To think the RAF shouldn't do this

[concernedforthefuture]

I was rudely awoken at around 3am this morning by an RAF plane flying fast and low (c 600ft) above my house. I honestly thought it was coming down; it was so loud and scared the shit out of all of us.
I appreciate the need for training but... IT WAS 3 O'CLOCK in the morning??! We live a long way (150 ish miles) from Brize Norton where this plane came from (and indeed we aren't close to any airport / airfield), so low flying aircraft sounds are very unusual.

AIBU to think they should fly low elsewhere at night (like out at sea )? I probably am, but fancied a moan as I'm very tired this morning.

[Starcup]

@PhoneLock



I hope the residents of those flats were given the heads up that that jet was training- omg I thought it was going straight through them!!! I was having palpitations watching it!

[onalongsabbatical]

@Etinox thank you for posting that wonderful poem, I'm off now reading more of her work online and probably buying one of her books. Powerful.

[anotheronebitesthedusting]

Shooting the new Top Gun movie , starring Jeremy Corbyn as a misunderstood x politician struggling to come to terms with growing a beard .

[curtainsforme]

Xdown

Yes to the Vulcan. The most incredible aircraft ever to grace the skies. A lot of tears were shed.

[MrsTannyFickler]

The bear always notify the public when there is night flying by various means but not everyone not loving near a airbase will know where to see these and may only come across the notices by chance.

I can't get uptight about our armed forces training. It can be annoying but sadly they don't get to choosechow or when their services may he needed. They need to get their night flying training in and yes in different terrain.
I think the military especially the RAF are taking full advantage of the airspace and different places for bumps and circuits than they would have open to them in normal times when commercial airports and flightcroutes are too busy to interrupt for training.

[midnightstar66]

@LittleCandle ah how I miss riding racehorses high in the hills of the Scottish Borders and having a jet rip through the valley practically alongside you. One of those hold tight moments in life. Thankfully they were there and gone so fast they barely had time to react. They used to come over my house at all hours and it would rattle the windows. The Hercules thankfully were far less common as it freaked the horses out far more.

[NudgeUnit]

Well, they have to train, but YANBU to be appalled at the noise. I live somewhere not very residential and regularly see/hear Chinooks and Herculeses, and occasionally Typhoons. If they misjudge the height even a fraction it can feel as though your heart is going to force its way through your chest and if you see a plane flying at 500-600 feet from a slight distance rather than being right underneath you can't believe it's not moments away from crashing in a violent fireball, which is alarming in a different way. I saw a low flying Hercules go over an A road just ahead of me about 4 days after the Shoreham air crash and thought I would die of fright.

I do think the RAF could make more effort at outreach, maybe leafleting homes in areas that they fly over regularly every couple of years to flag up where to find more info or who to contact with concerns. There's a complaints email address somewhere, OP, if you feel what happened was irresponsible.

Posters who doubt what the OP's saying are BVU.

[CMOTDibbler]

Absolutely love the Vulcan - we saw it on one of the very last flights at a little local airshow (at an airfield they would have been dispersed to).

In my area we do get random very low flying planes - transport ones round the hill, and once a typhoon came over so low and flipped (I have no idea why) and I could see the pilot. Theres been a few Ospreys of recent weeks too, and the Stealth bombers came over when they left Gloucestershire which was amazing

[trappedsincesundaymorn]

We had 2 hours of Naval Lynx helicopters practising evasive manoeuvres...zig-zags, nose dips, that kind of thing....over the village yesterday. It look like a scene from a low budget remake of Apocalypse Now.

[Starcup]

@curtainsforme

But I never said the ones where pilots are training... I agree that can’t be avoided and it is for the benefit of others.

I’m taking about the ones that fly purely for leisure.

[Disquieted1]

Night-time low level parachuting exercise with paratroopers jumping out over Salisbury Plain, Exmoor and Dartmoor. Flying over residential areas would be unavoidable.

[curtainsforme]

But I never said the ones where pilots are training... I agree that can’t be avoided and it is for the benefit of others.

I’m taking about the ones that fly purely for leisure.

But you don't know if someone in a light aircraft is flying for leisure or becaue they have started their private pilot license with a plan to move on to their commercial license. You cannot know that by looking at an aircraft in the sky or in an app.

[SciFiScream]

Was also lucky to see one of the last flights of the Vulcan. Amazing aircraft. Much missed.

[XDownwiththissortofthingX]

I'm amazed British Paras still actually bother to do training jumps since they've not been used for their primary purpose in over 60 years.

More chance of them turning up by Easyjet than Hercules.

[JohnFinlaysNewTeeth]

I do love how trusting/gullible people are on here.
I know someone who works there I’ll ask.
Less than 3 minutes later a reply to say it was training.
Legit Af

[Aesopfable]

150 miles is nothing in a jet.

[Starcup]

But you don't know if someone in a light aircraft is flying for leisure or becaue they have started their private pilot license with a plan to move on to their commercial license. You cannot know that by looking at an aircraft in the sky or in an app.

@curtainsforme

That’s right I have no idea if the planes circling above are training or are qualified pilots spending their leisure time.

That’s for the authorities to make sure that they know not to go in built up areas and to be fined etc if they do.

[curtainsforme]

That’s right I have no idea if the planes circling above are training or are qualified pilots spending their leisure time.


That’s for the authorities to make sure that they know not to go in built up areas and to be fined etc if they do.

They are ALLOWED to fly - why would the authorities fine them

[mumwon]

I bet it was para jump training - especially as it was doing circuits - probably doing night jumps? (short nights as someone says.)

[concernedforthefuture]

@Aesopfable it wasn't a jet but I understand that planes travel long distances. I just stated the distance from us to Brize Norton to highlight the fact that I don't live near an airspace so military aircraft flying over us is not a normal occurrence (especially not low-flying and at night).

[concernedforthefuture]

@Disquieted1 Do you know that that's what was happening last night or are you guessing? We do live close to one of those areas so that would explain why it was so low going over. Quite exciting!
How do the parachuters get picked up? Will I find a random military person thumbing a lift up the road later?

[mumwon]

@XDownwiththissortofthingX they were used in Iraq in 2003 - you cant tell when they will be needed or if they are used for emergency aid & you wont always be told

[Disquieted1]

@Disquieted1 Do you know that that's what was happening last night or are you guessing?

Just playing detective! The evidence seems to support it.

[Blobby10]

We used to get a lot of Chinooks heading to a nearby airfield but there were several accidents involving horses spooking at them (the horses feel the ground vibrating way before the sound of the helicopter can be heard) so they don't seem to come round here any more. Quite sad as I find all aircraft interesting but the Chinooks and big transport planes are just so huge - I find them fascinating.

[Aroundtheworldin80moves]

For unsettling, try living next to a Glider airfield. You hear the engines as they take off and get to height... Then suddenly the engine cuts out as they start gliding. I got used to plane engines seeming to cut out over my house after a few weeks, but every visitor we had jumped out of their skin until we said they were gliders!

Coupled with the Air Ambulance and the training jets landing (the RAF has airfields they practice landing and taking off from as well as 'home' airfields), there was quite a lot of noise.

My current 'annoyance' is the Firing Range... But soldiers need to practice shooting at night and in daytime. It's more annoying that it means I can't take DDs out for the walks they've enjoyed the last few weeks, because the path is closed for the shooting (which is understandable, don't fancy meeting a stray bullet!)