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RAF COTTESMORE

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This page last updated on 11th April 2006

[Description] [Attractions] [Viewing] [Other Info]

Located North of Cottesmore village, 4 miles West of the A1, half-way between Melton Mowbray and Stamford. RAF Cottesmore is the home of 1(F) and IV(AC) Squadrons plus 800 Naval Air Squadron with their Harrier GR.7s, GR.9s and T.10s. 3 Squadron have become a Typhoon unit and moved to RAF Coningsby. Until early 1999 Cottesmore was the home to the Tri-National Tornado Training Establishment (TTTE) but with its closure has become an exclusively-Harrier station. The RAF's other major Harrier station, RAF Wittering, is only about 20 minute's drive away to the South-East.

A selection of Harrier photographs are available to buy here

ICAO	Telephone	Web sites
EGXJ	01572 812241	RAF Cottesmore (official site)
		Cottesmore Aviation Group
		IV(AC) Squadron Association
		504 Squadron RAuxAF
		Aerial view

Frequencies
Frequency	Description	Last heard
122.100	Tower
130.200	Zone
231.725	Zone
241.000	Air to air (800 NAS)
242.450	Air to air (1(F) Squadron)
247.025	Air to air (1(F) Squadron)
262.625	DATIS
277.825	Air to air (IV Squadron)
278.450	Departures
281.900	Approach
308.825	Ground
338.250	PAR
339.325	PAR secondary
369.350	Tower
379.075	Director
386.725	Air to air (IV Squadron)

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT TO SEE

Harriers of the resident squadrons plus a limited range of visitors. I've seen Hawks, Jetstreams and USAF C-130s arriving or bashing about the circuit while Harriers kept the noise level interesting. Maybe I've been lucky but I've never had to wait more than 40 minutes or so before something arrived to do some circuits.

Flying runs throughout the day but tends to taper off around 16:00 - 17:00 local; there is some night time activity on a fairly regular basis, but this is by no means an everyday thing (and when night flying is on, flying does not start until late morning or early afternoon).

VIEWING

Danish F-16B taxiing (taken at point A); author

Assuming you're coming from the A1, take the B668 exit for Stretton, handily signposted to RAF Cottesmore. Head towards the village of Greetham and soon you'll come to a cross junction with a signpost for a golf course on the left and Thistleton on the right. Take the right turn-off and follow this increasingly narrow and potholed road until you see the fence of the airfield. The road turns around in a hairpin bend here, and there is plenty of space to park off the road right by the airfield fence (A). This is the most popular place to spot at Cottesmore; aircraft landing on runway 22 will appear in the distance to your right.

If 22 is in use, the south-side taxiway is usually used by departing aircraft which means they'll taxi past you only about 50 feet away - this used to be great for photos and serial spotting too. Unfortunately a new tie-down facility was built here in 2001 which obstructs a great deal of the view! Landing aircraft tend to taxi straight off the runway onto the main ramp, which is out of sight to the left. From this spot it's just a short walk to your left to the hedge across which you can see the visiting aircraft ramp - no good for photos but usually okay for serials (any that are obscured from here can usually be made out by going down the road away from the station). Sometimes, if it's busy, landing aircraft will come straight off onto the south taxiway instead of staying on the runway. If 04 is in use, pray they use the full runway length and then come off onto the south taxiway or you won't be seeing much at all.

Harrier GR.7 taking off (taken at point A, 580mm lens); author

Harrier GR.7s arriving (taken at point A); author

Aircraft arriving sometimes fly right over your head here, and they often arrive in formation as well - so if you see a singleton Harrier come in, keep your eyes open for a pair following him, or even three more. The sun's position never gets particularly bothersome here though later in the day photography towards the 04 runway end will get difficult; however approaching aircraft are beautifully lit, you can see right down their intakes with no difficulty at all! The fence stops just to your right which means you can step down into the bordering field and get shots of anything on the runway if you're quick - you only have a few seconds of them being visible between the tie-down building and the chainlink fences to your left. Don't walk on the farmer's crops and keep to the edge of the field! A walk further along the field edge to the North-East may be possible at some times of year if you want a few more seconds of visibility of anything on the runway.

If you get bored of this spot, get back onto the road and continue round the bend to the East. You'll soon see a sign for the Viking Way footpath and there are occasionally places where there's enough room to park your car at the side of the road (B). From here you have a distant but clear view of aircraft landing on 22 or taking off from 04, and of course you can walk along the footpath to get much closer to the runway end (C) to get better photos. The farmer who owns the land here is normally happy for you to leave the footpath and get right up to the airfield fence (D and surrounding areas - possibly one of the closest spots to any runway in the UK and therefore excellent for photos, but only in the morning and early afternoon until the sun moves round to the West) but keep him happy and don't go through his crops and please don't drop any litter; also don't hang around directly under the approach (i.e. the area with the lights in it), it's dangerous and the RAF police don't like it. When aircraft are landing on 22 the freedom you have for moving around the runway end here is absolutely unparalleled, so it is fantastic for photos of aircraft on finals. Even a small lens will do you here - just DON'T stand directly under the approach - you'll get your head taken off, they get very low over that fence! Ear protection is also a very good idea here, Harriers often slow right down and hover down to a landing only feet away from you.

GR-7 holding on the runway (taken from point D); author

RIAT visitor - B-1B holding (taken from near point E); author

A walk further up the footpath to the hedgerow at the field boundary (E) can give you a clear shot down onto the taxiway here; down by the fence itself you're too low for clear photos as there's a barbed wire inner fence obstructing the view. However if you're going to be going this far along the path, you'd be better off parking in Thisleton and walking along the path from that end (it's about 15 minute walk from the yard where the Viking Way path sign is to the station perimeter). Walking further back towards Thistleton can yield good photos of any Harriers curving round on a tight circuit, but that's a fairly rare occurrence.

