They came in the dark to raf fairford and waited through the night for the first takeoff. By Monday morning, hundreds, perhaps thousands, of plane spotters had lined the fringes of the Gloucestershire base, hoping for a glimpse of the American aircraft using it for missions to Iran.
Jonathan Wilkinson drove 80 miles from Hampshire with his wife, Katie, and their three sons, aged seven to 12, arriving with the same mix of excitement and caution that was on display around the perimeter fence. “It’s definitely cheaper than a trip to a theme park,” he said. Then he added the note that hung over the whole scene: “The sights and sounds are impressive. But it’s a bittersweet thing. These planes are only here because of war. We have to keep that in mind.”
The family’s trip began at 4.40am, only one of many journeys made for the chance to watch military aircraft move through the morning haze. Cam Dell left Leeds at 10.30pm on Sunday, drove almost 200 miles, and arrived at Fairford at 2.45am. He heard the roar of engines being tested at 3.30am while he huddled in his car for warmth. By daybreak, spotters were setting up stepladders so they could see over the security fence. “I know it’s not a normal thing to do,” Dell said. “But these are not normal times, are they?”
A few hours after dawn, two B-1 Lancer bombers soared south from the base, followed by a U-2 reconnaissance plane. Ollie, 20, had come from Southend-on-Sea in Essex with a group of friends and described the appeal in blunt terms. “You never know when a plane is taking off or landing,” he said. “It’s a waiting game.”
The scene around the base was not all shared enthusiasm. Some local people complained that the plane spotters were clogging up roads, and Gloucestershire police said they would keep the situation under review. Ministry of Defence police vehicles did laps of the base and occasionally asked people to move poorly parked cars. Robert, who said he was in his 70s, drove his van close to the airfield and cycled the rest of the way with his sandwiches and binoculars. “I don’t want to cause any trouble,” he said. “I’m interested in the mechanics of the planes rather than the destruction they can cause.”
For the spectators at raf fairford, the morning offered both spectacle and unease. The aircraft were a draw, but their purpose was impossible to miss, and so was the fact that the base had become a magnet for people willing to spend the night for a few minutes of takeoff and the sound of engines in the cold.
