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September 11, 2020Lorient-Lann-Bihoué (South Brittany) Spotting Guide
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- last modified on September 11, 2020
Lorient Lann-Bihoué Airport LRT/LFRH (also known as Lorient South Brittany Airport) is located just a few kilometers away from the coastline northwest of Lorient. The city itself is an important Navy base already for a long time and was massively bombed-out during WW2 due to its military importance. However, the Navy base was rebuilt again and thus Lorient is still the Navy’s aircraft biggest air base in Brittany. Based at this airfield are Atlantic Breguet 2, Embraer 121 Xingu, Falcon 50, but you can also see Jetstream 31s or Beech 350s sometimes on “guest missions”. Fighters can’t be seen here too often, however sometimes some are moved to LRT from Landvisiau when latter base is closed during summer holidays.
Although there are no official operating times at LRT, you’ll still see some regularities in operations. Most outbounds happen between 8-10, while some return before lunch around 11-12, some also stay in the air till after lunch (14-16). Afternoons are quiet, only very few missions are flown then, but sometimes you’ll have guests aircraft coming in from Toulon air base at 18. Night mission may also be flown sometimes…
Apart from military operations, there are twice a week (as of July 2020) services to TLS flown by APG with a Beech 350.
The airport was built by the German forces in WW2 in order to support the operations in the water from above after the German took over the power in France. Before the occupying power used the field for military usage though, a local sport club already started flying at Lann-Bihoué in 1938. After WW2, the French air force made usage of the built airfield and now since 1951 military forces are based here.
Written by Severin Hackenberger – thanks to Alexis Boidron and Martin Le Penven for providing information/pictures. Last Update: July 2020
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| Airport Information | |
| Runways | |
| 02/20 | 1670m x 45m – Asphalt |
| 07/25 | 2403m x 45m – Asphalt |
| Terminals | |
| Terminal 1 | There is only one commercial terminal facility in the southeast where all passenger flights are handled. |
| Spotting Information | |
| Ladder | Useless as the fences are quite high and spotting onto the base is STRICTLY PROHIBITED. Also not the best way to keep a low profile… |
| Car/Public Transport | Definitely needed, without car you are screwed. |
| Restrooms | The airfield is surrounded by grass/forests, but not my restrooms – no such facility nearby. |
| Drinks/Food | South of the base you’ll find some facilities in the nearby villages, north of the base you’ll only have some gas stations/their shops. |
| Hotels | In the city of Lorient plenty, but none in close distance or with spotterview. |
| Season | As operations in extreme daytimes are rare, summer is not useful with long days and due to the runway direction, winter also offers better light, but worse weather. |
| Security | This is a MILITARY AIRPORT and thus spotting is not as easy as normally. However, taking pictures upon approach is tolerated, but shooting onto the air base along the fence is NEITHER ALLOWED, NOR TOLERATED. Please keep a low profile and adjust, so spotting will still be possible in the future here. |
| Runway Usage | |
| General Info | 25 operations are favored and commonly used. |
| 02/20 |
Very rarely used. |
| 07/25 | Major runway, 99% of all operations are handled via this one. |
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Spot #1 – Kerlaën – 25 Arrivals |
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| WHERE | This spot can be found in the village of Kerlaën just north of the approach path. When heading to this spot be aware to not take highway D163 as you can’t exit to Kerlaën there, you need to take the parallely running road in the east. Once you reached the housings, make your way to the southeasternmost corner, where you should end up at a field, from where you have a nice view. You can leave your car just next to the field or all around the roadside as the village is quiet without a lot of traffic. |
| WHAT | Arrivals on runway 25. |
| TIME | On late summer evenings or very early mornings. |
| MISC. | On hot days, haze may be a problem. Keep a low profile and behave appropriately as you are in a residential area. Don’t destroy anything on the field. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 300-500mm Beech 350 = ~400mm |
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Spot #2 – 25 Arrival lights – 25 Arrivals |
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| WHERE | This spot can be found along/by the roadside of the previously mentioned smaller street parallelly running to the highway D163. Just west of this street a few meters north of the arrival lights, you will see a little terrain where you can park and walk some meter around so you can choose your favourite position/angle around here… |
| WHAT | Arrivals on runway 25. |
| TIME | On late summer evenings or very early mornings. |
| MISC. | On hot days. Keep a low profile and behave appropriately as you are easily seeable, so don’t flex with our camera all the time. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 50-300mm depending on your position/the shot Front shot E2 = 200mm |
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Spot #3 – Highway roadside – 25 Arrivals |
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| WHERE | This spot can be found along/by the roadside of the previously mentioned smaller street parallelly running to the highway D163. It is best to come from the south heading towards arrival lights as you can then perfectly park/stop on the right by the roadside before it is prohibited with a great view into the approach so you don’t miss anything. You can also leave your just beneath the arrival path at the lights and walk up here, but you attract more attention then. Of course you can choose your favorite position around here regarding your favorite angle. |
| WHAT | Arrivals on runway 25. |
| TIME | In summer from late morning this afternoon, in winter all day. |
| MISC. | Heat haze can be a problem on hot days. Take care when standing by the roadside not to be injured. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 250-500mm Jetstream 31 = ~300mm |
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Spot #4 – Farmer field – 07 Arrivals |
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| WHERE | This spot can be found west of the airfield by the roadside of an unnamed street. The easiest way is to approach the spot from the south via the village of Kervinio and then drive more or less along the fence up north towards arrival path. Once you are on the street where you see some military housings with a big parking a bit away on the right and a farmer meadow on the left you reached our spot – just park your car by the roadside and spot from here. Hard to explain, but exact position marked on the map. |
| WHAT | Arrivals on runway 07. |
| TIME | In summer from late morning this afternoon, in winter all day. |
| MISC. | Nothing around. You are easily seeable from the base here so take care to keep a low profile even more. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 100-400mm Atlatnic Breguet = 180mm |
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Spot #5 – 07 Arrival lights – 07 Arrivals |
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| WHERE | This spot can be found west of the airfield by the roadside of an unnamed street. The easiest way is to approach the spot from the south via the village of Kervinio and then drive more or less along the fence up north towards arrival path. Pass spot #4 and just shortly north of the arrival lights, park your car by the roadside and search your favourite position/angle around here… |
| WHAT | Arrivals on runway 07. |
| TIME | On late summer evenings or very early mornings. |
| MISC. | Keep a low profile and behave appropriately as you just next to the fence thus the military area. Keep a low profile with your camera and don’t block the road with your car… |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 50-200mm Fighter = 150mm |
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Spot #6 – Terminal – Nearby taxiway + apron movements |
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| WHERE | This position can be found just east of the small passenger/civil terminal at LRT, which is located in the south of the airport. Just turn off the D163E towards the airport terminal and take the road (as marked on the map) till you reach the airport facilities. Then enter P1 Parking, park your car there and walk to the fence north of the parking just right/east of the terminal itsself. |
| WHAT | As this spot is just next to the terminal, you will see the civil apron here as well as the nearby taxiways. As the Falcon50s and Jetstreams are always parked nearby here, you will see those taxi around here. |
| TIME | Depending on what you wanna shoot… Falcon50’s taxiway good from later noon till early afternoon – Kawasaki taxiway good from sunrise till late noon (same for the main civil apron). |
| MISC. | Keep a low profile and behave appropriately as you just next to the fence and all the airport facilities thus the military area. Keep a low profile with your camera! No ladder needed as you are able to shoot thru the mesh and ladder is absolutely not recommended here – still an airbase! Heat haze is a big issue in summer! |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 50-200mm Kawasaki = 140mm / Falcon50 = 125mm |
