Exercise Cobra Warrior 23

Belgian Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon

Out of the four RAF bases in Lincolnshire (Coningsby, Cranwell, Scampton and Waddington) RAF Waddington never saw that much action, apart from during the Cobra Warrior exercises. Now Scampton has closed and the Red Arrows have moved to Waddington it is a very active base, attracting a lot of spotters, For the three or four weeks of the Cobra Warrior exercise the number of spotters rises significantly, to the hundreds, if not the thousands,

Belgian Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon

It's a good opportunity to see different aircraft from different air forces. Some of the pilots even come over to the Wave (the car park and snack bar where spotters congregate) to meet the spotters, sell patches etc (some of the spotters are really heavily invested).

Indian Air Force Dassault Mirage

Most of the time at Waddington its just the take off and landngs and the odd fly over that the spotters get to see. The jets are generally out over the North Sea or over the Lake District. Usually they stay out for a couple of hours in the morning and then do the same in the afternoon, although with tanker support they can be out for three hours or more.

A pair of Indian Air Force Dassault Mirages

It's hard to explain the attraction to people that aren't into aircraft. It's not just the sight of the jets, its the sounds, the smell, possibly the boyhood fantasies. I enjoy it, I like seeing new aircraft (or new aircraft to me), but just basically to photograph them. Some of the spotter have to have the plane numbers and as many details as is possible. And standing up at the fence surrounding the base, if its not the sound of jets flying over, or the static filled noise from the scanners, its spotters throwing technical details around. An odd form of one-up-manship

Indian Air Force Dassault Mirage emergency landing

This sequence shows an Indian Air Force Mirage returning to base for an emergency landing due to an electrical fault. Thankfully crew, plane and rescue teams were all unharmed.

Belgian Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon

This Belgian F16 is perhaps one of the most photographed aircraft of the whole exercise. It's striking livery made it a very attractive plane to shoot.

About me:

I can mostly be found shooting models, aviation, motorsports and, when I can, wildlife. But I enjoy most aspects of photography. You can find more of my work on the links below.

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