New for 2008. Airfield guides, click here for details.
25 sqn at Leeming are holding a special event in March, for details, click here.
Sadly this website will cease to exist in the very near future, We will be moving to our bigger,better and faster new website later this year.
Have you visited the Lowfly.net forum. Daily reports and pictures from the lowflying areas of the UK and a Frequency guide. Sign up, make new friends, enjoy your photography.
The Buckley Pines Hotel in the heart of the Mach Loop. Mention Lowfly.net when booking and you will receive 10 percent discount. Click the banner above to visit their website .
Lowfly.net was the subject of an ITV news item, click the clapperboard above to view the report
Coming soon. A report on how lowflying photographers were on hand to save the lives of 2 people in 2 seperate incidents while on the hills of Wales.
lowflying photography from a disabled photographers point of view, report and pictures. Click here to see the report
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The winner of the 2006 photographic competition is Trevor Ellis from Dorset. Trevor snapped this great image of an Apache attack helicopter at Cad West in June 2006 while they were on deployment to RAF Valley for mountain warfare training, prior to being sent to Afghanistan. At the present time trevor does not have a website. Trevors winning picture was taken with Canon D60 slr combined with a 75-300mm lens, he won a ultra 2 compact flash card for his effort. Thank you to all those who took the time and effort to send in over 80 images for this competition, there will be a small selection of some of the fantastic images submitted within this website in the near future.
The winning image was selected by 3 experienced photographic judges who have no connection with this website or forum.
2007 competition.
Entry details will be announced shortly. Why not join the forum for monthly competitions.
lowfly.net was born in Late August/early September, although it didn't go live until the middle of November 2005. It took quite a while before we became established, but with the help of many of you we became extremely popular. So we would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every person who has supplied us with information, pictures, advice and your time. Along the way we have met some great characters and good friendships have been formed. So thank you all because without you we couldnt have got this far .
Figures for January to September 2006, from November 2005- January 2006 should be added approx 10,000 hits
Welcome to the first and currently only guide to low flying aviation in the United Kingdom. At lowfly.net we are aviation enthusiasts like yourselves, that means we don't keep secrets from anyone and believe in sharing our information. Aviation enthusiasts fall into different categories i.e. spotters, number recorders, photographers, videographers. Lowfly.net is intended to serve as a guide for photographers first, although most spotters will find it extremely useful. Spotters have different needs for example a spotter doesn't need to climb up a big hill to watch the aircraft, he/she can watch them from the comfort of the car. On the other hand a photographer will need to put a little more effort into it and climb about 300ft up a hillside to get a shot of an aircraft level with him or even below him. The UK armed forces require to train at low altitudes in order to train for the day they may be called upon to put these skills into practise. It is also understandable that residents living in these areas can sometimes get distressed at the UK forces or the government. We say Forces because we are not just talking about the Royal Air Force, the Army and Navy are often seen at low altitudes with their helicopters and fixed wing aircraft(Navy) and even the USAF train at low level in the UK.
We all live near transit routes where aircraft pass by on route to somewhere, but for a photographer this isn't much help as a photographer needs to be above and close to these aircraft. So its no surprise that these areas of low flying are in the mountains of Wales, the Lake District and the Scottish highlands. We should not forget the Moors of Yorkshire and Dartmoor in the south west as these are used for many exercises and training particularly involving helicopters.
Where to photograph these aircraft? In short you need to be at locations where the valley comes to a narrow point where the aircraft are forced to be close to you. When you have found this place you will have to see which way the aircraft bank in order to go through the pass. Why? It depends if you want a topside view or if you are after underside images. If you position yourself at the entrance to these valleys you may well be rewarded with the elusive head on shots.
All locations will have a viewing position for disabled people where its possible to find such a location.
What do I do
Well, you have got your top of the range camera system and copied the maps on where you are going to, so what else do I need?
To start with a mode of transport; a car. Make sure its filled up with fuel as you will be setting off at some really unsociable hour and the petrol stations may be closed. In winter months I leave in the car a permanent bag containing spare underwear/socks, extra trousers t shirt jumpers, etc. and a pair of wellies. Suitable clothing is a must, sensible waterproof hiking/walking boots with good tread. In winter 1 pair of light socks then one pair of thermal socks and then a pair of thermal long socks on the top. A pair of waterproof trousers are a must for keeping the wind from biting through you. I like to wear golfing trousers over the top of my normal trousers as they are waterproof and have a couple of nylon layers providing a little more insulation. The top half; long t shirt or vest tucked in, normal shirt sweat shirt, polar neck jumper long heavyweight waterproof jacket with hood. Then I carry a xxxl yellow waterproof padded jacket which I can wear if I am stood up if its really biting cold or I can sit on it and keep the cold away from penetrating through the backside, which will soon lower your temperature. Gloves usually consist of fingerless woollen pair, which enable easy of use of the camera plus a large pair of thermal ones which can be discarded in a split second. Plus a nice warm hat which covers the ears. So with all this in mind are you able to take pictures of 600mph aircraft heading towards you in a 30mph freezing wind when you have sat for 6 hours and not moved because nothing as come through the valley? You had better be as you seldom get a second chance.
Try and put all your camera equipment in one bag and keep it realistic as you have to carry this up a large hill with all your extra clothing. I prefer to use a photo rucksack with a spare section for my food drink, etc. I often fasten my spare coats, etc. to the rucksack and try to keep my hands free just in case i slip.
