Harrier Visit

[Angry Turnip]

Couple more pics of the Harriers today-sadly the light conditions were very bad so pictures aren`t great.

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[EIN149]

I was in Portadown today, sadly wished i was at EGAA.

You cant do any better considering the conditions when the clouds started to appear.

Thank you for sharing

[Dave]

A big shame about the clouds arriving at the wrong time, pretty typical at special events! Thanks to Mark for keeping us up to tabs with the times before they arrived. 

[Mark]

Light wasn't too good but got a few anyway....
Luckily there was a 20 minute window in any departures or arrivals and the harrier guys could have a bit of fun doing their touch and gos.


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[Mark]

Thanks to Mark for keeping us up to tabs with the times before they arrived. 

Which I hope no-one took any notice of, as they were actually on time!

[George]

Any ideas on the time they are departing?

[Merlin]

2pm Monday afternoon.

[Dave]

Thanks to Mark for keeping us up to tabs with the times before they arrived. 

Which I hope no-one took any notice of, as they were actually on time!

Really? Judging by this series of posts it seems you were right on The good intent was there so thanks again

From ni_scanner forum in case some of you don't subscribe to it.........
"Harriers were due to arrive around 3.20 although are delayed
around half an hour. And as always 1 is broken."

3 Harriers landed @ 1545. Did three flybys before landing. The last Harrier hovered over the runway and completed a full 360 rotation before landing.

[Mark]

They actually arrived at EGAA at around 3:20/3:25 ,,,, done their run/breaks and 3 very Sloooooooooww touch and go's with go-arounds, before actually landing at 3:45... so they did give like a mini airshow routine.
Anyhooooo .... more from the forums... no idea how accurate this information is...

• [font=&quot]According to lastevenings Belfast Telegraph (Friday 5th)
  The Harriers are due to take to the skies over Northern Ireland thisweekend.
  The pilots are here for a number of engagements, which will include a militarytraining exercise.
  They are also due to meet members of the Ulster Aviation Society as well as ATCcadets[/font]
  
  Now, there was no flying today I heard, but they may be out tomorrow.
  Unfortunately I am away all day tomorrow, so won't be able to listen out for them.

[Merlin]

From chatting with the pilots last night they told us that they were hosting a visit from the air cadets today. They were also scheduled to take in a rugby match so indeed it did sound like there was no flying scheduled for today.

Wouldn't mind watching the military exercise if its nearby.

[George]

Anyone know of any flying tomorrow?

[Angry Turnip]

Generally speaking UK Military aircraft tend to restrict their flying to Mon-Fri,but it would seem odd to send three aircraft over and just have them parked up,so you just never know.
 
Wind looks as if it will favour 07 for most of tomorrow,which is a bit awkward for getting photos.

[Hammerhead]

Wouldn't mind watching the military exercise if its nearby.

If there is to be any low flying to happen there would have to be a NOTAM posted to alert other aircraft to keep clear and as far as i can see there has been none issued for this weekend....

[Merlin]

So, with the Harriers scheduled to fly out tomorrow afternoon and my having made a complete horlicks of the shots I took of them arriving, in addition to nearly all the shots I took on Friday night not coming out terribly well, I'm thinking of heading back out to BFS to watch them depart.

I'd fortuitously booked tomorrow off from work 

Will anyone else be about when they leave?

[Mark]

It's looking like another great sunny day so photos should be a lot better assuming that they give a little send off show.
Might be disappointing if they just take off and disappear.......

[Angry Turnip]

Totally agree,it was very frustrating on Friday as the weather had been glorious up until around 1.30;then it stayed very claggy until just after the Harriers had done their thing
 
With bright holes in the clouds in the backround and very flat light it made correct exposure very difficult.

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[RNASMU]

So, with the Harriers scheduled to fly out tomorrow afternoon and my having made a complete horlicks of the shots I took of them arriving, in addition to nearly all the shots I took on Friday night not coming out terribly well, I'm thinking of heading back out to BFS to watch them depart.

I'd fortuitously booked tomorrow off from work 

 

Will anyone else be about when they leave?

Yes, I'll be there. Where is the best place to view? very little wind at the minute, do you think it will be 025

[Mark]

at the moment they are departing 25, which, is not good for photo opportunities I'm afraid.
On the plus side, if the time of departure is correct, at 2pm, then they should have a clear window of about 25mins with no arrivals or departures to strut their stuff if they feel they want to......

Lets hope they do....

[Merlin]

Where is the best place to view? very little wind at the minute, do you think it will be 025

If they do some flyby's then Killead Church or the road up 'Creative Furnishings', which is just after you turn off the Tully Road to Killead, are the usual spots. Killead Church is better for side on shots. I'll be at one or other 

Spotters Guide for BFS

[Chalkman]

They just flew very low over Lurgan.

[Nige]

Two left on time, One is still here with a `tech problem`

[casper]

Yea flew over Lurgan around 2:30 (two of them) and again just after 3:30.

[Mark]

2 at 2:30 and 1 at 3:30, or the same 2 again?

[Compact Disc]

Hi guys. Seen the lone harrier at 3.30pm. right over my house approx 400ft.WOW! I am told that the pilot is originally from Lurgan.He is called Harvey Smith.My neighbour went to school with him.His parents still live in Lurgan. When they were here last September he did a slow flypast over his parents house and flashed the lights. A real showman.

[Merlin]

Of all the days to be using 07 for take-offs 

A bunch of us had gathered on the lane at the foot of 25. Met up with RNASMU and listened to the scanner waiting for word. The two Harriers that took off at 2:30 came right over us which didn't leave much time for pics, especially when shooting into the sun. They then circled round the north side of the airport and flew down the length of 17 before heading off towards Lurgan.

RNASMU and I hung about for a while before moving up to Crosshill to see what the view was like from there. Sure enough the third Harrier when it departed came right over our heads following the same path as the earlier pair.

Was rather anti-climatic in the end 

If any of the pics I took are salvageable I'll post them here later.