Wow, two F22s low and fast over Nidderdale!

[Mr Whippy]

Saw a couple of F15s the other day.

Now just had a couple of F22s very low and fast.
First time I’ve seen them in the wild.

Since the RAF Tucano stopped flying around here the fast USAF stuff seems to be much more common!

Yay!


Still not as loud as Typhoon, maybe they were just idling along though?

[DavieBNL]

You sure? F-22s in the UK are like hen's teeth. Could they have been F-35s?

[aeropilot]

Yep, most likely a F-35, as a Raptor deployment to the UK would have been all over the spotter sites already....and there's not a thing anywhere, so almost certainly not a F-22.

[Maximus_Meridius101]

The F-35 and F-22 are visually quite similar, if you only see them briefly / from a distance. Up close, they’re quite different.

[CraigyMc]

Maximus_Meridius101 said:

The F-35 and F-22 are visually quite similar, if you only see them briefly / from a distance. Up close, they’re quite different.

F22 looks quite different from the back.

There are both US and UK F35s now.

The USAF F15s at Lakenheath (the last pure air superiority ones in Europe, I think) are being replaced with USAF F35s.

UK F35s for the RAF and Fleet Air Arm fly from Marholm.

Typhoons from Coningsby and Hawks from Valley.

There are occasional foreign visitors. There were F18s from Switzerland last month.

[aeropilot]

CraigyMc said:

There are both US and UK F35s now.

The USAF F15s at Lakenheath (the last pure air superiority ones in Europe, I think) are being replaced with USAF F35s.

UK F35s for the RAF and Fleet Air Arm fly from Marholm.

The first of the USAF 495th FS F-35A's are not due to take up residence at RAF Lakenheath until Nov 2021.

And its RAF Marham.

[CraigyMc]

aeropilot said:

CraigyMc said:

There are both US and UK F35s now.

The USAF F15s at Lakenheath (the last pure air superiority ones in Europe, I think) are being replaced with USAF F35s.

UK F35s for the RAF and Fleet Air Arm fly from Marholm.

The first of the USAF 495th FS F-35A's are not due to take up residence at RAF Lakenheath until Nov 2021.

And its RAF Marham.

You could learn not to be a prick when you reply, but there you go.

And it's it's, as in "it is".

[Mr Whippy]

I’ll be completely honest I’m doubting myself now people have mentioned the F35.


At first I mistook them for the two F15s again, they stand out due to the elevators and twin humps/fins, but then the overall form was more F22, wing trailing edges, and the tail fins were really really obviously angled out. Not F18 style, but more, not sure what the F35 is like.

Then I looked for the spiked nozzles and was sure they were there, as they banked over and turned.

There was nothing to make me doubt it when the second one passed. Almost certain they were twin engined.

Also looking at comparison diagrams I’m certain the area between the elevators was a larger broader more open area more than the tighter rectangle cutout shape of the F35.

The F35 although very similar looking is probably more narrow looking over the body... much more obviously single engines though I’ve not seen one in the flesh either.



It was about 16:15pm flying SE over Pateley Bridge, probably 500kts and 500ft, came in level, then banked over giving an almost perfect plan view, and left Eastbound and level as they went out of view.
I heard them about 3-4s before they were passing... with that distinctive peeowm noise coming ahead of anything else.
Second one about 4-5s behind following same path.

They definitely looked big too. I know it’s hard to gauge, but looked more F15, rather than Tornado/Typhoon sized like the F35.


I’ve been an avid military jet person for most of my life (since about 8), and have these shapes imprinted in my brain, YF22 vs F22 differences etc.

Happy to be wrong though. Would be cool to see if anyone else spotted these two flying down that way and made a similar ID!

Edited by Mr Whippy on Wednesday 31st March 21:17

[clarky92]

Mr Whippy said:

I’ll be completely honest I’m doubting myself now people have mentioned the F35.


At first I mistook them for the two F15s again, they stand out due to the elevators and twin humps/fins, but then the overall form was more F22, wing trailing edges, and the tail fins were really really obviously angled out. Not F18 style, but more, not sure what the F35 is like.

Then I looked for the spiked nozzles and was sure they were there, as they banked over and turned.

There was nothing to make me doubt it when the second one passed. Almost certain they were twin engined.

Also looking at comparison diagrams I’m certain the area between the elevators was a larger broader more open area more than the tighter rectangle cutout shape of the F35.

