Nimrod & GR4

Hi there,I live about 1 mile away from Stornoway airport Isle of Lewis the nearest RAF station Is Lossiemouth over the last couple of weeks ive seen a Nimrod and a GR4 flying around,And approaching the runway way getting to about 200ft then pulling up again.They are doing this roughly about 10 times then disapearing I was just wondering what they would be doing? Im hoping to get some pics of more aircraft as Joint warrior is running from 5th oct and Im not far from Cape wrath.Any information on why the Nimrod and GR4 are doing this would be appreciated.

I have asked some colleges and I was told that it may have been what the crews call, " Spot and Drop, " or officially called, "Reconnaissance deploy Attack ", I have not heard of this, but, it may have been that the Nimrod went in first, identified the target, passed the info or order to the GR4 which then went and carried out the attack. A similar action was taken by the Buccaneer Aircraft using electronic target guidance in the first Iraq conflict. On the other hand, as we all know the GR4 is very capable of carrying out the job on its own. A family member was on Nimrods for some time but I am unable to speak to them at the moment, hope this helps. All the Best flyer1.

When the Buccaneers were laser designating targets for the Tornadoes in the Gulf weren't they at medium level? I was under the impression that the whole point was to stay at ten to fifteen thousand feet in order to avoid effective ground fire, something you can't really do at two-hundred feet.

Yes, you are quiet right, I did not account for the two hundred feet, but the start of my reply as I said, came from serving personnel, who I am sure are reliable and unlike me did not forget the main part of the inquiary...........I stand corrected, Thank you. flyer

Hi,Thanks for the replies.I recived an E-mail from Kinloss today,I just sent them an email and asked what they were doing and they kindly replied telling me.All crews need to maintain currency and this means having to complete several different types of approach. Ect

She also said to keep an eye out for various NATO Aircraft over then next 2 weeks as they will be Heading to Cape Wrath,stating the HMS Illustrious is just off our coast and there will be alot of activity from the Harriers.Fingers crossed I can get some good pictures and pop them up.

 

To be Honest I was'nt holding out much hope for a reply but pleasently supprised when they did

It's great that they gave you a reply, I look forward to seeing your pictures.

Well done, my enquirers didn't get very far, as the answer was staring me in the face! The obvious is usually right, good luck with the photos. All the Best flyer1.