Circles in the sky
 

From time to time from my strip in South Lincolnshire I observe the contrails of a large jet flying a circular route over an area of 50 miles or so.

These flight sometimes go on for an hour or more which leave concentric circles in the sky which show there is little deviation from the circular route flown.

I've identified the aircraft type as E-3 Sentries and can only assume they are on flight test and possibly out of Lakenheath, as the circular route would encompass that base.

It's been bugging me for sometime now and I'm sure there's someone knowledgeable out there that can put me right.

Thanks

Do you mean like this?

http://i367.photobucket.com/albums/o...rbit160112.jpg

http://i367.photobucket.com/albums/o...wide160112.jpg

It caused widespread panic back in mid January as people thought it was a hijacked airliner and they called their local radio stations, etc. However, it was just another routine E3 Sentry training sortie.

Please excuse the quality, but I had to shrink them down in size for the mods...

SB

There are various E-3 orbit areas in the UK and abroad. The crew will generally pick whichever orbit fits in best with the nature of the sortie.

The E-3 will be set to fly a ground track, prevailing winds aloft will carry the contrails away from the orbit area.

RAF E-3s are based at Waddington.

Thanks, I thought it was something of that nature but should have considered training sorties as an alternative to my assumption of lengthy flight tests following maintenance.

Quite used to seeing Waddington based Sentries letting down/climbing away north of my location, I'm naturally assuming these are Lakenheath based, given their positioning well to the SE of my place!

Fixed... :E

Damn it! PTT beat me to it lol :D

Weather sat image over North Sea

http://www.earthstation1.com/Aircraf...ary/aurora.jpg

Rogcal,

If you saw the aircraft on the 16th January then it was a NATO E-3 Sentry from Geilenkirchen, Germany. This is the aircraft in the great images posted by Sunshine Band.

Link to image of NATO E-3 on 16th January.

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/l...rige/199pb.jpg

The chemtrail loons were getting all worked up over the sighting. These are the people that believe that persistent contrails only appeared in the late 1990s and that they are being poisoned by the 'spraying'.

Circling aircraft revealed to be from NATO - Local - Louth Leader

NATO AWACS

UFO's or just lost! Take your pick!!:ok::ok::ok::ok::ok:

Ah forget crop circles, they have now reached a new height :cool::D:=:ok:

Do they orbit the other way south of the equator?

They have to orbit clockwise half the time, anti-clockwise the other half, on every sortie no matter where in the world they are.

If they don't the ground crew get very unhappy as they have to tow it round in circles, as appropriate, on the ground after they've landed.

Do they rotate the 'mushroom' in the same direction as the orbit or in the opposite direction?

"Circle in the Sky" - wasn't that a song by Belinda Carlisle?

Oh, hang on, it was "Circle in the Sand".

I remember now, "Circle in the Sky" was by the Bangles (who might have been doing circles in the sand when they sang "walk like an Egyptian).

Mister B

Nothing so traditional as circular orbits down here. A bit more freedom from airspace restrictions that get in the way up north, and a few other good reasons not to draw circles in the sky :ok:

Y_G

And if they fly on the Equator they just do straight and level or do they just drop out of the sky in a vertical descent?

No bovver, they hover.

is it chem trail profile Bravo 3 this month or are we repeating another Bravo 2?

And have the new dispersal nozzles been fitted?

They are fitted but dormant at the moment - they need an increase in solar flare activity to activate upper atmosphere ionisation before they become effective......:cool:

Latest Matthew Reilly novel perchance?