Lakenheath 26 & 28 July 2022: F-22 Raptors
Jul 30, 2022 17:17:34 GMT 1
Beemer, viscount, and 11 more like this
Post by plug on Jul 30, 2022 17:17:34 GMT 1
I'd never seen an F-22 before, so the prospect of seeing twelve in one go was too good to miss.
They arrived in two waves of six. Cube 11 to 16 set off from their base at Elmendorf AFB near Anchorage at 11am 26 July our time and arrived at Lakenheath around 7.45pm. Cube 21 to 26 set off from Elmendorf at 11am 28 July our time, arriving around 8pm. The consensus of the rumours at the moment seems to be that small groups of them will deploy to bases in Eastern Europe, but that Lakenheath will be their main base for several weeks before they eventually return to Elmendorf.
The logistics of supporting several air-to-air refuelling sessions for each wave was fascinating to watch on FR24, if only because the positions of the tankers was the only clue as to the F-22s' whereabouts - the F-22s themselves never showed on the tracking sites. Two KC-46s, two KC-10s and two KC-135s flew to Elmendorf from Travis, Phoenix, McGuire and McConnell, while two KC-135s flew to Keflavik from Fairchild and Bangor to refuel the F-22s from eastern Greenland onwards. The Keflavik 135s landed at Prestwick, leaving the F-22s to make their own way down the east coast of the UK.
National 747 N792CA delivered support equipment/personnel to Lakenheath on 25 July. A seventh (spare) F-22 accompanied each wave for a short time, returning to Elmendorf when it was established that the six were OK for the crossing.
It was still reasonably light when the first wave landed. I was positioned at the fence just west of the spotters car park. It seemed like a large proportion of the spotters in the UK and Netherlands was there too! Here's just a few photos, because to be honest they all look the same in their drab paint scheme and in my opinion look nothing like as good as an F-15 or Typhoon. But so much rarer!
F-22A Raptor CUBE 11-16 cell by Dan Sprague, on Flickr
F-22A Raptor CUBE 11-16 cell by Dan Sprague, on Flickr
05-4090 90FS F-22A Raptor CUBE 11 by Dan Sprague, on Flickr
06-4110 11AF F-22A Raptor CUBE 12 by Dan Sprague, on Flickr
L-R 05-4090 90FS CUBE 11 & 06-4110 11AF CUBE 12 F-22A Raptor by Dan Sprague, on Flickr
07-4151 F-22A Raptor CUBE 13 by Dan Sprague, on Flickr
10-4193 3WG F-22A Raptor CUBE 15 by Dan Sprague, on Flickr
I went to sit at the edge of a field of maize at the western end of the runway to watch the second wave land on the 28th. It wasn't as crowded as the eastern end had been on the 26th, but the car parking was even more random and seemed to involve just driving into an adjacent field! Anyway, I got some photos but the light was pretty poor. This was a pity, because the weather forecast promised clear blue skies and the F-22s would have looked nice in low sun. Never mind, I was lucky enough to see them and all in all it was a good trip. I'll post a few more photos of other stuff from Lakenheath and Mildenhall later.
07-4149 CUBE 22 (nearest) & 07-4136 CUBE 23 F-22A Raptor by Dan Sprague, on Flickr
07-4136 F-22A Raptor CUBE 23 by Dan Sprague, on Flickr
07-4144 F-22A Raptor CUBE 24 by Dan Sprague, on Flickr
07-4144 F-22A Raptor CUBE 24 by Dan Sprague, on Flickr
05-4103 F-22A Raptor CUBE 26 by Dan Sprague, on Flickr
They arrived in two waves of six. Cube 11 to 16 set off from their base at Elmendorf AFB near Anchorage at 11am 26 July our time and arrived at Lakenheath around 7.45pm. Cube 21 to 26 set off from Elmendorf at 11am 28 July our time, arriving around 8pm. The consensus of the rumours at the moment seems to be that small groups of them will deploy to bases in Eastern Europe, but that Lakenheath will be their main base for several weeks before they eventually return to Elmendorf.
The logistics of supporting several air-to-air refuelling sessions for each wave was fascinating to watch on FR24, if only because the positions of the tankers was the only clue as to the F-22s' whereabouts - the F-22s themselves never showed on the tracking sites. Two KC-46s, two KC-10s and two KC-135s flew to Elmendorf from Travis, Phoenix, McGuire and McConnell, while two KC-135s flew to Keflavik from Fairchild and Bangor to refuel the F-22s from eastern Greenland onwards. The Keflavik 135s landed at Prestwick, leaving the F-22s to make their own way down the east coast of the UK.
National 747 N792CA delivered support equipment/personnel to Lakenheath on 25 July. A seventh (spare) F-22 accompanied each wave for a short time, returning to Elmendorf when it was established that the six were OK for the crossing.
It was still reasonably light when the first wave landed. I was positioned at the fence just west of the spotters car park. It seemed like a large proportion of the spotters in the UK and Netherlands was there too! Here's just a few photos, because to be honest they all look the same in their drab paint scheme and in my opinion look nothing like as good as an F-15 or Typhoon. But so much rarer!
F-22A Raptor CUBE 11-16 cell by Dan Sprague, on FlickrF-22A Raptor CUBE 11-16 cell by Dan Sprague, on Flickr05-4090 90FS F-22A Raptor CUBE 11 by Dan Sprague, on Flickr06-4110 11AF F-22A Raptor CUBE 12 by Dan Sprague, on FlickrL-R 05-4090 90FS CUBE 11 & 06-4110 11AF CUBE 12 F-22A Raptor by Dan Sprague, on Flickr07-4151 F-22A Raptor CUBE 13 by Dan Sprague, on Flickr10-4193 3WG F-22A Raptor CUBE 15 by Dan Sprague, on FlickrI went to sit at the edge of a field of maize at the western end of the runway to watch the second wave land on the 28th. It wasn't as crowded as the eastern end had been on the 26th, but the car parking was even more random and seemed to involve just driving into an adjacent field! Anyway, I got some photos but the light was pretty poor. This was a pity, because the weather forecast promised clear blue skies and the F-22s would have looked nice in low sun. Never mind, I was lucky enough to see them and all in all it was a good trip. I'll post a few more photos of other stuff from Lakenheath and Mildenhall later.
07-4149 CUBE 22 (nearest) & 07-4136 CUBE 23 F-22A Raptor by Dan Sprague, on Flickr07-4136 F-22A Raptor CUBE 23 by Dan Sprague, on Flickr07-4144 F-22A Raptor CUBE 24 by Dan Sprague, on Flickr07-4144 F-22A Raptor CUBE 24 by Dan Sprague, on Flickr05-4103 F-22A Raptor CUBE 26 by Dan Sprague, on Flickr