Anyway, back to the car and continuing on the road past the footpath, you'll see a Give Way sign, and the road curves to the left (ignore the turning on the right). Just round the curve is the place to give way, turn left here to go towards Thistleton. You'll soon see the approach lights sticking up on either side of the road; the verges here are fairly big but you may get moved on if you park on them - they're designated as a roadside nature reserve. Luckily there are a few field entrances around here, in particular a big open one on the Eastern side of the road just South of the approach lights (F). The farmer who owns this field is fairly happy with people being here as long as his access is not restricted and his crops are not harmed; accordingly, park either on the dead corner of the field to the left of the entrance, or park to the side of the track that goes up the hill here (this is generally only possible in summer as the track gets so muddy at other times of year). Tractors use it regularly so keep off to the side as much as possible. Unfortunately as you're at the bottom of the hill at this spot and still a fair distance away from the runway, good photos can be a bit hit and miss depending on how low an approaching aircraft comes in. For better angles you may want to walk along the track at the side of the field, it dips down at first but soon rises up (G); good for larger types but Harriers are often too far away here.

RIAT visitor - Backfire on finals (taken from between points F and G); author

Harrier GR.7 on finals (taken from point I); author

As you can see from the map, the Viking Way also comes out by the road here and it's a bit of a shorter walk to get to the runway end here. However, staying away from the footpath, let's go to the next possible spot, for that over-the-head experience - the approach lights themselves. If you want to walk to the approach lights from where you are, do so on the verge outside the field - don't go through the field itself or the farmer won't be impressed. There's a gate in the verge on the right here (H) and room for several vehicles to park if the gate is open, but it may not be wise from a safety point of view to park here for any length of time. Further up the road there's another field entrance (I) with just about enough room for a car or two to park off the road and get another angle on approaching aircraft - useful later in the day when the sun would make things difficult on the other side of the approach.

There's little point in going elsewhere but I'll continue on the tour just for the record... get back on the road towards Thistleton. Go through the village (unless, of course, you're parking up to walk down the Viking Way towards point E) and there will be a left turn signposted for Market Overton. Take this, and just round the corner you'll see some farm buildings with a tree-lined lane just before - go down this. You can see the radar tower in the distance but though this lane ends at a crash gate (J), the land here is much lower than the airfield, so all you'll see is the side of a hill when you get there. Aircraft in the circuit fly over this lane but they do so rather high so photography won't be very good; I suspect getting serials will be difficult as well. The Harriers do occasionally practice near-vertical landings and when they do this they can be pretty low and near to you here when they curve round for another go. For the occasional air displays held here (that means Families Days now that RIAT is back to being at Fairford), this can be a good spot for action photos of aircraft displaying.

Back down the lane to the road, turn left and go towards Market Overton village. Once in the village there will be a left turn signposted for Cottesmore; take this. Just before you leave the village, the road curves to the right while a no-through road continues on ahead - it might look hopeful but it just ends at a crash gate with no view of the airfield whatsoever, so don't bother going down there. Out of the village you'll soon see a right turn signposted for Barrow (bus shelter on the right side of the road here). Not long after this point you'll find a large field entrance on the left (K) with plenty of room to park. From here you can read off serials of aircraft on the main ramp, but it's hopeless for photography, being too distant (you'd need a 4000mm lens to frame a single Harrier, and the heat haze off the ramp would make for a poor picture even if you had a lens like that!). The farmer would prefer people to stay here and not continue past the gate and up the lane closer to the airfield.

Continue down the road and you'll see a left turn signposted for Cottesmore, take this and you'll go into the village; the road to the station entrance is on the left at one point. The cemetery (L) is worth a visit to pay your respects to the many aircrew buried here. The road is also wider here, offering a good parking place for the next spot. This is down a very muddy and rough lane which is really 4x4 territory if you really want to drive down it! It leads up to the airfield perimeter and a crash gate (M) and from here you have a great view of aircraft on finals for runway 04 (big lens required though - 300mm a minimum), or aircraft arriving overhead and breaking right to join the circuit for 26. Unfortunately the lie of the land is such that any view of aircraft taxiing off the runway end here to return to the main ramp is partially obscured by the ground. You could always climb on top of the big muck heap here to give yourself a raised viewpoint... no? Don't blame you!

Harrier GR.7 taxiing (taken from point M); author

Back to the car and down the road towards the station entrance; the Harrier GR.3 gate guard is visible down here (N - ask for photo permission at the guardroom), but it's a dead end for spotting - happily there's enough room to turn the car around at least! Continuing out of Cottesmore you'll be back on the road we started on, going in the opposite direction. Follow this and you'll go through Greetham and be able to get back onto the A1 (right on the roundabout for Southbound, straight over for Northbound).

OTHER INFORMATION

Petrol is available in Greetham village.

Foreign visitors may wish to note that the A1 is sometimes signposted as the Great Northern Road.

The MoD-plod seem quite happy with spotters at Cottesmore and I've never seen them bother anybody except during RIAT in 2000 when the local police removed cars parked on verges and the MoD police asked people to move away from the runway end near point D (with little success - a USAF B-1B had greater luck in 2001!).

If you're at point A, Harriers making vertical landings sometimes orient themselves to point directly at you, bow, and then rotate to match the runway heading once more. This is quite spooky; makes you wonder how much of an infra red target a single human being makes! They sometimes fly very low and slow right over you here as well - but don't expect that to happen every time!

Contributors: author, Graeme Carrott, David Tanner, Mike Anderson, Mike Tighe, Mark Lindley, Dave Caris, Tigger, Andrew Lockwood, Andrew Carney, Fighter Control forum, Cottesmore Aviation Group.

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