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.

[MyVisionsComeFromSoup]

we were on a cruise in the Baltic a few years back, I was having a walk round the promenade deck, and a Russian fighter jet flew past at shoulder height - it was bloody scary having this thing come up from behind, and almost immediately disappear . The Captain got quite excited about military stuff, and kept on announcing various "sights", including a German submarine at one point.

[mpsw]

More chance of them turning up by Easyjet than Hercules

[MoaningMinniee]

The person who works there wasn't on duty yesterday or the day before, but confirmed they do practice regularly over all sorts of terrain and in all sorts conditions, the Hercules fleet has to be ready to go out with essential military or humanitarian supplies at all times. There's no 'chatter' about any emergency last night. There could have been of course, but very very unlikely!

I rather miss the Hercules, we used to see them very frequently when they were still at Lyneham. Not so often now they're at Brize.

[NietzschePeachPearPlum]

... so low flying aircraft sounds are very unusual

Well quit your moaning then! Don’t you want our defence forces to be trained?

And as for the light aircraft over residential areas that someone was complaining about, they do not fall vertically downwards if there’s an engine problem fgs!

[Etinox]

@onalongsabbatical Fiona Benson is so good- really thoughtful haunting poems on very relatable themes.

[mrsBtheparker]

We've had lots of helicopters flying round over that last couple of months at all times, not a area where robocop is up chasing stolen cars regularly.

[AddressLabel]

They used to regularly do night training here, mountain rescue/SARTU mainly I think. Stupid o’clock in the morning. When I had single pane windows they’d actually f*cking vibrate.

[PhoneLock]

including a German submarine at one point.
The Captain got quite excited

When you say a few years back, exactly how many years back do you mean?

[Zomblie]

For some reason I can't tag the OP but your second screenshot shows it going right over me and yes, I can confirm that we get Hercules regularly going over at very low altitudes in the wee hours. I'm at the edge of a valley and they like to go through the valley so sometimes you can be almost on a level with them if you are driving on the A303 about Mere direction.

I'm near RNAS Yeovilton so I'm used to it.

[WhatHaveIFound]

We're nearly 200 miles from Brize Norton and have had several RAF training flights at our local airport since lockdown but never at night. To be honest they don't bother me as they need to practice and it gives the amature photographers on my local FB page something to photograph.

We had some paramotors too the other evening as they'd been given permission to fly near our closed airport.

[Zomblie]

@Aroundtheworldin80moves - Trying not to be too outing but do you also have some primate neighbours? Feel free to ignore me if you'd rather not say? I just recognise my local area from your description!

[bookmum08]

Anyone else getting the ad for the Battle of Britain £5 coin while reading this thread

[Saturdaysnotforexercise]

A few years ago a farmer living beneath an RAF training flight path painted “piss off Biggles” on the roof of a barn. The RAF used it as a reference point thereafter, but flew a bit higher, so it was sort of win - win

[XDownwiththissortofthingX]

@Aroundtheworldin80moves

My Grandfather grew up in Suffolk in the 30's, and towards the middle of WWII he was stationed near the South Coast as a fireman. I still have really vivid memories from when I was a child of him talking about listening to V1 missiles passing overhead, then wondering about which poor bugger had copped it when the engine note stopped.

Obviously, talking to a child he was consciously trying to not make it too scary, but I can tell thinking back that even decades later he was still really unnerved by it.

[ExpletiveDelighted]

The Chinooks were doing night training last week, they are loud and noisy but we're so used to them here that we don't really notice them much. I remember a while back we had some visitors at work when one flew over making the building shake, we barely noticed but the guest look terrified.

Living in Hounslow in the days when Concorde landed at 6.15 every evening was peak aircraft wow for me.

[Aroundtheworldin80moves]

@Zomblie the only primates near me are my own children.

I've lived in several locations around the UK (us abroad) and have had no Primates nearby any of them... Bit jealous of your neighbours!

[ItsGoingTibiaK]

@MoaningMinniee

The person who works there wasn't on duty yesterday or the day before, but confirmed they do practice regularly over all sorts of terrain and in all sorts conditions, the Hercules fleet has to be ready to go out with essential military or humanitarian supplies at all times. There's no 'chatter' about any emergency last night. There could have been of course, but very very unlikely!

I rather miss the Hercules, we used to see them very frequently when they were still at Lyneham. Not so often now they're at Brize.

@MoaningMinniee

So, essentially, the insider knowledge from your ‘source’ is that they know nothing about what happened last night but, yes, the RAF trains its pilots. Earth-shattering stuff.

[concernedforthefuture]

@Zomblie Ah yes, we're also on a valley which could be why the seemed so low (we're on the higher up bit).

[thegcatsmother]

Aroundtheworld Do you mean the noise from the winch with which the gliders are launched? Most gliders are winch launched or aero towed, as you need a mortgage sized sum to afford a self launching glider...a friend has just bought one, and I nearly fell off my chair when I heard how much it cost. You could buy a house outright in some parts of the UK for what he paid.

[Zomblie]

@Aroundtheworldin80moves - aha, no worries, it sounded like you were near Monkey World in Dorset. There is a gliding school, various army camps, tank ranges and shooting ranges all in the same locale!

[Aroundtheworldin80moves]

@thegcatsmother since it is nearing ten years since we lived there, it won't be particularly outing to say these were the gliders I lived under- they were motorised military.wikia.org/wiki/RAF_Topcliffe

[callmeadoctor]

Obviously it gave you a fright op, I suppose that we should all be reassured really that the RAF are doing this to protect us. (would love to have seen it in the day though, quite exciting)

[thegcatsmother]

@Aroundtheworldin80moves Not a proper glider then....different beasts or so my glider pilot dh tells me.

[Armi]

We had night time, low flying training near us not long ago. Three enormous RAF planes flying low, landing at an airbase and taking off again. I was fascinated and watched them out of the window and on flight tracker for quite a while. It’s something I’ve become fascinated by since moving to rural Lincolnshire - the different aircraft we get coming over. Sometimes it’s really, really loud jets (Typhoons?), or we might have a Spitfire whizzing past, or one of the big old planes, like the Lancaster bomber or Dakota. Occasionally the noise is ear-splitting and ground-shaking- you think the plane is going to land in the house - but it’s always interesting seeing them fly over. The Red Arrows are especially noticeable when they zoom over.

[Zomblie]

I love fast jets and the old propeller workhorses. Not enough to delve into the mechanics of them but I'm fascinated by the speed and sheer intricacies of them. A camping holiday in the Mach Loop sounds like my ideal week away 😂