Raptor Hunting
by Chris Smith
Ever since the arrival a couple of weeks ago of 12 US Air Force F-22A Raptors at Lakenheath, social media has been overrun with photos and information concerning them, and you have to admit they do look fairly mean machines, and with a brand new car in need of braking in, a road trip down to 'the Heath and the Hall' was a no-brainer.
I asked around on social media to see if there had been a pattern to their movements, and as far as this week was concerned, it looks like they're flying two sorties, the first at 8am and the second at 3pm, but with no guarantees, I aimed to get there for noon and hope for the best!
Thursday 28th April 2016
As always on these southbound trips a stop at Gamston was planned, the first thing to stand out here was the amount of Diamonds in, I asked the on duty ATCo if Diamond Aircraft had moved back in, but he said they were all connected with resident air operator Diamond Executive Aviation. The second thing to stand out was CEGA Air Ambulance Beech 200 G-CEGP, except it isn't CEGAs anymore it's now IAS Medicals, having been registered to them a week prior - so probably a new resident?
Retford Gamston Airport (EGNE)
1045 - 1100
| REG | A/C TYPE | OPERATOR | NOTES |
| 2-GSYJ | Diamond DA42 Twin Star | Crosby Aviation (Jersey) Ltd | |
| G-BCPN | Grumman AA-5 Traveller | G-BCPN Group | |
| G-BHCP | Reims Cessna F152 | Eastern Air Executive | |
| G-BHNA * | Reims Cessna F152 | Eastern Air Executive | |
| G-BMVL | Piper PA-38-112 Tomahawk | Gamston Flight Training | |
| G-BNPY | Cessna 152 | Private | |
| G-BOIG | Piper PA-28-161 Cherokee Warrior II | The Flight Centre 2010 Ltd | |
| G-BWEU | Reims Cessna F152 | Eastern Air Executive | |
| G-CCYS * | Reims Cessna F182Q Skylane | Private | |
| G-CEGP | Beech B200 Super King Air | IAS Medical | |
| G-CGYO/6 * | Vans RV-6A | Private | |
| G-CIWU * | MD Helicopters 369E | Century Aviation | |
| G-DMPP | Diamond DA42M Guardian | Diamond Executive Aviation | |
| G-EMMM | Diamond DA40 Diamond Star | Private | |
| G-LLMW | Diamond DA42 Twin Star | Private | |
| G-MHJK * | Diamond DA42 Twin Star | Private | |
| G-SERE * | Diamond DA42 Twin Star | Sere Ltd | |
| G-TYRE | Reims Cessna F172M Skyhawk | Private | |
| G-VCJH * | Robinson R22 Beta | Century Aviation | |
| G-WBVS | Diamond DA40D Diamond Star | Private | |
| N88NA | Piper PA-32R-301T Turbo Saratoga SP | Private | For sale with Flying Fox Aviation |
| N457GM * | MD Helicopters 369E | R J Machine Co Inc |
Click here for Gamston photos.
Upon arrival at Lakenheath it was like an ants nest - there were hundreds of cars and people. Ironically given the nature of the visitors and the current tensions in the world, the first accent I hear next to me was of strong Russian. Not long after I arrived, a couple of Raptors appeared, and instantly became a classic for me, ranked 3rd behind the Lightning in 1st place (English Electric that is not the F-35!) and the Eurofighter Typhoon. After they completed their short 35 minute sortie, nothing happened for a couple of hours or so and I was just starting to wonder if I'd wasted both time and fuel on an eight hour+ round trip, when suddenly the base chucked out a whopping 22 fighters consecutively! An initial batch of six F15s were immediately followed by a mix of 10 more F15s and six F22As. I left after the last one departed - my ears numb and ringing, and just as another single F15 emerged to take-off, making 23 Lakenheath jets airbourne simultaneously.
As many will know, the American's always insist on being different and instead of simply taxiing and taking off, they pull into a lay-by of sorts and a number of ground crew emerge from a hut and check all of the aircrafts systems and weapons, but there is only room for six at a time, so a further six F15s taxied over much closer to the fenceline to a holding area to wait their turn to be checked, which was ideal because the day was changing and the temperature had dropped significantly, so to have 12 Pratt and Whitney turbofans gently breathing hot air on us all for 20 minutes was bliss!
