RAF Typhoons pilots spotted roaring at low level over Peak District
Real life Mavericks! RAF Typhoons pilots are spotted roaring at low level over Peak District just like Tom Cruise in new Top Gun movie
- The RAF fighter jets were seen flying in the sky near the village of Hathersage in the picturesque Peak District
- Ace pilots were captured on camera performing low level flying manoeuvres in the national park on Thursday
- The Typhoons bear the insignia of the RAF’s No41 Squadron, which is based as RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire
This is the moment RAF Typhoons were spotted roaring through the Peak District at low level just like Tom Cruise in his new Top Gun movie.
In a scene reminiscent of the Hollywood blockbuster, three fighter jets just a few hundred feet apart from each other tore through the picturesque national park in Derbyshire last Thursday.
The breathtaking sight was captured on camera by grandfather Richard Bowring, who snapped the planes as they zoomed over his head near the village of Hathersage.
All three aircraft were being put through their paces by their pilots, leaving the retired telecommunications engineer and amateur photographer as a delighted spectator.
Insignia on the aircraft indicate they were from the RAF’s No41 Squadron, which is the Typhoon Test and Evaluation squadron based at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire.
Richard, from Stoney Middleton in Derbyshire, said he had been hoping to spot a different aircraft when he saw the jets in the distance.
The three RAF Typhoons were spotted roaring through the air near the village of Hathersage in the Peak District last Thursday
The aircraft, which are based at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire, flew at low level above the countryside in Derbyshire, wowing spectators
It was a scene reminiscent of the new Top Gun movie starring Tom Cruise, a series famous for its dramatic scenes showing fighter jets in the air. The insignia of No41 Squadron can be seen on the tail wing of this aircraft
Richard Bowring said he had been in the national park expecting to see a different aircraft, but as he was about to give up he spotted the three Typhoons in the distance
The fighter jets can be used by the RAF for both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions, and are capable of breaking the sound barrier
Crew: 1/2
Length: 52 ft
Wingspan: 35 ft
Empty weight: 24,251 lb
Gross weight: 35,274 lb
Max takeoff weight: 51,809 lb
Powerplant: 2 x Eurojet EJ200 afterburning turbofan engines
Max speed: 1,320 mph
Range: 1,800 miles
Combat range: 863 miles
Service ceiling: 65,000 ft
Armaments:
Guns: 1 x 27 mm Mauser BK-27 revolver cannon with 150 rounds
Hardpoints: Total of 13, 8 x under-wing; and 5 x under-fuselage pylon stations; holding in excess of 19,800 lb of payload.
‘I’d been hoping to picture an Airbus Atlas A400 which I’d seen on a flight tracking app,’ he said.
‘When it hadn’t appeared after 20 minutes I was thinking about going home when I suddenly saw three dots in the distance.
‘I could hear the roar of their engines as they got closer and I just started taking pictures.
‘They were flying quite low to the ground and were just a few hundred feet apart when they banked back round through the valley.
‘It was very exciting and it’s unusual to see three so close together.
‘They often practice manoeuvres over Derwent Reservoir and I’ve found a good place to take pictures of them as they come through the valley.
‘As the planes flew past me almost at eye level I was able to take some very clear pictures of the pilots inside the cockpits.
‘It was a bit like watching the real-life Top Guns.’
Built by BAE Systems, the Eurofighter Typhoon is designed for both air-to-air and air-to-ground combat.
It is capable of reaching speeds of up to 1,320 mph, fast enough to break the sound barrier and cause sonic booms that can shake windows from miles away.
In February people across the North West of England had the windows of their homes rattled when a Typhoon went supersonic.
The jet was off the coast of Southport, Merseyside, when it created a huge bang as it broke the speed of sound.
BAE Systems said the aircraft, which took off from RAF Coningsby, was part of flight testing alongside the RAF and apologised for any alarm caused.
The firm said the Typhoon – registered as Apollo 11 – had been operating in an offshore range area but the sound may have travelled due to ‘climatic conditions’.
The jet was part of the Typhoon development programme, which is part of the UK’s attempts at safeguarding national security.
The three aircraft were put through their paces by the pilots, performing manoeuvres in the air at low level while staying just hundreds of metres apart from each other
Richard said: ‘When it hadn’t appeared after 20 minutes I was thinking about going home when I suddenly saw three dots in the distance. I could hear the roar of their engines as they got closer and I just started taking pictures’
He added: ‘It was very exciting and it’s unusual to see three so close together. They often practice manoeuvres over Derwent Reservoir and I’ve found a good place to take pictures of them as they come through the valley’
The amateur photographer said it was like ‘watching the real-life Top Guns’, saying: ‘As the planes flew past me almost at eye level I was able to take some very clear pictures of the pilots inside the cockpits’
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