Personal safety
Tell someone where you are going, if you change your mind because of the weather inform someone of this. Take a mobile phone with you but remember some parts of the UK have black spots where you cant get a signal. Know your own limits such as fitness levels. Try not to walk up and down hills with your camera in your hand as you can slip and break it and injure yourself. If possible try to take a friend along as the long hours can make the journey home afterwards dangerous if you have spent 4 hours driving to a location then spending 7 hours concentrating on looking out for aircraft. Then having to drive home again is very dangerous. Do not take silly risks to save yourself a few extra minutes walking or even when driving to and from the location. Keep vigilant for unexpected risks such as the weather or people hunting with guns, often in these areas you will hear shots and if you know someone close by your position is shooting it is a good idea to let them know you are there.
Camera system
This is down to personal choice, mine consists of 1 digital slr, 1 lens range of 135-400mm, 1 fixed 300mm lens with an aperture of f4,one wide angle zoom lens and a 35mm film slr. I would recommend a zoom in the range of 100-400mm as it is useful for fighters at the long end for frame filling and if a larger aircraft comes through you can pull back without having to change lenses. I use the 300mm f4 lens when the light drops or if its very windy to hand hold a longer lens, a lens with an aperture of f2.8 may be useful but you will have to decide if its worth the extra loading, etc. In high winds I detach the lens hood to minimise movement from the wind catching it. Film or digital is your choice I would use digital as a first choice as the majority of the current breed of digital slr have a 1.6 crop factor, which means the lens will be just over half as long again without losing any f stops.
By Martin Cole 2005.
2006 update is pretty much the same except i no longer use film and occasionally take 2 digital SLR camera bodies on trips and plenty of batteries which i keep warm and i change them at least once every hour. I do this religiously since missing some good opportunities when the batteries died through cold.
December 2007 update.
December 2007. Since the last update of this website there have been many changes. The most notable was the introduction of the forum. This has proved to be a massive hit among enthusiasts and Aircrews alike. The crews can fly a sortie in the morning then when they get home they are often able to view pictures of themselves at work in the Valleys of the UKLFS. The feedback from the crews as been fantastic to say the least. The biggest and most unexpected thing to happen to this website happened on November 29th 2007. We were accompanied by ITV to film us at work in the hills of Wales, 24 members of the forum took part. You are able to see the footage of this day in its own section of the website.The feedback and recognition from this venture has been unbelievable to say the very least. The Future, work is underway on our sister website called Military Airfield guides, it is hoped it will be online for Easter 2007 in very limited form with one or two locations and then over the course of the year we shall be adding more and more locations. This will be the last update of THIS website, as work has begun on the newer and much larger lowfly.net website, this will be covering the same locations along with some newer ones. The biggest factor for this we will be able to give you bigger pictures and maps all from a fresh perspective. There is no timeframe to the release date of the new site, as we want it perfect, unlike this website which was thrown together very quickly a few years ago and has remained the same since. As you would expect from us it will be well advertised when we are due for going live, so watch this space, so to speak. I would like to thank once again all those kind people who have helped over the last 2 years on this website and forum, without you it would not have happened and we would not be the leader of our field.
Martin Cole, December 28th 2007
PLEASE PLEASE Please Respect other peoples property and privacy while out in your pursuit of this hobby and park your vehicles sensibly. Do not endanger wildlife or farm animals, please leave all sites as they were found and close gates when you travel through one, and take all you litter away with you. Should there be a situation like the foot and mouth disease in 2001 please use your own judgement regarding your visits. If you come across a landowner why not spend 5 minutes talking to them, who knows what this friendly interaction may produce. Good hunting and share with us your achievements
Contact admin on admin@lowfly.net
Martin for pictures coleclmrtin9@aol.com
This website is funded by sales of reprints of images contained within this website and have no intention of making it a private site for subscribers. Although from time to time a few small advertising banners may feature in the website. We have been asked if we can take payments for donations via paypal. Unfortunately the answer is no but if you would like to make a donation why not buy a print for yourself or as a gift for a friend.
Copies of all images can be can be obtained by contacting Martin, for images by our contributors contact admin who will pass on your details to the photographer.
Contributors: Since going live this website as grown into the very popular website that has become very popular throughout Europe and this is down to the hard work that our network of enthusiasts have managed to achieve, without their help this website would not be as popular as it has become.
So my gratitude goes to all those who have helped in the building and maintaining of this website.
Without your help we will not be able to fulfil our promise to you so its vital that you support us with pictures,information,new locations etc. Thank you to Ordnance survy for allowing the use of the maps on this website.
Copyright: You may not copy any part of this website without written permission of the owner, although you may link to our site and give credit any information you pass on to fellow enthusiasts.
Disclaimer:You may use the information contained in this website on condition that you understand that we at lowfly.net do not authorise you to enter land not belonging to any other person other than public land.You use all paths on these locations of your own free choosing and you understand the risks you are taking and will not hold lowfly.net or its contributors liable for any injury, damage or any matter arising from you using this guide to further your interest in outdoor photography including prosecution for trespassing as a result of pursuing any activity as a result of using this website.When travelling to an airshow or event its worth checking with the organisers to ensure that it is still on or still at the advertised time and location. Should you not abide by these rules please do not enter the website and leave now .
