A huge transporter jet has just gone past casa del Stoner. Heading SW, overhead at Tewkesbury at 15:00. Not showing up on civilian flight tracker.

Now heading off across the marches and into South Wales. Any one able to Id it?

RAF Globemaster (based on very little)

Well scrap that, it must have done a big u over Herefordshire and it’s come back over heading NE. 4 x prop, not jet. Still massive. Got a pic. Will try to post

Looks like a Hercules…from that pic…

A400M, possibly? Assuming you’d know what a Fat Albert looks like.

An22 is a MASSIVE long shot. Massive being the operative word.

A400M?

Now I can see the picture, AM400M it is.

A400M. Thanks
That’s the lady. Fat bottomed and much bigger than the C130

Airbus A400M? – Dammit too late!

Either we have all the USAF A400M and something big is going down at Ebbw Vale, or the same one has just gone round again.

70sqn operate them out of Brize, I believe. Pretty sure the RAF have about 15.

One Friday afternoon in August we were sat outside the Northern Monk brewery in Leeds which is under the flight path for LBA. And I kid you not, about 10 of these went over, one every 10-20 minutes or so. No idea whether the same plane or not.

They loop around Fairford pretty regularly, often see them when I’m cruisin’ round South Central Ciren wiv me biches.

Dunno about yours, but why would a Thomas Cook A330 have just hopped from Finningley to Brize, there isn’t an all inclusive in Burford is there? G-VYGM just climbing away from Brize now, 15:41

Dunno about yours, but why would a Thomas Cook A330 have just hopped from Finningley to Brize, there isn’t an all inclusive in Burford is there?

Charter probably cheaper than their own passenger jets, or maybe they are buying a few more A330s secondhand.

Ah, looks like they’ve started doing circuits and bumps, Finningley would be very gusty sidewinds for that today and they wanted somewhere else with a long strip.

Dunno about yours, but why would a Thomas Cook A330 have just hopped from Finningley to Brize, there isn’t an all inclusive in Burford is there?

Charter probably cheaper than their own passenger jets, or maybe they are buying a few more A330s secondhand.[/quote]

This one’s being going backwards and forwards between Brize and Donny since yesterday. Was converted from a tanker to civilian usage last year. Perhaps something has gone wrong with it?

That Thomas Cook plane has been doing some strange flights.

Taking off from Finningley in the early hours then returning back quite some time later.

Shuttles between Finningley and Brize at odd times.

Maybe just taking people to see the Vulcan

Edit – Russianbob’s explanation works

One (same one?) just came in low over the Malverns, didn’t know what it was at first as my view Westwards was hidden behind a fir stand. It arrived from over Ledbury way quite low, and there was a gut-ripping howl for what seemed like ages before it climbed over Pinnacle Hill where I finally saw it, pretty close. Put the hairs up on my neck anyway. 🙂

Another one to the North.

Couple of Globemasters last week also. Things hotting up in the Theatre of Global Tensions? I hope not…

Googling tells me it’s not really a Thomas Cook plane(yet).

RAF Airbus Voyager converting to civil.

Theatre of Global Tensions

Droitwich?

We frequently get a Globemaster doing a Touch and Go at Exeter Airport those things are massive!

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5yQ9z67Hp4[/video]

A civilian company runs test flights out of Doncaster over the North Sea usually, they produce electronic warfare systems….. Dassault Falcons

Edit

Talking rubbish, I got confused with Darlington…. There’s one off the coast of Hull now

Theatre of Global Tensions
Droitwich?

😀

CaptainFlashheart – Member

Theatre of Global Tensions

Droitwich?

Meh! Try Great Yarmouth!

Stoner, Malvern Rider, they often come over Cleeve heading toward Malvern, I guess from Brize. Hercs and now the odd A400 usually. Often go direct over our house. I’ve no idea where they go after that, however, it’s toward the Brecons – draw your own conclusions…

If you look at the hills there’s a kind of valley running from Brockhampton up toward Cleeve which is what they seem to come along, sometimes they seem to aim for the gap between Bredon and Gotherington.

Definitely an A400m. The one every 20 minutes at Leeds sounds like pilot training – doing instrument circuits (NDB/ILS) at a civilian airfield. You’ll be seeing a lot of them at low-level around the uk in the next few years training. It will look huge at 250ft!!!

Houns – Member
A civilian company runs test flights out of Doncaster over the North Sea usually, they produce electronic warfare systems….. Dassault Falcons

Edit

Talking rubbish, I got confused with Darlington…. There’s one off the coast of Hull now

Cobham operated Falcon 20 for EW training. We’ve got a base at East Midlands and our main base at Bournemouth airport.

Used to fix the F20’s.

Now work on refuelling systems (for Cobham) as used in the A330 voyager.
Airtanker have 14 voyagers – 9 always in use and others can be leased out (like the one to Thomas Cook) and called back in if a “surge” in numbers is req’d

The A400M has strange noise for a prop A/C too! More of a howl, similar to a jet – down to the contra rotating props. It’s a big old bus the “Atlas”!

A

It will look huge at 250ft!!

Often go direct over our house

They look enormous at that height!

We get a fair bit of airshow traffic coming over low for Fairford too, Arrows in full formation last year.