320 Megapixel Image of ZJ913 'Moggy's first time out since being repainted in its new livery
For a Full Resolution and Zoomable view, please click the Image!
We got to the spotters car park for around 3pm, but didn't start to hear any engines until around 4pm. A few planes started taxiing for takeoff, including 'Blackjack' whose pilot did a performance takeoff. not long after we heard chatter about 'Moggy' making its first test flight before 'Turbo' could start practicing for his displays with the newly painted jet. Soon after, 'Moggy' started to taxi to the runway, and it stopped to hold right in front of us, with perfect lighting from the afternoon sun so I managed to take a detailed panorama of it before it finally took off. We decided to wait for Moggy to return before heading back to the caravan for a couple of hours until the true night flights started to begin
Eurofighter Typhoon FGR.4 (ZK348) (Engine Reheat Detail)
Eurofighter Typhoon FGR.4 (ZJ914) ('Blackjack')
Eurofighter Typhoon FGR.4 (ZJ913) ('Moggy' First Takeoff)
Eurofighter Typhoon FGR.4 (ZJ914) ('Blackjack' Performance Takeoff)
Eurofighter Typhoon FGR.4 (ZJ914) ('Blackjack')
Eurofighter Typhoon FGR.4 (ZK348) (Asymmetric Thrust Approach)
Eurofighter Typhoon FGR.4 (ZJ914) ('Blackjack' Landing)
Eurofighter Typhoon FGR.4 (ZK324)
Eurofighter Typhoon FGR.4 (ZJ913) (COBRA Flight Inbound)
Eurofighter Typhoon FGR.4 (ZJ913) ('Moggy' Break for Landing)
Eurofighter Typhoon FGR.4 (ZJ913) ('Moggy' Missed Approach)
Eurofighter Typhoon FGR.4 (ZJ913) ('Moggy' First Landing)
We went back to the spotters car park at around 8pm just after the sun had set. We watched the planes taking off, and 'Moggy' even came back out for its second flight, and whilst the lighting wasn't great for photos I managed to get some that I liked. Unfortunately there were no performance takeoffs
Eurofighter Typhoon FGR.4 (ZK373)
Eurofighter Typhoon FGR.4 (ZK373)
Eurofighter Typhoon FGR.4 (ZK373)
Eurofighter Typhoon FGR.4 (ZJ917)
Eurofighter Typhoon FGR.4 (ZJ913) ('Moggy')
Eurofighter Typhoon FGR.4 (ZK325)
The next day we walked over the River Bain from our caravan to watch 'Turbo' do his practise display at around 1:30pm, and sat and waited on some hay bales. At 1:50pm, he started to taxi and held right next to us, giving us a quick 🤙🏼 whilst he waited for some incoming planes to land. Bang on 2:00pm, 'Turbo' lit the re-heats and shot up to perform a loop and then start his display. Being pretty much in line with the runway when he pulled his 9G turns next to us at only a couple hundred feet was exhilarating to say the least, and it was a unique viewpoint to watch from. The display lasted about 12 minutes, when 'Turbo' turned downwind and extended the speed brake, before turning to land. Afterwards, there was a twin stick which landed whilst we were on our way back to our caravan.
We went back for an hour or so when the evening flying started and there were a couple of dual takeoffs, one including 'Moggy'
Eurofighter Typhoon T3 (ZK379)
Eurofighter Typhoon FGR.4 (ZK313 & ZK354)
Eurofighter Typhoon FGR.4 (ZK321 & ZJ913)
Eurofighter Typhoon T3 (ZK381)
The next day there was another display NOTAM scheduled for 2pm, but this time we chose a new spot, Old Boston Rd, which if it wasn't for being backlit, would be one of the best spots (still is a nice spot and gets you close to the taxi way). The NOTAM was scheduled for 2pm and yet again, 'Turbo' was right on time and took off with 'Moggy's re-heats blasting right by us. Once he was finished and landing, he taxied back past where we were and began fist pumping, obviously happy with how it went, as well as a quick thumbs up
