Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Watch as huge RAF cargo plane lands at Leuchars

Several military aircraft have been spotted in the skies above Fife this week.

This was the moment a huge RAF cargo plane landed at Leuchars after circling in the skies above Fife.

Locals watched in amazement as a C-17 Globemaster transporter flew low over north-east Fife on Thursday afternoon.

The plane took off from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire at 11.25am and headed north.

Once at Leuchars, the plane completed several circuits in the area and performed several touch-and-go landings, before heading south.

The aircraft can transport more than 100,000lb of freight.

The C17 Globemaster at Leuchars.
The C17 Globemaster at Leuchars. Image: Jacqui Herrington
BCT53 over Leuchars on Thursday.
The route taken by the plane over Leuchars on Thursday. Image: Flightradar24

According to the RAF, it is capable of rapid, strategic delivery of troops and all types of cargo to main operating bases anywhere in the world.

Two Typhoons from RAF Lossiemouth were also spotted in the area on Thursday afternoon.

Data from the tracking website Flightradar24 showed the jets completing several loops above the River Tay before returning north.

Typhoon's looping over the Tay on Thursday. I
Typhoons looping over the Tay on Thursday. Image: Flightradar24
A Typhoon jet at RAF Leuchars in recent days.
A Typhoon jet at RAF Leuchars in recent days. Image: Jacqui Herrington

Meanwhile, American Hercules, Globemaster and Osprey aircraft have taken to the skies over Fife in recent days.

Several units have been using Leuchars recently, most of which have been independent training exercises.

  • US Army MH-47s – Carrying out mountain flying training.
  • USAF C-17 – Visit Leuchars usually twice a year to carry out joint training.
  • USAF CV-22 Ospreys –The USAF 7th Special Operations Squadron brought three CV-22s up to Leuchars for training.
  • RAF CH-47s – 18 Sqn deployed to Leuchars with 2x CH-47s as part of a joint training exercise with HMS Prince of Wales.
A Hercules aircraft over Leuchars in recent days.
A Hercules aircraft over Leuchars this week. Image: Jacqui Herrington
  • Romanian C-130/C27 – There are Romanian Navy personnel currently working with RN at Rosyth, Leuchars assisted with the change over of personnel.
  • Typhoons from Lossiemouth and Coningsby have also been using the airfield for training and refuelling.

It comes weeks after an RAF Atlas was spotted flying low over Tayside and Fife during a routine training sortie from RAF Brize Norton.

Conversation