Mach Loop ramblings

[Paul stuart]

Anyone visited the mach loop, i am thinking of having a week in wales and mon to friday at the loop ,what are the best choices for views and accessability ,also what lens choice is suitable i will probably use a7r5 with 70-200mm and a1 with 200-600mm ,maybe the 300mm f2.8 if i can manage to snag one .trying to imagine sitting on a mountain side for a day waiting for aircraft to fly through similar to my fishing days .might need a small tent bivvy type for the elements .

 

[Sdawes]

Anyone visited the mach loop, i am thinking of having a week in wales and mon to friday at the loop ,what are the best choices for views and accessability ,also what lens choice is suitable i will probably use a7r5 with 70-200mm and a1 with 200-600mm ,maybe the 300mm f2.8 if i can manage to snag one .trying to imagine sitting on a mountain side for a day waiting for aircraft to fly through similar to my fishing days .might need a small tent bivvy type for the elements .

Hi Paul , I have visited the loop on a few occasions when I have been out and about in that area but sadly for me drew a blank on every visit. There is no timetable or advanced info that is accurate enough to guarantee flypasts but if you are prepared to on a few days during your stay and sit it out then I am sure will get something . I was advised that 100-400mm would be the ideal range of focal length and if you havent been before I would recommend going to CAD West , there is fgood roadside parking of you get there early , Its not far from Dolgellau and if you turn right at the Cross Foxes pub and go up the road approx 2 miles you will see the layby on the right . On the same side as the layby is a stile and a track which goes up the hillside . If you are lucky the jets will be coming from your left through the gap between Cad West and the opposite Cad East . Veterans say the midel of the week ie tues-thurs are the best bet weather permitting. Good luck and hope to see some images on here in due course.

 

[Paul stuart]

good advice thanks

 

[Tim Mayo]

Did you make it to the loop Paul? I've been a few times but not for years, twice to Bwlch and once to Cad East. I only saw hawks and an A400. There's more parking at Cad East/West than Bwlch but you'll probably want to be there early, although at this time of year it will be a little quieter. It's really pot luck what comes through if anything at all. I'm not sure if RAF fast jets are banned still or not. Good weather will help and also check when the American holidays are as they won't be flying then. I never bothered with a tent even through it was freezing a couple of times when I went, you'll definitely want to be wrapped up warm at this time of year! Sometimes they come in so quick especially from Bwlch you might miss the shot if you need to get out of a tent. I only had the 100-400 when I visited which worked great from those locations. Might try and get there again this year.

This was shot from Bwlch on the top shelf. I sent the shot to the pilot after he spotted it in one of the Mach Loop Facebook groups.

• ILCE-7RM3
• FE 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 GM OSS
• 400.0 mm
• ƒ/5.6
• 1/1000 sec
• ISO 500

This was from Cad East.

• ILCE-9
• FE 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 GM OSS
• 226.0 mm
• ƒ/10
• 1/250 sec
• ISO 100

 

[Paul stuart]

Did you make it to the loop Paul? I've been a few times but not for years, twice to Bwlch and once to Cad East. I only saw hawks and an A400. There's more parking at Cad East/West than Bwlch but you'll probably want to be there early, although at this time of year it will be a little quieter. It's really pot luck what comes through if anything at all. I'm not sure if RAF fast jets are banned still or not. Good weather will help and also check when the American holidays are as they won't be flying then. I never bothered with a tent even through it was freezing a couple of times when I went, you'll definitely want to be wrapped up warm at this time of year! Sometimes they come in so quick especially from Bwlch you might miss the shot if you need to get out of a tent. I only had the 100-400 when I visited which worked great from those locations. Might try and get there again this year.

This was shot from Bwlch on the top shelf. I sent the shot to the pilot after he spotted it in one of the Mach Loop Facebook groups.

View attachment 55840

This was from Cad East.

View attachment 55839

No i have not been yet thanks for the tip on american holidays i am thinking of going end of april i want to avoid summer if i can i think less hours of light sort of narrows the chances i can not imagine getting up there for 6.00 am then until 8.00pm a lot of waiting .so be either late april or early may

 

[Tim Mayo]

No i have not been yet thanks for the tip on american holidays i am thinking of going end of april i want to avoid summer if i can i think less hours of light sort of narrows the chances i can not imagine getting up there for 6.00 am then until 8.00pm a lot of waiting .so be either late april or early may

That's a good call with the shorter daylight hours. There's a lot of action up in the Lakes as well, so might be worth considering.