Royal Air Force Station. Lakenheath

                                                                       Located 12 miles North East of Newmarket in Suffolk

Frequencies

Tower ------------ 338.425
DATIS ----------- 256.725
Approach -------- 309.200

Departures ------ 250.300
Ground ---------- 375.450
Dispatch --------- 244.475
Command Post - 278.925
48FW A-A ------- 241.075
48FW A-A ------- 253.025
48FW A-A ------- 232.725
48FW A-A ------- 241.925
48FW A-A ------- 241.975
48FW A-A ------- 250.300
48FW A-A ------- 264.725
48FW A-A ------- 268.725
48FW A-A ------- 277.950
48FW A-A ------- 309.200
48FW A-A ------- 338.425
48FW A-A ------- 343.550
48FW A-A ------- 356.725
48FW A-A ------- 371.800
48FW A-A ------- 375.450

Weather LINK       F15e site  Link     Control towers  Link    Lakenheath official  Link   Lakenheath unoficial  Link

RAF Lakenheath is a USAFE base located 5 minutes drive from from RAF Mildenhall and near to the large village of Brandon and approx 13-15 miles North-East of Newmarket in Suffolk. Based at Lakenheath are the F15 Eagles of the 48th Tactical Fighter Wing. Lakenheath has at its disposal more than 60 fighters on strength and as you would imagine it is a very busy station. It is not unusual for aircraft to be launching at 8am and the base still launching aircraft well into the night. During the past few years some of the footpaths at the Eriswell end of the airfield have been realigned away from the perimeter as a security measure, security at this airfield can be quite jumpy sometimes, so try not to act suspicious and you may well be in danger yourself so be alert all the times . Since June 2006 HH-60G 'Pave Hawk' Combat Search and Rescue helicopters from the 56th Rescue Squadron have made a new home Lakenheath and are regular users of the nearby Stanta training ground . Lakenheath does see a good selection of different visiting types, hardly a week goes by without the big USAF heavies calling in at least a couple of times with their C17 and C5's. The nearby bases of Marham and Mildenhall are regular visitors who provide the ATC with training by performing overshoots. Almost every Friday visitors are often treated to an F15D performing a performance take off, this is usually a treat for a long serving member of the airforce, these flights keep low and do not appear above the fenceline until almost at the end of the runway before they shoot vertically upwards and with large amounts of vapour forming over the top of the wings . 

Local Ammenities: Lakenheath has a good selection of small shops and a post office and is about 2 miles from the viewing area. The train station is around 3-4 miles from the main viewing area. The nearby village of Brandon has a decent selection of shops and cash points, a word of caution when travelling in these parts. The local police/camera partnership take their work of deploying camera vans very seriously indeed, it is easy to forget this when you spot a gem of an aircraft flying overhead and race to one of the nearby airfields to capture it with your camera.   

Point 1. The official viewing area is a good place to start this guide from. The viewing area is located at the north Eastern side of the base just of the A1065 Mildenhall to Brandon road. Pass the base and take the left turn at the traffic lights for the B1112 The location itself is ideally situated for aircraft landing over the main road and a 300mm is suitable from here and will fill the frame with an F15, although the tall fence will cause problems for the actual touch down shots. The fence stands at around 9 feet and is metal wire with holes around 3 inches in diameter, this is usefull and easy to shoot through. On sunny days the sun will cause a nuisance for your photography as you will spend a great deal of time looking towards it until late afternoon, so cloudy days will be better for this location .

                                                               An early evening departure from Point 2

Point 2. is the side road that runs almost parrallel to the runway, leave the viewing area and turn left. Again same as point1 the sun will cause problems, so this location is best used for cloudy days. At this location you can get head on taxi shots of aircraft as they enter the runway and some great side on shots can be had as the fighters plug in the burners .You can either shoot through the fence or for convenience there is a slight bank on the roadside that gives the photographer a slight elevation. It is best to walk down this road rather than using your car, you should not venture beyond the buildings further down unless of course you obtain permission from the land owner.

                                                                Shooting through the fence at point 3

Point 3. Is the entrance to the woodland adjacent to the viewing area, this is located 300 yrds past the B1112 turn off heading towards Mildenhall on the A1065. There is a small track with a locked gate and enough space for around 6 cars if parked sensibly, and remember not to block the gate. This location will not cause any problems with the sun until the evening in the summer time. From here a lens of 300-400mm is ideal for both aircraft landing over the road to your right and aircraft taking off from runway 24 will be low enough as they pass in front of you for decent frame filling shots. 

                                                                      On finals between points 3 and 4

                              Taken from point 3, if you look at the bottom of the picture you will see the photographers at point 4 

Point 4. Is under the threashold towards the traffic lights, walk down there on the grass banking from the woodland location at point 3 and from here you can get head on and ¾ head on shots as the aircraft are on finals. 

Point 5, is at the Eriswell old hall end of the airfield. On the A1065, head back towards Mildenhall and turn on to the B1112, you will come across an old out building from where you can look down upon the airfield. There is a public footpath from here that leads down towards the perimeter fence. In recent years this footpath as been altered so that it keeps away from the perimeter fence. This location is handy when aircraft are landing on 06, the sun can be a little tricky from here.

    Still more work to be done.......