First you hear a high pitched whistling noise, which becomes a whine.  You look up to the left, over the trees. A small black bird-like shape appears, tilted on a 45 degree angle.  It straightens, and you can see this is no bird. As it approaches, the whine turns to a screaming roar.  You are no longer hearing the sound, but feeling it with every fibre of your being, as it rattles all the bones in your body.  The wheels are down as the aircraft crosses the fence, and within seconds it has slammed hard onto the tarmac.  Sometimes, instead of landing, they kick the engines up again, fling themselves skyward, and continue for another circuit.  The noise is visceral.  You take a couple of deep breaths to steady yourself after each pass, but already the next aircraft is on approach, bringing with it a new adrenalin rush.

We were at RAF Lakenheath, the European operational headquarters of the US Air Force’s 48^th Fighter Wing. There are four combat-ready Squadrons based here – two groups of F-35As and two of F-15s.  Today we were watching 8 or 10 F-35s from the 493^rd squadron, aka the “Grim Reapers”.  We missed seeing their vertical take off, but our timing was perfect to see them flying circuits above us, then coming in for landings or going around again.  At times we could see four above us at once, as they executed their manoeuvres. We learned later that they were practising flame outs.  We were very lucky to see such an active morning; but shortly after 11.30am, the show was over and the crowds were dispersing.

After a quick lunch in the Tesco car park at Kings Lynn (I’ve grown quite fond of their ready made chicken club sandwiches), we headed north, leavinbg Cambridgeshire and crossing the border into Norfolk, then Lincolnshire.  The drive was only notable for the number of tractors that we got stuck behind, but we had plenty of time.  We pulled into our new home in the village of Scopwick by mid afternoon; this will be our base for the next 3 days.