The Dunoon Observer of the 4th April 2008 reports that a military exercise will take place in and around Argyll over the next 2 weeks. This will involve fixed wing aircraft, helicopters and ground troops and will take place in the vicinity of Loch Fyne, Loch Long and the Garelochead training area.  Out of hours flying has been authorised.

Exercises are also taking place in Knoydart,Kingussie, Granton on Spey,Ullapool,Dingwall and Cape Wrath.

So far on the Clyde we have had a few over flights and a great increase in Naval activity including one of the new class of destroyers and mine hunters exercising in the Firth.

Would that be HMS Daring?
What other ships are in the ara?
TIA
Pat

I imagine so, unless that is, they have built another one which I am not aware of.  It does appear to be carrying out trials and I did think the Daring had been handed over.   Boy, they are ugly with the bridge incorporated into a tall tower surmounted bya radar golf ball.  The funnel, which is painted black is very tall and looks like a stove pipe and then there is another tower aft with a big dadar array on it. To think that I thought the last HMS Daring was ugly in the 1950s.  Mind you they tidied up the funnels on the later ships.

As to other ships, the view from the crows nest has included several mine hunters and a large RFA came in a day or two ago.  Quiite a bit of sub activity too.

Don't forget to watch the live info relayed to the AIS map displays, where you can see most of the vessels, reception of the relay signals permitting.

The link view shows the whole of Scotland, but you can pick smaller areas from the menu on its left...

AIS Scotland view

Alternatively, you can pick from this larger view than can be clicked when the mouse is over the desired area...

AIS Home Page

Appearance is progress. Some day the ships with all the bits sticking out all over the place will be considered pretty ugly.

Ships like Daring are now 'stealthy', and the Falklands tells us that anything that makes life harder for an approaching Exocet has to be a good thing, regardless of what it looks like.

HMS Daring gallery from the past few days...

http://www.pbase.com/zak355/navyships

Pic copyright of Zak

I have to say, that for myself, I find the new designs quite pleasing, when taken in the context of their purpose, rather than as cruise ships or for pleasure trips ;)

To me, it looks better than a number of recent arrivals (both civilian, and non-combat Auxiliary support vessels) that seem to share the same box of CAD software, and have superstructures that are dead flat at the front, and seem to lack any attempt at styling or imagination, and more to demands to enclose the maximum useable volume within.

Just looks like a mass of lego bricks to me!

Here's an example of the standard lump from the RFA, Cardigan Bay launched on the Clyde in 2005 and commissioned in 2007.

All the current crop of similar vessels seem to have come out of the same box of presets in the CAD package.

Sorry about the size of of the pic, from Wikipedia, all the design style of a brick...

One of them was observed from the crow's nest the other day.  Inward bound.  Ugly but do their job I suppose. At least it looks as if it has a chance of floating on it's own.  The Daring looks like the RN equivalent of the eurofighter which cannot fly without the computer.  The Daring looks as if she would overturn if anyone touched the big red switch.

SSSHHHH!!!! DON'T MENTION THE SWITCH!

Nobody's supposed to know how Daring dodges missiles at the last minute!

Forgot to add, this might be a pic of one the exercise aircraft heading up Loch Striven to join its mates (or it's a heron  :P ...

http://pad.isle-of-bute.org.uk/p49797906.html

I am still trying to reconcile the picture with my knowlege of Loch Striven.  Is it a plane? I cannot be sure.

Yesterday's view from the Crow's Nest included a Hercules flying up the Firth at about 100ft and then climbing and carrying out various manoevres between Dunoon and Gourock.  This is the only really low flight we have had for quite a while.

Alright, I admit it, I stole this from another site, but with the exercise on, and the police virtually a permanent feature on the Clyde coastal routes in the hope of catching drivers frustrated by tourists dawdling along and gaping at the scenery, you have to think this could be a 'Wildest Dream'...
  
Two California Highway Patrol Officers were conducting speeding enforcement on I-15, just north of the Marine Corps Air Station at Miramar. One of the officers was using a hand held radar device to check speeding vehicles approaching the crest of a hill.

The officers were suddenly surprised when the radar gun began reading 300 miles per hour. The officer attempted to reset the radar gun, but it would not reset and then turned off.

Just then a deafening roar over the treetops revealed that the radar had in fact locked on to a USMC F/A-18 Hornet which was engaged in a low flying exercise near the location.

Back at the CHIPs Headquarters the Patrol Captain fired off a complaint to the USMC Base Commander.

The reply came back in true USMC style:

Thank you for your letter. We can now complete the file on this incident.

