f4 or jaguar

[dragline1]

a very high flying jaguar or f4 phantom overflew my home town of kirkby-in -ashfield nottinghamshire on friday the 16-4-04 at approx 3-30pm heading east , i wondered if anyones knows if it landed or night stopped at raf waddington lincs thank for taking time out to read this request dab (DRAGLINE1)

[whowhenwhy]

It can't have been too high if you were able to get an idea of it's type. If I had to guess and having seen where you live in relation to Newton, you saw a Jag returning back to Colt at 16000 ft (FL160) having come from Wales through the Lichfield Radar Corridor. If you didn't know already, this corridor is centred between Newton in the east and Cosford in the west (about 40nms as the Jag flies) and is a useful way of us mil controllers getting our guys from one side of the country to the other, through all the civil controlled airways, at a relatively decent level for fuel economy reasons. There's another corridor way down south between Brize Norton and Marham at FLs230 and 240, one east west at FL100 centred on Daventry, one north-east, south west through Gamston at FL190 and another up north, northwest of leeming at FL190 which runs north-west, south east.

1530 is a good time for the guys to start coming back on a Friday because it means by the time that they've landed, done the 700, de-briefed etc, they are in time to get in the bar for happy hour at 1700!!

[hotshots!]

For 1700... that would have to be one quick debrief!!!

[Ali Barber]

Would have to have been a blast from the past to have been an F-4 unless it was a foreign one, but they're getting thin on the ground lately!