Mach Loop virgin - advice needed

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Roadkill_6mm

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Neil
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Hello all

I'm looking to have a go at togging low flying aircraft at the loop a week on Monday (11th July)

I've never been there before, and it will involve a trip of some 4 hrs to get there :eek:

Any location tips and advice will be gratefully recieved, I'd hate to drive 4 hrs and end up in the wrong place looking in the wrong direction!!!

I dont suppose anyone else is planning a trip?? I could do the 12th instead if anyone wants to meet up!

Regards

Neil
 
First things first ... don't get your hopes up, you're not guranteed to see any planes (nearly drew two blanks this week).
Second thing, seeing as you're travelling such a distance ... why not stop over and do two days of it? Usually plenty of company up on the hills for you to have some banter
Third thing ... how well are you equipped? ;) find myself struggling for reach at 300mm at some places. Take this into account when choosing your location
Fourth ... all the info you require should be found here : http://www.warplane.co.uk/Wales.htm

Happy hunting :)
 
hmmmm

Tempted about staying over, might just sling my bivvy in the car and see what happens!!

Equipment wise, I have an Oly E510 (so 2x crop factor) 70-300mm f4-5.6 (140-600mm 35mm eq) and the 50-200mm swd f2.8-3.6 (100-400mm 35mm eq)

I'll take a look at that site, thanks for the link

Neil
 
Hi Neil,

I have been a couple of times to the mach loop.

when I was at the Bwlch i struggled with a 70-300 lens, but on the other side on cad east or west i found my 70-300 suited the location well.

would definitely opt for staying over, as activity is not guaranteed, so you may get a better second day than a first day, and it will give you a chance to try two different locations.
 
hi ill be up at cad west Monday may be meet up best to take a shelter with u weather not looking to good lol:bonk:
hope there something this time went a few weeks back and nothing d'oh
 
I've only been to the Loop once and all I saw was fog :lol: It was a 4 hour drive for me also so I would say the stop over sounds like a good idea to me. can't wait to go back again though as my mate keeps going and gets some fantastic shots :D
 
i`ll be there on the 12th.i use a 300mm and its fine for me at the bwlch.give me a shout if your going on the tuesday.
 
I've only been once, to Cad West. Bwlch should be good for most of the day (all day?) as far as light is concerned. The car park is small and fills quickly, so you may need to get there pretty early.

Cad West is better reserved for afternoon shooting due to the direction of the light. However, if you go there for the morning then you can go for the head on shots as the aircraft approach. Later in the day you can move up the hill and go for the panning topside shots. From Cad West I found my 100-400 lens to be ideal on a 1D3 with its 1/3X crop factor. This was taken at 275mm and has had only a slight crop to better position the aircraft. 300mm would have been spot on, if my panning skills had been perfect.

20100617_172545_8613_LR.jpg


Cad East might be better in the morning but you will be photographing undersides mostly.
 
Roadkill_6mm said:
hmmmm

Tempted about staying over, might just sling my bivvy in the car and see what happens!!

Equipment wise, I have an Oly E510 (so 2x crop factor) 70-300mm f4-5.6 (140-600mm 35mm eq) and the 50-200mm swd f2.8-3.6 (100-400mm 35mm eq)

I'll take a look at that site, thanks for the link

Neil
Click to expand...

Depending on the weather you might struggle with those lenses, would probably recommend the 50-200 over the 70-300, just because its a faster lens as you'll need to keep shutter speeds around the 1/1000 mark to get crisp shots
 
Best advice for you is don't bother - since the stupid t"$t who sold the image that appeared in the Sun the other week - there is an avoid - especially for cameras !

So all those years of trust and not publicising certain images thats it for the moment.

If you want to watch clouds go along !
 
^^^^^don't agree with the above, having been up yesterday, had 2 eagles through 3 times, then after i left at 1330 6 hawks, and a 2 ship t2's...


Always when in the loop expect a blank, anything you see is a bonus
 
c_robinson said:
^^^^^don't agree with the above, having been up yesterday, had 2 eagles through 3 times, then after i left at 1330 6 hawks, and a 2 ship t2's...


Always when in the loop expect a blank, anything you see is a bonus
Click to expand...

F15s are not RAF T2s not frontliners - since the incident not one RAF frontliner through
 
Graham, Not what i was saying. More so about the supposed avoid...Yes it's reportedly in place for front liners but there will still be action in the area.

The fact that 208 Sqn have passing out soon and 19Sqn have (a reported) 9 jets at Lossie may explain the slow days...

The loop is not dead, fear not. There's still aircraft to photograph, just maybe not the big grey pointy things we all love photographing!
 
G&A Images said:
Best advice for you is don't bother - since the stupid t"$t who sold the image that appeared in the Sun the other week - there is an avoid - especially for cameras !
Click to expand...

I must have missed that. What was the picture of?
 
Yeah, I missed that entirely. Excellent work MoD for laughing it off.
 
I went yesterday and had the f15's and hawks which was a blessing after my first visit that was a blank my best advice would be to ring the ops room at valley and check what is going on thats what I did and they were very helpful even telling me that the loop would be used between 8am and 9pm...also watch out for sheep ticks.
 
paulc said:
I went yesterday and had the f15's and hawks which was a blessing after my first visit that was a blank my best advice would be to ring the ops room at valley and check what is going on thats what I did and they were very helpful even telling me that the loop would be used between 8am and 9pm...also watch out for sheep ticks.
Click to expand...

That's very useful advice :thumbs: My only trip was a blank and I would love to go back but it is a day off work and a 4hr trip each way :shrug:
 
hi how did you get on i went up to cad west Monday till about 2.30 only one plane allday think g&a images was right they are still flying in the area but not at cad west stopped off at bala on way home for a hour 4 hawks +torando went over
 
Lots of aviation fora are saying the Mach Loop is very quiet at the moment & put it down to 'that photo'
 
-Weather = Check it, you need to dress for it appropriatly.
-Clothes = Light, Waterproof but durable... the hills you climb are slightly steep at points.
-TAKE SUN CREAM!
-Don't expect to take lots of shots of lots of planes... there are long waits and they do creep up on you if your not paying attentions. If you have a scanned then take it... there are some freqencys on : http://www.warplane.co.uk/
-Take plenty of water and food to cover your time spent their
-Tell someone your going and go with someone if you can - if you get into any trouble on the hill people know you are there and can get help if needed.


My recent trip: http://w365.gazedd.co.uk/index.php?showimage=226
My photo's from our full trip: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gazedd/sets/72157624402211350/
Me, my brother, Purpleclouds and his friend graham went down over night and stayed awake for the full day. It was one of the best raod trips i've done and would not hesitate to do it again. Beach at 4am to have breakfast and a dip, climb of the mountain at around 7-8am then a full day burning in the heat watching the planes go by, yes I forgot my suncream and I am STILL peeling and sore for the sunburn hence why I placed sun cream in capitals above!

Most important thing is to enjoy it, be safe and remember - your not going to see this everyday so don't always look through the camera, memorys are better than a photo but your photo can provoke your memorys =]
 
Unfortunately my trip had to be canned......apparently using my days off to decorate the nursery for our first born which is due on 15th August has to take priority!!

Still, I've cleared it for the end of August/begining of September when I next have some extra time off!! (Was going to suggest during my paternity leave.....but didnt!!)

To be honest it was probably for the best that I didnt get down there.....there is waay more reading I need to do before spending the best part of 5 hours driving each way!!

Thanks for the help and suggestions from everyone, it really is very much appreciated and will come in handy when I do finally manage to get down there!!

ATB

Neil
 
i went to cad west yesterday and the weather was poor and the planes were high.
 
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