Aviation 12

sometimes lead a pilot to drop the nose and
quickly go below the minimum height.
Flying under a very low cloud base also
has its challenges. The F-16 pilot admitted:
“In the 1990s a number of aircraft were lost
due to them being ‘closed in by the weather’
because of low cloud, which did not give the
pilot a way out, and they failed to execute
the correct procedure.”
An experienced HAF  ghter pilot
described another ever-present risk at low
level – bird strike. When  ying at 250ft over
the sea in a Lockheed F-104 Star ghter,
he saw a ‘black ball’ followed instantly by
a deafening noise as the cockpit glass
shattered in front of him. “The head of the
bird hit me on the side of the helmet.”
He had his visor down, “but the shattered
glass was like sugar – it went in my eyes
and I could see nothing for a few moments.
My  rst reaction was to come out of the turn
and climb smoothly to high level.” Barely able
to see his  ight leader he was guided to the
nearest air eld on the island of Lemnos and
talked down to the runway.
“On landing I went to switch off the radio
and found the head of the bird in the cockpit:
it was a big seagull. I went to hospital, but
was  ying again two weeks later.”

F-22As AT LOW LEVEL
In April 2016, 12 Lockheed Martin F-22A
Raptors arrived at the home of the 48th FW
at RAF Lakenheath, Suffolk, to work with
RAF aircraft and the resident F-15C Eagles
and F-15E Strike Eagles.
Two F-22As  ew a sortie in LFA 7, which
included the Machynlleth Loop, accompanied
by a pair of F-15Es and an F-15C. The 95th
FS had deployed from Tyndall AFB in Florida,
whose assistant director of operations, Maj
Michael ‘Deep’ Frye (an F-22A instructor pilot),
described the sortie: “Flying the Mach Loop
was a unique opportunity to hone our low-
level pro ciency in mountainous terrain, which
is something we don’t have the capability to
train for at our home station in Florida.

“Many pilots in the 95th FS have previous

experience operating on the ranges in the

Western US and Alaska, which are quite like

Wales. Flying a Raptor through the Mach

Loop is no different than any other fast jet

in the low-level arena: it requires signi cant

mission planning and a spot-on cross-check

to mitigate the inherent risks of tactical

manoeuvring close to the ground. This

low-level mission provided us the unique

opportunity to practise tactical manoeuvring

within the low-altitude structure.”

For the F-22A pilots involved, a higher

level of mission planning was required to

 y this low-level sortie in Wales due to their

unfamiliarity with the terrain, the weather

and the procedures required by the UKLFS.

Most of the mission planning day

was spent building the low- ying route

and abort procedures, map construction

including NOTAMs and bird and noise

avoidance areas as well as calculating the

fuel required. Aircrew of the Lakenheath-

based 48th FW are familiar with  ying at

low level within the UKLFS, and so were

able to offer advice.

“As a result of the mission planning

process and leveraging of the experience

of our local experts [48th FW pilots], the

execution of the mission went off without a

hitch,” said Maj Frye.

Raptor pilots are unable to discuss their

tactics but will admit they must be able to

operate in the full  ight envelope available

to them. Whether it’s at high altitudes or low

level, a pilot must be comfortable with his

environment. Consequently, all Raptor pilots

maintain a low-level currency down to 500ft

which requires periodic  ights at that height.

Although the 95th FS typically  ies at

low level over water near Tyndall AFB, it’s

also an important  ghter pilot skill to operate

safely over land with the extra complications

it presents. Maj Frye described the

increased skills required when  ying at low

altitude: “These training  ights highlight the

differences required in intercept geometry,

the increased performance of the F-22, and

the dangers associated with low-level  ying

such as high ‘g’ onset rates, sustained ‘g’

loads and decreased time-to-impact.”

The Raptor handles no differently at low

level than at higher altitudes, explained

Maj Frye: “The integrated digital  ight

control system of the F-22 constantly

attempts to maintain the same handling

characteristics regardless of airspeed and

altitude, relying on both the combined

http://www.aviation-news.co.uk 61

Tornado has excelled at medium-level

operations despite being originally

designed for the low-level regime.

A 338 Mira F-4E(AUP) passing through

a vast tree-lined valley deep in the

Peloponnese mountains.