FTS/46 Sqn, Cranwell, passing through the gap at Kirkstone Pass routing down towards my location. When I checked the back of my camera after the Phenom had routed past, all the images I had captured appeared to be soft or out‑of‑focus. Puzzled, I initially thought the camera viewfinder dipoter was set incorrectly. I was checking my lens and camera menu settings, when at 14:12 I noticed an Airbus A400M Atlas C.1, ZM413 routing down from Kirkstone Pass. Again, all the images captured were soft or out‑of‑focus. Now feeling a tad frustrated and naffed‑off I went through my camera settings again. Eureka !! ‑  found the problem. To cut a long story short, I had previously been using my camera for taking landscapes and when changing the settings back for my aircraft photography I had stupidly forgot to change the One‑Shot setting to Al‑Servo. This was the reason the camera would initially focus on the aircraft, but as the aircraft moved focus would be lost. A schoolboy error and a first for myself, but one which I will not make again. Lady Luck did shine a little. When I downloaded the photos, I found I had managed to get one sharp image of both the Phenom and the Atlas.

Airbus A400M Atlas C.1 (ZM413 ‘413’) of RAF No. 24/70/206 Sqn's, Brize Norton.

Wednesday 24th - Low Birk Fell, Ullswater. Another warm and sunny day. After arriving on the hill at 08:00 I was soon joined by two fellow photographers. The first and only passes of the day at 09:13 were two BAE Hawk T.2's, ZK023 leading ZK020. I only captured keepable photos of ZK023, as ZK020 was too close behind to have time to lock onto. The remainder of the day was quiet, with little activity on the airband scanner, but the banter with my fellow photographers made for a pleasant day. There was hope of an A400M Atlas routing through which had dropped down to low‑level at the southern end of Windermere (at approximately 16:20), but nothing materialised. I left the hill at 16:30, as I had a long drive home and was working the following day.
Photographs from my trip can be viewed at: 2023 ‑ UK Military Low Flying.