Dumfries & Caerlaverock Castle from the Air

**cessna152towser** · 6th December 06, 01:33 PM

Today was one of those lulls between the winter storms. Ideal for a sightseeing flight over Dumfries and Caerlaverock Castle.

First the mandatory photocall with the 'plane and our passenger Zara, who has recently come from Poland to live in Scotland.

Soon after take off we reach the coast overhead Gretna Green. The Solway Firth is ahead, with England to the left and Scotland to the right.

Turning slightly inland over the Scottish coast we reach our turning point overhead Dumfries, home to Pour1Malt. Ferintosh Guest House is down there somewhere.

We head south following the River Nith back to the Solway coast. This is the picturesque village of Glencaple, 5 miles south of Dumfries.

Caerlaverock Castle

As we regain the Solway coast at the mouth of the River Nith, we swoop in close for a couple of shots of Caerlaverock Castle, 8 miles from Dumfries.

The going away shot captures the castle with its moat just behind the wing, with a glimpse back at the Nith estuary.

On the way home to the airport we catch a view of the town of Annan, where the River Annan flows into the Solway Firth.
For those newbies who missed it earlier in the year, here is a link to Pour1Malt's excellent photo thread of Caerlaverock Castle, and kilts at said castle.
http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=17694

**Ialtog** · 6th December 06, 01:53 PM

Those are just awesome! I really enjoy aerial photos for giving me a sense of a place's geography. Thanks for sharing those.

**McClef** · 6th December 06, 01:58 PM

Wish I could hop into a light plane and get low level shots - lucky Alex and well done!

**starbkjrus** · 6th December 06, 01:59 PM

Very nice Alex. Thanks again for the piccies.

**nixphotography** · 6th December 06, 02:10 PM

Beautiful shots. Thank you for sharing.

Brett

**cavscout** · 6th December 06, 02:21 PM

is that an F4 in the background of the first photo?

Thanks for the pics.

**cessna152towser** · 6th December 06, 02:42 PM

is that an F4 in the background of the first photo?

Yes its a Phantom F4 (or FGR.2 as it was classified by the RAF. ) Serial number XV406, it landed here about 1998. Someone in the RAF had intended to loan it to our aviation museum but the powers that be had second thoughts that it was too modern a piece of military hardware to make available for public viewing and it was parked airside on a remote area until about a year ago, when the RAF finally struck it off charge and handed it over to the museum. So it has only recently become available for public viewing and could do with a repaint.

**haukehaien** · 6th December 06, 03:02 PM

One of the first airplane models I ever built was a Phantom FGR2; I really like the looks of the aircraft. It'll make a nice display, once you get it painted up. (I'd offer to help, but I suspect that 1:48 scale doesn't translate to the real world very well.)