Plane flying through Glen Shiel

[killy9999]

Yesterday (May 26th) around 11:30 there was a plane flying at a very low level through Glen Shiel. I've seen it for about 10 seconds from top of Maol chinn-dearg but didn't manage to take any pictures. Did anyone else seen it and manage to take pictures or at least identify type of the plane?

[Coop]

Probably a typhoon buddy. Saw 2 last year myself

[killy9999]

Nope, definitely not a Typhoon - not a jet fighter. Green camo, wide, straight wings, silhouette similar to Waco CG-4 (which it obviously wasn't).

[Ben Nachie]

Saw something like a C-130 fly really low over Fort William on Thursday. Might be the same plane.

[Mal Grey]

Was going to suggest Hercules (C-130) if military, or maybe an A400? Your description makes it sounds smaller though. How many engines? Size?

[JFT_96]

Might be the same plane but I saw this flying low through Glen Coe at about 12 on Saturday. Not a great photo of it I'm afraid

[ChrisButch]

That's a Fat Albert (C130 Hercules)

[Daverice]

That's a Fat Albert (C130 Hercules)

Came over Ben Nevis just before 1 on Saturday. Looked great swooping down into the Glen.

[killy9999]

Yes, that's exactly the same one. Thanks!

[Magoo82]

I saw one of those flying down Glen Tilt last year when I was pitching my tent at Bedford Bridge. Felt so close that I could have thrown a stone up and hit it. It was gone before I could get the camera out though.

[ChrisButch]

The C130 Hercules has been the RAF's transport workhouse for decades. They do a lot of low-flying training, because they're often used for aid drops after earthquakes etc. I live in a low-altitude training zone, and am used to the whoosh of those quiet Allison turboprops low over the house in the middle of the night. At one time they always came over in groups of three, then two, ...but now there's only ever one at a time, and not very often at that.

[jmarkb]

I got a ride in a Hercules once: as part of my training as a Met Office scientist I spent a couple of weeks at RAF Brize Norton. It was a flight of 3 aircraft, and we went from Brize up towards East Anglia, then at low level right across central England and then out over the Brecon Beacons. There was some brief excitement in the cockpit at one point when the navigator screwed up and we briefly lost visual contact with the other 2 aircraft. We then went back via Salisbury Plain when they lobbed a Land Rover on a parachute out of the back, which was fun to watch: the Landy "accelerates" from 0 to 80mph relative to the plane before it goes out the door.

[NickyRannoch]

That plane or one like it, was flying through Strathardle at 1230 on Saturday.

Would that be likely Glencoe 12, Strathardle 1230, Ben Nevis 1300?

What amazed me was how slow it was in the air. I wasn't sure it wouldn't just drop down.

[sprintster]

2018-05-27 23.28.26.jpg

That's a Fat Albert (C130 Hercules)

Came over Ben Nevis just before 1 on Saturday. Looked great swooping down into the Glen.

That must be the same one we saw flying past Braeriach heading west about 12:30.

[Jon and Jen]

Saw this same plane in February in Glen tilt. It was low but not as low as the eurofighter that flew level with us before banking and accelerating away.

Both awesome sights at such close range. I remember growing up on the black isle and we were well used to the sonic booms of supersonic flights overhead. Give you a bit of a fright at first. I think they've banned that now.