Lakenheath Air Force Base (LKZ / EGUL)
1330 - 1700
| SERIAL | CODE | A/C TYPE | OPERATOR | NOTES |
| 00-3001 | LN | McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle | US Air Force - 494th FS / 48th FW | |
| 01-2002 * | LN | McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle | US Air Force - 494th FS / 48th FW | |
| 01-2003 * | LN | McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle | US Air Force - 494th FS / 48th FW | |
| 04-4072 * | TY | Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22A Raptor | US Air Force - 95th FS / 325th FW | |
| 04-4081 * | TY | Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22A Raptor | US Air Force - 95th FS / 325th FW | |
| 05-4084 * | TY | Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22A Raptor | US Air Force - 95th FS / 325th FW | |
| 05-4086 * | TY | Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22A Raptor | US Air Force - 95th FS / 325th FW | |
| 05-4091 * | TY | Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22A Raptor | US Air Force - 95th FS / 325th FW | |
| 05-4094 * | TY | Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22A Raptor | US Air Force - 43rd FS / 325th FW | |
| 05-4106 * | TY | Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22A Raptor | US Air Force - 95th FS / 325th FW | |
| 05-4107 * | TY | Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22A Raptor | US Air Force - 95th FS / 325th FW | |
| 54-2269 | FW-319 | North American F-100D Super Sabre | US Air Force | Gate Guardian, marked 56-3319 |
| 84-0001 * | LN | McDonnell Douglas F-15C Eagle | US Air Force - 493rd FS / 48th FW | |
| 84-0019 * | LN | McDonnell Douglas F-15C Eagle | US Air Force - 493rd FS / 48th FW | |
| 84-0044 * | LN | McDonnell Douglas F-15D Eagle | US Air Force - 493rd FS / 48th FW | |
| 86-0160 * | LN | McDonnell Douglas F-15C Eagle | US Air Force - 493rd FS / 48th FW | |
| 86-0171 * | LN | McDonnell Douglas F-15C Eagle | US Air Force - 493rd FS / 48th FW | |
| 86-0172 * | LN | McDonnell Douglas F-15C Eagle | US Air Force - 493rd FS / 48th FW | |
| 89-26208 * | LN | Sikorsky HH-60G Blackhawk | US Air Force - 56th RQS | |
| 91-0308 * | LN | McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle | US Air Force - 492nd FS / 48th FW | |
| 91-0311 * | LN | McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle | US Air Force - 492nd FS / 48th FW | |
| 91-0312 * | LN | McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle | US Air Force - 492nd FS / 48th FW | |
| 91-0315 * | LN | McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle | US Air Force - 492nd FS / 48th FW | |
| 91-0318 | LN | McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle | US Air Force - 494th FS / 48th FW | |
| 91-0320 * | LN | McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle | US Air Force - 494th FS / 48th FW | |
| 91-0335 | LN | McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle | US Air Force - 494th FS / 48th FW | |
| 91-0602 * | LN | McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle | US Air Force - 494th FS / 48th FW | |
| 91-26353 | LN | Sikorsky HH-60G Blackhawk | US Air Force - 56th RQS | |
| 96-0201 * | LN | McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle | US Air Force - 494th FS / 48th FW | |
| 97-0221 * | LN | McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle | US Air Force - 492nd FS / 48th FW | |
| 98-0131 | LN | McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle | US Air Force - 492nd FS / 48th FW | |
| 98-0133 * | LN | McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle | US Air Force - 492nd FS / 48th FW | |
| ZA462 | 027 | Panavia PA-200 Tornado GR4 | Royal Air Force - No 9 Squadron | Noted o/h doing wide circuits at Marham |
| ZJ182 * | Westland WAH-64D Apache AH1 | Army Air Corps - 4 Regiment | Noted passing south inbound Wattisham | |
| ZJ190 * | Westland WAH-64D Apache AH1 | Army Air Corps - 3 Regiment | With the above |
Click here for Lakenheath photos.
I drove to Mildenhall but time was getting on and with no decent pull-ins I soon headed home, there was a non-based KC-135 in with Kansas markings on the fin, and two white RC-135s were in all likelihood RAF Airseekers ZZ664 and 665, but I didn't bother following up on them. A C-5 Galaxy that had been in earlier was not present either unfortunately.
Mildenhall Air Force Base (MHZ / EGUN)
1715 - 1725
| SERIAL | CODE | A/C TYPE | OPERATOR | NOTES |
| 11-0058 * | Bell-Boeing CV-22B Osprey | US Air Force - 352 SOG | Noted from Lakenheath | |
It could easily have been a disappointing waste of time today but thankfully everything fell nicely into place and I exceeded my target of half the Raptors! As always thanks for reading and I hope you've enjoyed the report and photos.