The F35 although very similar looking is probably more narrow looking over the body... much more obviously single engines though I’ve not seen one in the flesh either.



It was about 16:15pm flying SE over Pateley Bridge, probably 500kts and 500ft, came in level, then banked over giving an almost perfect plan view, and left Eastbound and level as they went out of view.
I heard them about 3-4s before they were passing... with that distinctive peeowm noise coming ahead of anything else.
Second one about 4-5s behind following same path.

They definitely looked big too. I know it’s hard to gauge, but looked more F15, rather than Tornado/Typhoon sized like the F35.


I’ve been an avid military jet person for most of my life (since about 8), and have these shapes imprinted in my brain, YF22 vs F22 differences etc.

Happy to be wrong though. Would be cool to see if anyone else spotted these two flying down that way and made a similar ID!

Edited by Mr Whippy on Wednesday 31st March 21:17

If they were F22’s your a lucky chap! It’s the one type that’s avoided me for years, even at air shows I haven’t seen one in the flesh.

[Boom78]

On a similar subject I saw 2 F15s fast and low over the A48 near St clears yesterday afternoon. Thought it was pretty odd in that Pembrokeshire isn’t an LFA and miles from their base, possibly doing bombing runs at castle Martin?

[Ash_]

clarky92 said:

Mr Whippy said:

I’ll be completely honest I’m doubting myself now people have mentioned the F35.


At first I mistook them for the two F15s again, they stand out due to the elevators and twin humps/fins, but then the overall form was more F22, wing trailing edges, and the tail fins were really really obviously angled out. Not F18 style, but more, not sure what the F35 is like.

Then I looked for the spiked nozzles and was sure they were there, as they banked over and turned.

There was nothing to make me doubt it when the second one passed. Almost certain they were twin engined.

Also looking at comparison diagrams I’m certain the area between the elevators was a larger broader more open area more than the tighter rectangle cutout shape of the F35.

The F35 although very similar looking is probably more narrow looking over the body... much more obviously single engines though I’ve not seen one in the flesh either.



It was about 16:15pm flying SE over Pateley Bridge, probably 500kts and 500ft, came in level, then banked over giving an almost perfect plan view, and left Eastbound and level as they went out of view.
I heard them about 3-4s before they were passing... with that distinctive peeowm noise coming ahead of anything else.
Second one about 4-5s behind following same path.

They definitely looked big too. I know it’s hard to gauge, but looked more F15, rather than Tornado/Typhoon sized like the F35.


I’ve been an avid military jet person for most of my life (since about 8), and have these shapes imprinted in my brain, YF22 vs F22 differences etc.

Happy to be wrong though. Would be cool to see if anyone else spotted these two flying down that way and made a similar ID!

Edited by Mr Whippy on Wednesday 31st March 21:17

If they were F22’s your a lucky chap! It’s the one type that’s avoided me for years, even at air shows I haven’t seen one in the flesh.

You definitely want to try and catch one at an air show, they're phenomenal and seem to defy physics in some of their manoeuvres.

[Ash_]

aeropilot said:

CraigyMc said:

There are both US and UK F35s now.

The USAF F15s at Lakenheath (the last pure air superiority ones in Europe, I think) are being replaced with USAF F35s.

UK F35s for the RAF and Fleet Air Arm fly from Marholm.

The first of the USAF 495th FS F-35A's are not due to take up residence at RAF Lakenheath until Nov 2021.

And its RAF Marham.

A little bit of insider knowledge for you, this is likely to now be Dec at the earliest, but most likely Jan '22.

[Mr Whippy]

Boom78 said:

On a similar subject I saw 2 F15s fast and low over the A48 near St clears yesterday afternoon. Thought it was pretty odd in that Pembrokeshire isn’t an LFA and miles from their base, possibly doing bombing runs at castle Martin?

Similarly, the two F15s I’d seen in recent day’s weren’t just flying through, but doing ACM, which is rare.

Often it’s been Hawk or mostly was Tucano, not the big jets.

Looked to jink mildly, then the lead one turned hard left burning off speed, then the second one followed.

I was struggling to ID these until they turned. They were further away and higher up.


Since the Tucano stopped flying the fast USAF stuff has got a lot more common.


Keep thinking about a dome/wide angle camera on roof so I can catch the full sky dome around here and ID a lot of the stuff I often hear but never see.