L/L Tristar

[jimgriff]

Mid afternoon in Mid Wales today I was treated to the sight of a low level tristar heading slowly North. L/L for a tristar that is!



Nice one chaps(esses) What gives..Not known to haunt the weeds normally?

[Pontius Navigator]

Not below 2,000 feet I hope.

I thought the LFS was now closed for Christmas as well.

[Razor61]

It should have been at 5,000ft and routed around the coast of Wales before returning to Brize via Cardigan Bay and Swansea.

[jimgriff]

OK OK! Not Low Level as we are used to, but for a "big white jet Daddy!" it was quite spectacular. It prolly was in excess of 2,000ft, but for a Tristar, on a brilliant clear day, that was low......


Nice to see you! Do come again....please

My 5 yr old daughter looked and asked.."are they going on holiday?":p

[truckiebloke]

nice for the tristar to be airborne...although its help doing other tasks would be more appreciated...instead of putting all the pressure on the j fleet!!(sorry if thats bitter)

:ok: :O

[Mikehegland]

Bet that was an awesome sight....However, I must correct a preevious thread. The UKLFS doesn't close for leave periods. Its available 24/7.

The UKLFS will be closed on xmas day (as its a public holiday) although SAR flights may use it. However, should you wish to thunder over mid wales at 50' on Chrimbo morning you could do so with permission.

[brit bus driver]

truckiebloke,

How on earth could a full pax Tri* be of help to the J fleet?

And just to kill the rumours, not in the LFS, but 5,000ft over Devon, Swansea and mid-Wales, FL60 over Snowdon, ergo >2000' agl.

Still, the 400+ family pax seemed to enjoy it, even if the Xmas spirit isn't shared by all on this forum.

Merry Xmas!

[MightyGem]

The UKLFS doesn't close for leave periods. Its available 24/7.
Not entirely true. The Night Low Flying System is only available for use Mon to Fri up until 2300 for normal use, unless required for special training. UK Low Flying (http://www.mod.uk/issues/lowflying/ar_02-03/uklfs.htm)

[Spotting Bad Guys]

216 provided a families trip for my sqn a couple of years back - bloody good fun had by all, and Mrs SBG and the ankle-biters loved it. Well done to the boys and girls at BZN for taking the time and effort to make it happen.

I fully understand the pressure down route, but if we can still do this sort of thing why not engender a bit more goodwill from those we constantly leave at home whilst we deploy?

SBG

[P-T-Gamekeeper]

If it was a families trip for Xmas, then I think that is great. There is far to little flex in the prog for goodwill gestures these days. Good on 216/2 Gp - (You won't hear me say that very often!!!)

<How on earth could a full pax Tri* be of help to the J fleet?>

By doing its proper job in "The Land Of Sand" instead of hiding in a hangar whilst the J does its job. We could do without 7 crews living in a tent over crimbo.

PS - Truckies can fly VFR as well you know!!!!

[brit bus driver]

P-T-G, truckiebloke et al,

Agree 100%, but as not tasked that day (with that particular route), it's nice to give a little back to the ones who suffer the most......the families!

[jimgriff]

TIME OUT GUYS..........

All I said it was nice to see at lower level than normal!!!

If the pax were looking out over mid wales we were the looney family waving .

>5,000'.....Phew...from where I was standing we could make out the roundels (just about). Then it was an A1 day for it..Gin Clear and all.

Whatever you do with your time and tasking ..Take Care and be happy!

Happy Christmas and a Good safe new year to all our service personnel.

God Bless!!:)

[Always_broken_in_wilts]

All I know is that in Wilts tasking takes priority 1, and whilst "hearts and minds" is a nice touch the prospect of the Tri thing and it's all new singin and dancin "gizmo" helping out in the "sandpit" was being looked forward too:sad:

Shame :sad:

all spelling mistakes are "df" alcohol induced

[Farfrompuken]

Great to see the families getting a bit of a pat on the back from the sqn. It gets incredibly hard on them, especially on such a highly tasked sqn.
I gather they've had a well-deserved lean month, which has allowed this to occur. The first lean month since 9/11. And probably the only one for a while to come.

So well done 216 for your efforts towards the families, and well done to the crews who've been racking up some collosal time away. There will be light at the end of the tunnel

:D

[allan907]

Once did a trip in a "Timmy" where we were going hell for leather at about 10 feet AGL



















































Then we got to 'rotate' and completed the rest of the trip to Ascension at a normal level:ok: