F117s offered to RAF?
Discussion
NM62 said:
El stovey said:
NM62 said:
eccles said:
Nanook said:
It's impressive that they were flying them for 8 years prior to that, and no one (hardly anyone) knew.
That's just it though, everyone did know! It was one of those open secret type things, everyone knew about it, but no one officially confirmed it existed.At our open day at RAF Valley in about 85 or 86 the Scheduled F111 couldn't make it at the last minute, so we changed the aircraft info board to say "Stealth fighter, no photos allowed" and stuck a couple of chocks out in the empty gap. I believe this sort of thing happened quite a lot at airshows of the time.
The "spotters" knew where and when a lot of things were happening, we saw the U-2s and SR-71s that operated out of Mildenhall before they were confirmed by either UK or US governments in the late 70's and early 80's.
We had advanced knowledge of the deliveries of aircraft to various air arms (Israel, Saudi) and knew when and where they were staging through.
We had information from those who were in the RAF ( self included ) colleagues in the USA ( USAF, USN, US Army and Marines) and a network around the U.K. ( including the guys arrested in Greece ) and Europe.
We had UHF Radios and high powered telescopes / binoculars, quite often we had the films taken out of our cameras and even got arrested in France.
We were ready at the end of the runway when the support turned up at Mildenhall for the Libyan bombings - it certainly wasn't in the papers or on the news.
We also visited Macrahanish twice that year as I mentioned earlier, once just before Libya and one later, my first visit was to see a U-2 that had to divert there en route to Mildenhall in 81. The F-117's arrived and departed under the cover of darkness pretty much living up to their name (NightHawk).
As Eccles said a lot of shows put a stealth fighter display on Upper Heyford for one in 85 and there were also strong rumours that the F117 visited Upper Heyford too.
Edited by NM62 on Saturday 7th January 10:12
Given the level of knowledge we had back then I think nowadays that they know a lot more than you think.
And as stated above we knew that Det 4 were in Mildenhall long before it was public knowledge in the late 70's - did you?
I don't mean to be rude to anyone I'm just interested in what's being developed or operating that isn't public.
Presumably if 'spotters' know stuff, and aren't bound by the official secrets act (or equivalent) there isn't any issue in sharing it?
El stovey said:
NM62 said:
El stovey said:
NM62 said:
eccles said:
Nanook said:
It's impressive that they were flying them for 8 years prior to that, and no one (hardly anyone) knew.
That's just it though, everyone did know! It was one of those open secret type things, everyone knew about it, but no one officially confirmed it existed.At our open day at RAF Valley in about 85 or 86 the Scheduled F111 couldn't make it at the last minute, so we changed the aircraft info board to say "Stealth fighter, no photos allowed" and stuck a couple of chocks out in the empty gap. I believe this sort of thing happened quite a lot at airshows of the time.
The "spotters" knew where and when a lot of things were happening, we saw the U-2s and SR-71s that operated out of Mildenhall before they were confirmed by either UK or US governments in the late 70's and early 80's.
We had advanced knowledge of the deliveries of aircraft to various air arms (Israel, Saudi) and knew when and where they were staging through.
We had information from those who were in the RAF ( self included ) colleagues in the USA ( USAF, USN, US Army and Marines) and a network around the U.K. ( including the guys arrested in Greece ) and Europe.
We had UHF Radios and high powered telescopes / binoculars, quite often we had the films taken out of our cameras and even got arrested in France.
We were ready at the end of the runway when the support turned up at Mildenhall for the Libyan bombings - it certainly wasn't in the papers or on the news.
We also visited Macrahanish twice that year as I mentioned earlier, once just before Libya and one later, my first visit was to see a U-2 that had to divert there en route to Mildenhall in 81. The F-117's arrived and departed under the cover of darkness pretty much living up to their name (NightHawk).
As Eccles said a lot of shows put a stealth fighter display on Upper Heyford for one in 85 and there were also strong rumours that the F117 visited Upper Heyford too.
Edited by NM62 on Saturday 7th January 10:12
Given the level of knowledge we had back then I think nowadays that they know a lot more than you think.
