A400M over the West Midlands?

[wannabe_whirly]

Hello folks, One day earlier this week I thought I saw a A400M doing flybys over Herefordshire, in particular close to the Pontrilas camp. Did anyone else see this?

[TEEEJ]

Some movements on the following.

https://twitter.com/70SqnA400M

A recent low level through the Usk Valley.

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[airborne_artist]

Trialing the Fulton recovery system so as to be able to recover the hooligans from locations not accessible by rotary CSAR I will wager :ok::ok:

[TorqueOfTheDevil]

A400M doing flybys over Herefordshire


Downwind in the Brize circuit?

[Davef68]

Atlases have been very quiet of late - just one or two up and about.

[falcon12]

For the last two days one has been pounding the circuit at EXT.

[uffington sb]

I didn't know that they could stay for so long:E

[charliegolf]

I had the pleasure here at Richard Burtonville a couple of days or so back.

Oh, and I saw a big arsed 'plane go over too!

[TEEEJ]

RAF A400M through the Mach Loop - 5th January 2017.

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[Lyneham Lad]

They certainly have a distinctive aural footprint. Watched one flying N over W/Bassett mid-afternoon today, presumably heading back to BZN for tea ;) No mistaking that sound.

[safetypee]

Another one over the land behind the Malvern Hills (4th Jan). Lovely clear blue day witnessed a good GH workout, almost to the point of being 'sporty', but the steep level turns did not progress to wingovers! Shame.

[KPax]

BDN62 (Gauntlet 62) has been floating around for the past couple of days including, Warton circuits.

[pendrifter]

One over Newquay area this morning about 10.15.
Glimpse through the low cloud as went from Newquay airport towards St. Austell and all went quiet. Few minutes later overhead again same route but cloud to low to see.
Some months ago spied one doing several touch and goes at Newquay.
Is that something regular?

[TEEEJ]

Footage from the western side of the Talyllyn Pass 5 January 2017.

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[Lyneham Lad]

Footage from the western side of the Talyllyn Pass 5 January 2017.

Thanks for the footage. Quite a large shadow at the 1.50 to 2.00 minute mark as it banks round. Those a lot cleverer than me could probably give a reasonable guesstimate of its altitude.

[VX275]

The original Spec called for this sort of thing to be flown by the autopilot.

[Wee Weasley Welshman]

It definitely sounds 'odd'. When under a bit of 'load' there's a hint of RR Dart to it I think.

Does it have an informal service nickname yet?


WWW

[Ken Scott]

Grizzly? Fatlass?

[BEagle]

Grizzly? Fatlass?

It sounds like you might have known the 'Money Monster' at Marham...:hmm:

[steamchicken]

Thanks for the footage. Quite a large shadow at the 1.50 to 2.00 minute mark as it banks round. Those a lot cleverer than me could probably give a reasonable guesstimate of its altitude.
About 1.8x the apparent (foreshortened) wingspan, counting the pixels. Wingspan is given as 139ft 1in in open sources. 1.8*139 = 250.2ft.

Analyst comment: note that the a/c might be further away from the camera in the z-axis than is apparent, over the lower ground rather than the ridge. The apparent wingspan is foreshortened by the bank. Both of these might lead to an underestimate of its height over the ground.

Open sources show that the LFA 7(T) was active on 5th January, permitting low flying down to 100ft for operational training. When the LFA is not active, the lower limit is reported to be 250ft. We assess that the British are progressively building up the A400M tactical role capability; on this occasion they respected the higher 250ft limit although LFA regulations permitted them to go lower. Operating below 250ft in the active LFA would be an indicator of greater confidence in the aircraft and its systems, although the fact that the limit was observed with a high degree of precision (less than 1 per cent) implies they are making progress.

[Lyneham Lad]

Steamchicken - mucho gracias for the feedback regarding my post #15.

[XV490]

Seen over Colchester (https://mobile.twitter.com/KATCreativ/status/818835086019874816?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) too (16 AAB HQ), according to 'Kat'.

[Hangarshuffle]

Paraglider Kristianna Draper tells of near-miss with military Airbus A400M | Daily Mail Online (http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/article-4109028/Paraglider-pilot-tells-brush-death-near-miss-military-Airbus-A400M-came-close-pilot-s-head.html)

Glad everyone came away from this ok.

[Arclite01]

Complete non-event

[FJ2ME]

'I wasn't paying attention to the sky around me, but I knew that this space was all for our own and only two paramotorists had taken off.
'I was going higher and higher with a big smile on my face - I was taking some selfies.
'On one of my circles, I was facing east and suddenly there was this huge roar.
'There was no anticipation or second thoughts - I didn't see anything coming towards me.
'It was the scariest thing. I was immediately screaming and crying and panicked with no idea what to do.

So in summary, NOTAM'd activity in class G airspace, para-motor pilot of less than 2 years experience, admits to not paying attention to surroundings and taking selfies whilst at the controls. And somehow the tone of this article suggests that the properly trained and authorised RAF aircrew are to blame...?

[Arclite01]

FFS ! - I don't know about other people but when I am airborne I NEVER assume I am alone in the sky...........If I was her I'd be embarrassed to admit that. Goodness help us if this is the level of airmanship and experience of the people we are putting forward as team members for the World Paramotor Championships. 'Schemers and Dreamers' kind of describes it............

However I expect that the Daily Mail probably blew it out of all proportion too.

I am sure the A400 crew will be tied to a gun carriage and flogged in public to make amends and that'll be OK................ surprised they haven't volunteered already, just to save time on the witch hunt............

Arc

[Arclite01]

Unrelated to the Airmiss twaddle.............

How is the A400 going ?? - the films and activities I've seen about it suggest it seems to be an OK aeroplane. Footage from the Mach Loop on You Tube is quite spectacular...............

Anyone care to comment ??

Arc

[TorqueOfTheDevil]

'I said this was it, it's all over and I'm going to die.
'I made a quick sharp turn to turn away from the aircraft and just waited to die.'
She added: 'I know there are major propellers coming off the tips of the aircraft and if they're close enough to you, you can get into their rotor stream.



Usually from the Tutor :}

[Union Jack]

FFS ! - I don't know about other people but when I am airborne I NEVER assume I am alone in the sky........... - Arclite

Well, observing that the lady wants "to be a living role model and lead by example, being visible to the public and inspiring women to push themselves to follow their hearts and break female misconceptions and reputations." at least *she* has got off to a good start by genuinely flying solo....:D

On the other hand, and as far as being "visible to the public" is concerned, I'm not sure if an article in the Daily Mail is quite what she had in mind.:)

Jack