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March 9, 2021RAF Lakenheath Air Base – Spotting Guide
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- last modified on June 22, 2022
RAF Lakenheath (IATA: LKZ / ICAO: EGUL) is a Royal Air Force base but currently hosts only USAF units. The 48th Fighter Wing (48 FW), also known as the Liberty Wing, assigned to the USAFE-AFAFRICA.
The unit operates only F15(C/D/E) from the 492nd, 493rd and 494th Fighter Squadron. Pretty often some F16 USAF can been seen as well as fuel stops between Middle East to US or vis-versa.
The base is only a very short jump from RAF Base Mildenhall.
Written by Peter Adams, Csaba Czellinger and Christian Preinl. Last Update: October 2020
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| Airport Information | |
| Runway | |
| 06/24 | 2,743m (8,999ft); Asphalt |
| Spotting Information | |
| Ladder | Allowed but keep a distance of 2 meters as usual. |
| Car/Public Transport | Car is definitely recommended as it’s a vast area. |
| Restrooms | None anywhere. |
| Drinks/Food | A supermarket can be found in Lakenheath city but nothing close by. |
| Hotels | Travel Lodge Barton, 5 miles away. |
| Season | Summer in order to avoid the UK bad weather however, the fighters fly always during the week all year around with thursday seems to be the busiest day. |
| Security | As every military bases try to keep a low profile, do not stand close to the fence. The local authorities are well aware of our hobby and tolerate it but keep the place clean. In general you will enjoy a smooth time. |
| Runway Usage | |
| 06/24 | Runway 24 is mostly in use but as you know AFB they can land from the other one without prior notice. |
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Spot #1 – Viewing Aera/Forest Road |
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| WHERE | Drive on Brandon Rd direction north on RAF Lakenheath. Pass the base from south to north and exit on Wangford Rd by taking a left turn. Then again a left turn on that small road until you can park the car in the parking lot from the official viewing area. For arrivals you can stay there but we recomment to put yourself on the little road along the forest with your ladder and search your prefered angle (but be careful not to touch the fence) to catch all movements. |
| WHAT | Rwy06 departures and vacating shots. Rwy24 line-up and landing shots. |
| TIME | Summer: 1600 to sunset Winter: no go (backlit) |
| MISC. | The area is closed to the landing lights do not spot hear as you will be made deaf and be moved on by security and police. Also car parking here is limited so do not park on the grass verge otherwise you will be pulled by police. Better to park at spot 1 and walk down to the spot. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | Depending on the angle, the F15 & F16 front taxiway at 160mm, runway at 320mm and 400mm for banking shots. |
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Spot #2 – Runway lights |
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| WHERE | From the viewing area walk back towards the rwy24 lights (refer on the blue line on the map in case). |
| WHAT | Runway 24 Arrivals only. |
| TIME | Summer: 1300 to 1600 Winter: Best at sunset |
| MISC. | Be careful on the heavy traffic of the road. Nothing nearby so bring with you what you need. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | Depending on the angle, the F15 is generally between 100mm up to 400mm (below pictures front at 400mm and back at 320mm) |
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Spot #3 – The Field – Rwy06 |
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| WHERE | Drive on Brandon Rd direction north on RAF Lakenheath. Pass the base from south to north and exit on a small dirty pass after the forest by taking on the right. Park your car along the road but do not block it. |
| WHAT | Rwy06 landing shots and rwy24 departure shots. A ladder is necessary in order to make departure shots. |
| TIME | Summer: sunrise until 13:30 Winter: all day |
| MISC. | There is nothing nearby so take what you need with you. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | Approach: F15/F16/F22/F35 = 150-170mm side shots Front taxiway: F15/F16… = 250mm Runway: F15/F16 … = 400mm & B744 = 155mm |
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Spot #4 – Farmer Field |
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| WHERE | Drive on Brandon Rd “A1065” direction north on RAF Lakenheath. Take a left turn on B1112 and stay on that road while passing all the USAF barracks until you reached a small rest area on your left side where you can park the car. Then it’s approx 10 minutes walk until the spot, refer to the map. |
| WHAT | Approach and taxiway to rwy06. |
| TIME | Summer: From 1400 until sunset. Winter: No go (backlight) |
| MISC. | Nothing nearby but heat haze might be a issue for taxiway and runway shots during summer. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | Approach: F15/F16… = 150mm Front taxiway: F15/F16… = 250mm Runway: F15/F16… = 400mm |
HI, thanks to the good advice and very good web site on plane spotting. We stayed at the Travelodge mid-week and saw loads of F16, F35, F15 watching from the viewing area. Do you have any guess if there will be flying between Xmas and new year?? We come from Swindon, a long way and it’s great to have a productive day viewing but will not bother if base shut down for the holidays?
Thinking of coming to the viewing area tomorrow in a motorhome hopefully able to stay the night? Do you know if your allowed?
Is it worth going on a Sunday
no, its not, i reccomend thursday afternoon – evenings as some brilliant catches too sometimes! scan out fr24 prior to going to see what activity is occuring on certain days, though all days do work. I had my best day on a Monday and wednesdays for me are a no go, but from what a couple of people have told me thursday evenings is supposedly a gold mine!
Hi – we are visiting in May 2022 week of 23 May.
Very excited but have never been here before. Will be in the car park – are ear defenders needed/recommended?
Also is there a likely time to see aircraft, eg 08:00 – 16:00 eg?
Thanks
I’m new to the Area having moved to littleport and have been done quite a few times myself and with my 4 year old son. There is often a burger van serving hot drinks and some food just past the viewing area car park.
Yesterday I went but he wasn’t there so decided to find somewhere to go and have a late breakfast – there is a great cafe literally a 2 min drive in Brandon called Chick-King, proper British greasy spoon!
How do I find out what the movements will be on a day to day basis
Talk to the people with the massive coats and cameras!
pretty much!
This is great! Thank you for the information. Will be visiting RAF Lakenheath area May of 2022. Was born on this base in 1969. Coming back to visit and the RAF Lakenheath viewing area is going to be the highlight of my trip. I know this article is from October 2020. If you happen to have any updated information on the schedule I would be happy to know where to find it.
Sorry to say there is no ‘schedule’ as Lakenheath is a military base and they generally don’t have a timetable. However, it is a busy base so if you are there during any weekday, you should see movements of F-15’s, and these days, F-35’s too.