And as stated above we knew that Det 4 were in Mildenhall long before it was public knowledge in the late 70's - did you?
I don't mean to be rude to anyone I'm just interested in what's being developed or operating that isn't public.
Presumably if 'spotters' know stuff, and aren't bound by the official secrets act (or equivalent) there isn't any issue in sharing it?
We ( as a collective ) had an "information" network (prior to the explosion of the net etc) that covered the USA, UK and some of Europe, we knew of some of the "secret" stuff and had a lot of advanced warning of things such as aircraft deployments etc but not privy to any of the advanced stuff. Some worked in the forces, others for defence related companies so they obviously couldn't be vocal about it.
As stated above I worked for defence related companies with BAE the latest and had to get various security checks ( DS, CTC, SC and DV ) so cannot relay that information, despite certain doubters on here who obviously know more about me than I do.
I think I probably knew more back then than now about the secret stuff.
Nanook said:
NM62 said:
Hence why I wouldn't tell some random on the net.
And what exactly did I say I'd seen?
Believe what you want but I was based in the NW from Jan 2015 - Jan 2016 and then on site Feb 2016 to May 2016.
Who did you contract through?
ETA - had DS, full SC and CTC - had to do it twice - BAE sponsored it and hold for me.
You worked on site? What line of work are you in?And what exactly did I say I'd seen?
Believe what you want but I was based in the NW from Jan 2015 - Jan 2016 and then on site Feb 2016 to May 2016.
Who did you contract through?
ETA - had DS, full SC and CTC - had to do it twice - BAE sponsored it and hold for me.
Edited by NM62 on Monday 23 January 15:00
It read like you'd been there on a day trip or something.
Who do I contract through? A local-ish agency. A girl I studied with's Dad is the MD.
I was fully vetted in RAF, Had SC/CTC/DV for previous Defence related contracts, 3 in total so know the system very well. The two latest contracts had 29 days between the two hence why I had to go through the application process again because it was more than 28 days.
Answering in order.
Yes - On Site Feb 2016 - May/Jun 2016 - ( Previous contract was off site but at their offices in the local City - with occasional escorted on site visits to two sites ).
My office window overlooked the Runway, build hangers and apron - I could see the paint sheds and the facilities on the South Side of the runway, all of which I know are visible from the various vantage points around that airfield.
I was taken around the assembly facilities (the BAE project manager arranged that as a thank you knowing that I was an ex spotter).
I also got a close up (but not to sit in) view of one the company demo aircraft (they checked my badge then too) and spent quite a few minutes chatting with the test pilot, they had put it out in front of the final assembly area to celebrate a recent order.
I am in IT (boring I know but it pays the bills and much more) so didn't spend any time in any sensitive areas.
As for reading like I was on a day trip, sorry, I just tend to be as light hearted and sparse as I can be with any information, as previously on this thread (and others) people have been dismissive and a bit sanctimonious (imagine that), it was honestly meant as an off the cuff comment.
I was just trying to add to the thread but when I get called a liar but someone who knows nothing about me or what I do, I tend to respond, there again you're going to have to take my word for the above as I cannot prove it to you.
At the end of the day I am 54, don't lie and not really fussed who believes what I say, I'll bow out and let thread get back on topic.
NM62 said:
I forgot I have DV as well - but for BAE I ONLY needed DS / SC.
In over 30 years of doing this stuff I have never heard anyone 'forget' they had DV, the eleventythousand page application, general pain in the ass and the interview and the 7 year repeat checks would make most people remember. What's DS by the way? there are only BC (baseline or BPSS these days), SC and DV. CTC is something different and pretty much unrelated.They won't 'check your badge' for getting close to one of the demonstrators
mebe said:
In over 30 years of doing this stuff I have never heard anyone 'forget' they had DV, the eleventythousand page application, general pain in the ass and the interview and the 7 year repeat checks would make most people remember. What's DS by the way? there are only BC (baseline or BPSS these days), SC and DV. CTC is something different and pretty much unrelated.