You may be interested to know that the tactical computer in the Hornet had detected the presence of, and subsequently locked on to, your hostile radar equipment and automatically sent a jamming signal back to it, which is why it shut down.  Furthermore, an Air-to-Ground missile aboard the fully armed aircraft had also automatically locked on to your equipment location.

Fortunately, the Marine Pilot flying the Hornet recognized the situation for what it was, quickly responded to the missile system alert status and was able to override the automated defense system before the missile was launched to destroy the hostile radar position.

The pilot also suggests you cover your mouths when cussing at them, since the video systems on these jets are very high tech. Sergeant Johnson, the officer holding the radar gun, should get his dentist to check his left rear molar. It appears the filling is loose. Also, the snap is broken on his holster.

Thank you for your concern.        Semper Fi.

Of course, in this country, the pilot would have been issued with a fixed penalty notice as soon as he landed, for using, or permitting within a vehicle under his control, the use of a device which interfered with the police speed measuring equipment ;)

These stories may be apochraphyl but there was one circulating a few years ago about UK police putting the gun on a Triumph Herald and getting as massive result.  Turned out there was a harrier manoevring nearby.

Horrible looking warships (wonder who it is they are going to fight...), but the Scottish Scenery. is outstanding!

Interesting view from the crows nest yesterday. Most of the morning there were ships sailing out very slowly must have been at least 18 and not all ours.  Included a couple of our frigates F218 and F330 which at least looked like warships.

In the afternoon a small sub went out, dont think it was one of ours.  The strange thing was it was towing some kind of underwater device on thick cable mounted on top of the upper rudder fin. No idea what it was for.

I haven't read anything specific, but a lot of listening and detection equipment is now so sensitive that having it attached to the host vehicle means that any 'signals of interest' would be masked by the close mechanical coupling to the host, so are towed to provide a degree of isolation.

During the war, secret devices were also attached to the rear decks of submarines to disguise them as 'rescue equipment' when they were visible as the subs left ports where they could not stay out of sight.

Couple of Hercules shots - interesting paint scheme:-

http://www.pbase.com/zak355/image/95812955

http://www.pbase.com/zak355/image/95812954

Big version, copyright of Zak (click in  image for full size)...

Er No!  What I got was a picture of a jazz player and a shiny porsche gettting on the Colintraive Ferry.

;D :P ;D

Sorry about that, the links obviously didn't copy quite as intended.

Should be ok now.

Superb photies o' magnificent countryside... really!

We'll never hear from Dugald again ;D

Try these for some scenery - no wonder I get the urge to move a few mile along the road every so often!...

http://www.pbase.com/zak355/

http://www.pbase.com/rothesay

http://pad.isle-of-bute.org.uk/

http://gallery.isle-of-bute.org.uk/

We has some earlier ones too, but these are no longer updated...

http://www.isle-of-bute.org.uk/coppermine/

http://www.isle-of-bute.org.uk/cgi-bin/gallery/index.cgi

You'll find some repeats here, but there are also more contributors...

http://www.flickr.com/groups/bute/pool/

You will have Dugald crying in his coffee or dram depending on the time of day.

"We'll never hear from Dugald again "

I wondered for a wee while about this comment,  and then I visited all the sights; took me ages! Ah've just had a tour of the Firth o' Clyde and enjoyed it all very much, well nearly all of it... couldn't figure out why they'd have a Jazz Parade on the Isle of Bute, bands of that type belong in New Orleans!

"You will have Dugald crying in his coffee or dram depending on the time of day."

Oh yes, it does get to me now and again, but i never cry in my coffee (had one cup of this muck once in my life!) only my tea or as you say, my dram.

We nearly bought a wee hoose in Rothesay up the main street from the pier, beside a Boy Scout Hall (could have been Sea Cadets) but in the meantime our offer had been accepted for a wee but'n ben in Largs

Seeing these pictures of the Daring in Loch Striven aren't the first warships I've seen in this beautiful loch. After the war it was cluttered up with redundent K.G.V-class battleships and a variety of other navy ships.

The Isle of Bute Jazz Festival has grown into an annual event over the years, since 1988...

http://www.butewiki.de-soft.co.uk/index.php/Bute/IsleOfButeJazzFestival

There is also the ButeLive music and arts festival, but the news this week is that it won't be happening this year due to a lack of resources, although the organisers say this is not cancellation, just demands from other commitments they have this year. This one's only five years old, and takes/took place in mid-July, a busy time.

