Live stream of U-2S and B-52H from RAF Fairford, UK, 1 Sep 2020

A U-2S and at least one B-52H will depart RAF Fairford within the next hour. Current time 1050 UTC. 1150 local

The U-2 pilot has just boarded.

a reply to: tommyjo

B-52 take off at 1206 UK local

Live tracking on Planefinder at following link of B-52. Call sign Yankee21

planefinder.net...


U-2 take off at 1213 UK local

a reply to: tommyjo

Nice video. I was stationed there in 1990. I was a firefighter who worked out of the building in the opening shot.
Spent many hours on that flight line.
Great memories.

originally posted by: abago71
a reply to: tommyjo

Nice video. I was stationed there in 1990. I was a firefighter who worked out of the building in the opening shot.
Spent many hours on that flight line.
Great memories.

No problem. Thanks for the reply. Glad it brought back great memories!

a reply to: tommyjo

Totally awesome especially after 3.47

a reply to: tommyjo

At 3:52.12 he says, "very weird smell, not jet a1".

After looking what he meant he was on about fuel, U2 uses JPTS (Jet Propellant Thermally Stable).

Anybody know what the smell of JPTS smells like? Just curious.

On their first main mission from RAF Fairford one of the B-52s was air thumped by Russian Air Force Su-27s over the Black Sea. It was a pretty reckless manoeuvre. The air thumping is designed to disrupt the airflow. You can see the B-52 buffeted. No wonder the audio was off!

At approximately 11:19 a.m. on Aug. 28, 2020, two Russian Su-27 Flanker pilots intercepted a U.S. Air Force B-52 bomber that was conducting routine operations in the black sea over international waters. The Russian pilots flew in an unsafe and unprofessional manner while crossing within 100 feet of the nose of the B-52 multiple times at co-altitude and while in afterburner causing turbulence and restricting the B-52’s ability to maneuver.

“Actions like these increase the potential for midair collisions, are unnecessary, and inconsistent with good airmanship and international flight rules,” said Gen. Jeff Harrigian, U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa commander. “While the Russian aircraft were operating in international airspace, they jeopardized the safety of flight of the aircraft involved. We expect them to operate within international standards set to ensure safety and prevent accidents,” he added.

Our B-52 Stratofortress aircraft was conducting routine operations in international airspace exercising our freedom of navigation and overflight. The U.S. Air Force routinely operates aircraft in the region in accordance with recognized international safety standards as prescribed in International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) rules of flight.

Aviationist Link

I was at Fairford on Monday .. 3 B-52s took off and U-2. Trying to find a way of posting pics here but it’s late I’ll see if I can get round to it tomorrow

a reply to: tommyjo


Very cool vid. Thank you for sharing

We had a B-25 flyby, among other warbirds. And when I say "by" I mean about 3 miles away. The view wasn't great but the sound was awesome.

Also two PBYs. One had been doing touch and goes out in front of my house since 2 weeks ago. I vaguely remember, as a small kid, it being a fairly regular occurrence.

Although when I was at Fairford they took off from the end of the runway I was stood I had 3 of them taxi past me
At about 100 yards from me. We also got a bit of a blast as when they turned off the taxi way onto the runway the rest of the engines were pointed directly at us