Cobra Warrior Exercise 2022 - Part 2

So I wrote a post last week about the Cobra Warrior Exercise based at Waddington.

I went a 2nd time this week, and it was another opportunity to try and get some awesome aviation shots (well that's always the plan at least). These images may look the same as the ones in the last post, but I can assure you there is a difference.

essentially, the difference is the wind direction

Planes generally take off into the prevailing wind basically as the air direction helps provide more lift etc.

Last week, the planes were at the far end of the runway and taking off towards us. Today, they were lining up as this end of the runway and taking off away from us.

It also means that they taxi past us (from where they are parked overnight to get into position for taking off. This means that they are less than 50 metres from the fence line as they go past us. It was the same supporting cast as last week, including the Gulfstream G550 CAEW above and then a selection of Eurofighters and Tornados below

Eurofighter Typhoon - Italian Air Force

Tornado - German Air Force

As mentioned last time, I've not really had an opportunity to see these Tornados up close for ages. The last time I got this close was from Airshows when I was much younger, and I didn't have a camera at the time.

Also, due to the fact that I grew up on this airbase, I was surrounded by planes and hence didn't see them as exciting or interesting. I can even remeber turning down a free ticket to a show when I was 15 as they simply bored me.

Since that time, the Airshows at RAF Waddington no longer take place, and I now have more of an appreciation towards these fantastic machines. And these days I see so few planes circling around that I leap at the chance to photograph anything that flies.

Hell I'd sell a kidney or a selection of limbs to get the opportunity to see an airshow again.

Oh yes! Now thats what I'm talking about!

As the Tornado sets off down the runway, you can see the afterburners from the jet engines... I've forgotten just how loud these are, and at this point the hairs on the back of my neck are standing up.

There are 4 Tornados flying today, and 5 Typhoons. I thought they would all take off at the same time, but apparently not.

Instead 2 Tornados went up, and then it was the turn of 2 Typhoons to taxi past us...

These Typhoons were pretty noisy, but not in the same league as the Tornados.

Just like last week, all the planes took off between 9:30 and 10:00 to go fly over to the North Sea to take part in the Training Exercise. And just like last time, we had to wait hours for them to return to base...

...3 and a half hours later, we finally saw the first planes returning.

First up was a pair of Typhoons.

They flew over us and then looped round and came in to land

It was busy along the fence line, and it was hard work to get a clear shot in-between peoples heads...

But I got lucky in the end... actual smoke from the wheels making contact on the runway.

Just a few minutes after that a pair of Tornados appeared in the distance, and just like the Typhoons, they flew towards us, and then looped around and came in to land.

And once again it was an opportunity to get some decent images.

I used a the Sigma 150mm-600mm lens to get these. Its big and heavy, and is awkward to hold, but the range is fantastic, and even at full zoom the image quality is excellent.

I had the camera sent on continuous shooting mode, so as I held the shutter it captured 5 or 6 images in quick succession. I did this for most off the duration of the planes coming in to land, and in the space of 12 minutes I had taken nearly 400 images.

All well and good until it comes to trying to edit them, and I end up with groups of images that all look very similar.

It was only while sorting them out in post-processing, that I noticed the below images, and these instantly became my favorite out of all the images I took

The Tornado aircraft has a Variable Sweep Wing. This means that the wing can change position during flight for different reasons. When the wing is swept back, the plane is more aerodynamic (less drag) which it can fly at higher speeds.

When the wings are brought forward (into a more standard position) the aircraft is more manouverable at low speeds (and thus is deployed when the aircraft is coming into land)

I had to wait all day to see the Tornado in its Swept-Wing position, but it was totally worth it.

The Exercise has now finished, and all the aircraft involved have returned to their various countries. Its been a very noisy (and much enjoyable) 3 weeks, and they will all be missed.

The next bit of news for RAF Waddington is that the Red Arrows display team are moving from their current home, and will be based from Waddington form November onwards

So don't worry, there will be some more cool plane pictures appearing here at some point in the future... watch this space!