Seen Over Your House Today

[PR19_Kit]

And now a THIRD BUFF heading west. 

[TheChronicOne]

Maybe someone needed a few more flight hours.    

[kerick]

Or navigation training!

[JayBee]

Or lost (Sorry, temporarily unsure of their position!)         

[PR19_Kit]

Maybe connected, maybe not.

The Daily Snail posted a story about a couple of B-52s circling over Gloucestershire today, one sqawking 7700 (the paper, naturally, quotes 770....) which then returned to Fairford, where six more are based apparently.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/travel/news/us-air-force-b-52-bomber-sends-distress-signal-over-gloucestershire/ar-BB19qvou?ocid=msedgdhp

[kitbasher]

Either the same B-52 or another one, just passed overhead going in the OPPOSITE direction! 

Perhaps they'd flown over from Barksdale to Lakenheath for lunch? 

Could be in a hold, maybe a formation split or join.

[PR19_Kit]

Something's going on................ 

Yet ANOTHER BUFF overhead today, this time coming from the west, and doing a long slow 90 deg turn northwards right overhead the house.

I've never seen this many B-52s in a week, not since I lived in Oxford and I saw them on approach to Brize. Even the Gulf War didn't produce this many so frequently.

[Pellson]

The USAF is currently performing a serious show-of-flag-exercise throughout Europe, flying B-52 formations along the borders of NATO, in particular around the Baltic countries and over the White and Black Seas. This has been ongoing for about two weeks now and they're also flying very long distance missions from bases in the CONUS and Alaska. Yesterday, a two-ship BUFF formation flew from Eielson AFB across the arctic ice-cap, making a mock attack on a target in the Norwegian Sea, then returning to Alaska.
Another component of this is intensified ELINT and SIGINT flights along enemy borders, in particular in the Baltic and off Crimea.

Intelligence commentary interpretation is that this is a way of telling the enemy that the west still is prepared not only to fight, but to bring the fight to his home.

And for the rest of us - it's certainly a nice, if ominous - show..

[zenrat]

I have a couple of theories.  This is not the place to voice them though.

[Rheged]

Near Cirencester, a B52 seen circling in a rather ponderous fashion.  I assume using the long runway at Brize Norton or somewhere similar.

[JayBee]

Nah, he was just lost/tempoarily unsure of his position. 

[PR19_Kit]

Near Cirencester, a B52 seen circling in a rather ponderous fashion.  I assume using the long runway at Brize Norton or somewhere similar.

Sounds like a repeat of that one sqawking 7700 the other day.

He'd have come from Fairford anyway, there's a whole unit on TDY there. Brize is an RAF base these days.

[Rheged]

Madame R and I to Eastleigh to visit No 1 son, wife and daughter.   Our rented cottage is more or less under the flightpath of Southampton airport.  ATR, SAAB and similar  regional airliners regularly overhead, and a single BAe146 too.  Then, a few minutes ago, something noisy, low and made the television picture flicker as it went over.

[scooter]

Something like this, perhaps? 

[Captain Canada]

Always nice to see the B-52. At London ON on Sept. 12

5 by Todd Pomerleau, on Flickr

And over my place recently these guys.

DSC_0064 by Todd Pomerleau, on Flickr

DSC_0818 by Todd Pomerleau, on Flickr