They won't 'check your badge' for getting close to one of the demonstrators
A demonstrator of what? Is this some new manned aircraft or a modified Typhoon......Or is it secret? What happened to that Stealth Drone they unveiled a few years back, is that still progressing? I live near Boscombe Down and whilst we get plenty of aircraft I have not seen anything special about.They won't 'check your badge' for getting close to one of the demonstrators
Nanook said:
0000 said:
There's not much more to it than that, is there? Other than having a reason to be there and some delays. They're not going to flashy-thing you.
Depends what level of clearance you're talking about. They changed all the classifications recently, its been a nuisance.Do you mean the GSCP that came in April 2014?
El stovey said:
I don't know anything secret at all. I thought that if there was secret stuff that people knew about perhaps they could tell us as I, and I'm sure others, would be interested.
I don't mean to be rude to anyone I'm just interested in what's being developed or operating that isn't public.
Presumably if 'spotters' know stuff, and aren't bound by the official secrets act (or equivalent) there isn't any issue in sharing it?
Most of the discussion is focused on the USA. This is the most credible recent sighting which you've probably already seen:I don't mean to be rude to anyone I'm just interested in what's being developed or operating that isn't public.
Presumably if 'spotters' know stuff, and aren't bound by the official secrets act (or equivalent) there isn't any issue in sharing it?
http://deepbluehorizon.blogspot.com/2014/03/myster...
I thought this was an interesting read as well:
http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/confessions-of-a-...
Have a look here:
http://www.dreamlandresort.com/
and at the discussion forum for posts by Peter Merlin and a couple of others:
http://www.dreamlandresort.com/forum/
He also posts here under the username Shadowhawk:
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/23/pg1/srtpage...
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/24/pg1/srtpage...
In amongst the conspiracy stuff there's some decent contributors with interesting stories to tell. I visit for a read occasionally when I've finished the internet and it's 3am local somewhere. The general consensus seems to be that the militayr have become a lot better at hiding stuff.
mebe said:
NM62 said:
I forgot I have DV as well - but for BAE I ONLY needed DS / SC.
In over 30 years of doing this stuff I have never heard anyone 'forget' they had DV, the eleventythousand page application, general pain in the ass and the interview and the 7 year repeat checks would make most people remember. What's DS by the way? there are only BC (baseline or BPSS these days), SC and DV. CTC is something different and pretty much unrelated.They won't 'check your badge' for getting close to one of the demonstrators
DS - Disclosure Scotland - its a new 'lesser' version of BPSS ( which we also had to hold ).
CTC was Counter Terrorist Check as I was visiting MOD sites on a ad-hoc basis, it was a requirement for the Agency I worked through.
As for checking the badge - humour
- I'll chuck a smiley in for you next time...HTH
Edited by NM62 on Tuesday 24th January 14:34
pushthebutton said:
Most of the discussion is focused on the USA. This is the most credible recent sighting which you've probably already seen:
http://deepbluehorizon.blogspot.com/2014/03/myster...
I thought this was an interesting read as well:
http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/confessions-of-a-...
Have a look here:
http://www.dreamlandresort.com/
and at the discussion forum for posts by Peter Merlin and a couple of others:
http://www.dreamlandresort.com/forum/
He also posts here under the username Shadowhawk:
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/23/pg1/srtpage...
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/24/pg1/srtpage...
In amongst the conspiracy stuff there's some decent contributors with interesting stories to tell. I visit for a read occasionally when I've finished the internet and it's 3am local somewhere. The general consensus seems to be that the militayr have become a lot better at hiding stuff.
Great links thankshttp://deepbluehorizon.blogspot.com/2014/03/myster...
I thought this was an interesting read as well:
http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/confessions-of-a-...
Have a look here:
http://www.dreamlandresort.com/
and at the discussion forum for posts by Peter Merlin and a couple of others:
http://www.dreamlandresort.com/forum/
He also posts here under the username Shadowhawk:
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/23/pg1/srtpage...
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/24/pg1/srtpage...
In amongst the conspiracy stuff there's some decent contributors with interesting stories to tell. I visit for a read occasionally when I've finished the internet and it's 3am local somewhere. The general consensus seems to be that the militayr have become a lot better at hiding stuff.
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