The Mach Loop - a few questions.

magpieant

magpieant

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Hi folks.

I've been appreciating the fantastic images recently that you lot have been posting, of planes flying the Mach Loop.

I have always fancied visiting there, so have a few questions?

1. Where is the best place to view the planes from? I see Cad West mentioned a lot .... is this the preferred place? Does anyone have a grid ref / car park name etc?
2. What are the chances of seeing anything? I looked at the RAF timetable, which only shows 1hour per day - but was told that it's not always reliable - is this the case? Are there ways I can check on the USAF training etc ??
3. Would I be okay with a 70-200mm f2.8, or would you recommend sticking a x2 TC on that ? (I'm on FF, 5dMk2).

And final question

4. Does anyone in the Manchester region fancy joining me in a few weeks time and sharing petrol and sandwich costs??

Cheers.

Anth.
 
Thanks, that site looks like it answers a lot of my questions.
 
this site http://machloop.co.uk/ looks pretty informative too

The recent threads - and particularly @robmac s images on them have reignited my interest in doing some of this too , but unfortunately i'm at the other end of the country so i won't be sharing lifts and sarnies ;)

(one thing that occurs to me about cad west/cad east is the danger of getting the same shots as everyone else, my instinct is to go and find a few point that doesn't have eleventy toggers stood on it, even if the photography is more challenging , although that might just be me)
 
magpieant said:
Hi folks.

I've been appreciating the fantastic images recently that you lot have been posting, of planes flying the Mach Loop.

I have always fancied visiting there, so have a few questions?

1. Where is the best place to view the planes from? I see Cad West mentioned a lot .... is this the preferred place? Does anyone have a grid ref / car park name etc?
2. What are the chances of seeing anything? I looked at the RAF timetable, which only shows 1hour per day - but was told that it's not always reliable - is this the case? Are there ways I can check on the USAF training etc ??
3. Would I be okay with a 70-200mm f2.8, or would you recommend sticking a x2 TC on that ? (I'm on FF, 5dMk2).

And final question

4. Does anyone in the Manchester region fancy joining me in a few weeks time and sharing petrol and sandwich costs??

Cheers.

Anth.
Click to expand...

You take pot luck when you go. There are days with no planes through and days where it's great.

Cad West is popular but be aware that it's a steep climb up to the point where most photographers go. It has the most car parking space which probably accounts for some of its popularity. You can drive most of the way to Cad East but the parking is very limited. Corris corner is a nice place to go, still a bit of a climb but great views over the lake and you get the planes taking the corner. A lot quieter at Corris when I've been there.

You can use most lenses from 200 mm upwards on Cad West, it just means that you have to move down the hill a bit with shorter ones. 300-400 on a full frame works really well. Cad East seems to need longer lenses. Corris needs a 500 from my experience. Parking at the bwylch is limited also.
 
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