I don't have an interest, and by coincidence always seem to land on the island just after these events, which can be quite funny as this means there are generally quite a few wandered looking souls drifting around the island in a sort of sad/sorry daze, dragging musical instruments and cases behind them. Don't know if they're just depressed that it's all over, or wondering what to do since they've missed the ferry, and don't know the schedule off by heart like locals :)

Hi guys,
I have just returned from a few days at Faslane and on Bute for Exercise Joint Warrior.
What a fantastic island and great people.

Fox,
Saturday should have seen a C130 do a para drop with ribs outside Helensbourgh, but I think strong winds caused it to be cancelled. The Faslane ships departed Monday morning, followed by as you say, a Dutch Sub.

In total Joint warrior includses some 30 ships and 70 aircraft.
Any further sights would be appreciated either on forum or direct.
Pat
patcarty2@aol.com

Nice to hear from you Pat.  I was driving about town at the time so I have no idea whether the drop took place.  

Over the years we have had some interestiing sightings.  I well remember a Chinook flying so low that I was able to look down on the rotors and I am less than 100ft above the water.  Another was late evening (dark) exercises with 6 chinooks flying quite low with only the leader having any lights on, the rest in total darkness.  That is impressive!

Mind you low flying by jets is a menace.   A few years ago there was a squad of roofers stripping slates on the blind side or a roof when a low flying jet appeared out of nowhere.  Really shook them up I can tell you.

A bit off topic, but since it got a bit of a mention above, and has just taken place, these are the pics from this year's Jazz Festival on Bute (and the past ones too):

Isle of Bute Jazz Festival galleries

2) Has my little bit on HMS DARING decided to go off on its own while I was checking another reference?

3) Experience of radar speed devices reminds me of the problems caused when the Aegis radar on US ships started tracking aircraft being moved on the flight decks of aircraft carriers (or the late-lamented Marconi radar on the AEW Nimrod, which tracked cars and lorries going about their business along the roads of East Anglia - naturally these did not display IFF returns).

Passerby

Sorry Passerby - can you be a bit more specific on HMS Daring and what's happened, and we'll see if something has gone amiss.

Has something else gone amiss?

Your last post has two entries numbered 2) and 3) - number 1) seems to have 'dropped off'.

Nothing in the logs, although there were some spurious postings removed the other day, none were genuine Member's messages.

If it was a side effects, my apologies.

Unless it's obvious, eg double posting or the like, or malicious (spam or the like) then there would usually be a PM or similar.

Simple moves aren't notified, they're usually obvious, and the post is still here, just in a different place, so would show up in a search

I was saying simply on HMS DARING that according to Jan'e |Defence Weekly she is at present engaged in trials of her weapons and weapons systems off the west coast of Scotland. Last week's issue had a photograph on the front cover of a Eurofighter very close to DARING. However, it is very unlikely that at this stage she would be involved in a major exercise with other ships. Has anyone been close enough to see whether she has a white ensign  or is still flying the red ensign, indicating that she is in builders' hands.

Passerby

The last I heard was that she was in the final stages of trials and was expected to be handed over soon which was a couple of weeks ago so she might have thrown away her red duster.  I'll keep my eyes open.

I think that post must have failed to save, or someone maybe closed shop without pressing the Post button :X

Reminds me of a time in another forum, when a slight design change altered the natural order of doing things when making a post, and I spent about two weeks wondering why most, but not all, of my posts couldn't be found later - when I went back. They had changed the position of the button, but the one that took its place still made the forum re-appear after being clicked, making me think the post had been made. Two weeks to notice - terrible :B

I haven't seen a post about trials, and I check for notifications of new posts every few hours while online.

I'm impressed by the little snippets about flags - it's not an area I know at all well, and always forget what little I know between occasions when the info is useful.

After reading your last post I feel much better.  When you removed the Pages Wanted tag from  my page editing routine I failed to replace it with anything.  I only realised last week that it was looking for an author's name.  Once done I could save and all would be well.  The trouble is I thought I had posted several pages during this hiatus.  

Is it possible to change the colour of something important like AUTHORS NAME REQUIRED so that thickies mike me might notice it?

Sorry, but the message prompting for an author name is part of what's referred to as the Core Code or Skin, which is overwritten whenever there is an upgrade to the code, so such changes are lost if if I make them and there's and upgrade afterwards. I'd have to remember to go and redo it, and that ain't gonna happen ;D

I do agree it's not the most noticeable thing on the Edit page, but then again, you can't save or leave a page edit without entering an author name, so the fact that the page refuses to save is a pretty good clue that something's missing, and once you know an author name is required, it's not going to suddenly not be needed.