Bombertown Gloucestershire
Fairford has been the place to be in 2026, although not for the best reasons. At the height of the Iran-US conflict, the base was the temporary home to 18 B-1B Lancers and 10 B-52H Stratofortresses, alongside the resident 99th Reconnaissance Squadron's U-2s, making the station hugely attractive to spotters and photographers.
Spending a day at the fenceline has been a conflicting experience. Watching the bombers depart with live munitions and return empty leaves a strange feeling in your stomach. As enthusiasts, we're so used to seeing aircraft flying training sorties or, at worst, operational sorties in unarmed ISTAR or transport aircraft. Experiencing this gear change was a real conflict for some people, with a few enthusiasts deciding to stay away because they felt uncomfortable witnessing the bombers flying live missions. Personally, I reasoned that the B-1s and B-52s would be flying from the base whether I was there or not, so at least if I was at Fairford, I could appreciate the USAF bombers for the incredible machines that they are while trying not to dwell too much on the nature of the sorties they were flying.
The odd days at the Fairford fence this year have been great, but there was one day in particular during June that was fantastic, with the bombers flying local sorties thanks to a lull in the US-Iran conflict. On Tuesday, 23rd June, there was a wealth of bomber movement, starting with a 10am departure to Minot by a pair of B-52s, followed by a pair of Dyess B-1s launching over the subsequent hours. The two Lancers were due to depart as a pair at 11:30, but unsurprisingly one suffered a serviceability issue and returned to parking, eventually departing two hours later. The B-1s returned around 15:30, with only a short wait before a pair of B-52s launched an hour later. The Lancer duo had planned to hot-pit, keeping their engines running during their refuelling before departing on an evening sortie without shutting down. While one of the jets managed this, the second seemingly suffered a technical issue and was forced to shut down, with an Ellsworth-marked jet completing the pair for the early evening launch.
There was an easterly wind on this day, with Fairford operating on Runway 09. Unfortunately, this made photography difficult for the evening jet movements, with the light falling directly down the tail for the respective departures and recoveries. What was particularly cool, however, was watching the Stratofortress pair return to the Fairford circuit in the evening light. One of the B-52s must have made around eight separate approaches, rounding off an incredible day at the Gloucestershire base.
While it has been incredible witnessing the bomber flights from Fairford, particularly those local sorties, I'm looking forward to the final 12 Lancers heading back to their Dyess and Ellsworth home bases so that we can have greater confidence that the Royal International Air Tattoo will return to RAF Fairford in 2027. Bring it on!
