Originally Posted by
pax britanica
Walking dog this afternoon about 3pm in the hill tops around Frome a loud loud noise from the other side of a tall hedge caught my attention, monster tractor of low fying A400-no more C130s sadly. Seconds later an Atlas hurtles over head and banks quite hard to the right , a most spectacular sight and sound . FR 24 gave its altitude/height as 500 ft and the GPS on my phone gave my height at 105 m M 344 ft. Certainly low enough to see all the ports and outlets etc on the belly of the Airbus .
This is quite common here as planes returning to Brize from points further Sw obviously use the Mendip terrain for a bit of tactical flying practice but this was exceptionally low. Is there a minimum height above terrain or is it (understandable given these are military aircraft) just down to the captains judgment. I am certainly not complaining as it exhilerating to see big aircraft flying fast and low . The Hercs made rather less noise and I have read that some mil folk felt that was better for stealth type missions thn the A400 although it was clear from todays views that the A400 is a lot bigger and possibly faster.
Made a sunny day even nicer and no doubt the crew enjoyed the lovely coutryside between over From before follwoing the railway and power lines NW back home. to Brize
The minimum height in that area is 250 feet.