The Mach Loop (also known as the Machynlleth Loop) is a series of valleys in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

in west-central

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, notable for their use as low-level training areas for fast aircraft. The system of valleys lies east of

Barmouth Barmouth ( cy, Abermaw (formal); ''Y Bermo'' (colloquial)) is a seaside town and community (Wales), community in the county of Gwynedd, northwestern Wales, lying on the estuary of the Afon Mawddach and Cardigan Bay. Located in the Historic coun ...

between the towns of

Dolgellau Dolgellau () is a town and community in Gwynedd, north-west Wales, lying on the River Wnion, a tributary of the River Mawddach. It was the traditional county town of the historic county of Merionethshire ( cy, Meirionnydd, Sir Feirionnydd) un ...

to the north and

Machynlleth Machynlleth () is a market town, community and electoral ward in Powys, Wales and within the historic boundaries of Montgomeryshire. It is in the Dyfi Valley at the intersection of the A487 and the A489 roads. At the 2001 Census it had a popul ...

to the south, from the latter of which it takes its name. The training area is within the Low Flying Area (LFA) LFA7, which covers most of Wales.

Activity

Aircraft seen in the area include

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

Airbus A400M The Airbus A400M AtlasNamed after the Greek mythological figure. is a European four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft. It was designed by Airbus Military (now Airbus Defence and Space) as a tactical airlifter with strategic capabil ...

Typhoon A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere. This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, and is the most active tropical cyclone basin on Earth, accounting for a ...

Hawk Hawks are bird of prey, birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica. * The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. Th ...

jets and

C-130J The Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft. The C-130J is a comprehensive update of the Lockheed C-130 Hercules, with new engines, flight deck, and other systems. The C-130J is the newest v ...

and

Short Tucano The Short Tucano is a two-seat turboprop basic trainer built by Short Brothers in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is a licence-built version of the Brazilian Embraer EMB 312 Tucano. On 14 February 1986, the prototype conducted its maiden flig ...

as well as F-15C Eagles and F-15E Strike Eagles which are based at

RAF Lakenheath Royal Air Force Lakenheath or RAF Lakenheath is a Royal Air Force station near the village of Lakenheath in Suffolk, England, UK, north-east of Mildenhall and west of Thetford. The base also sits close to Brandon. Despite being an RAF stati ...

and

MC-130 The Lockheed MC-130 is the basic designation for a family of special mission aircraft operated by the United States Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), a wing of the Air Education and Training Command, and an AFSOC-gained wing of the ...

and

V-22 Osprey The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is an American multi-mission, tiltrotor military aircraft with both vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and short takeoff and landing (STOL) capabilities. It is designed to combine the functionality of a convention ...

from

RAF Mildenhall Royal Air Force Mildenhall or RAF Mildenhall is a Royal Air Force (RAF) station located near Mildenhall in Suffolk, England. Despite its status as a Royal Air Force station, it primarily supports United States Air Force (USAF) operations, and ...

. Aircraft from other European nations have been sighted training in the Mach Loop, such as

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

F-16 The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it ...

''Stingers''. In December 2018 a recommendation was circulated within the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

(MoD) which resulted in a reduction in the number of aircraft using the Mach Loop. Since this time RAF frontline squadrons operating

s and

F-35B The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather Stealth aircraft, stealth multirole combat aircraft that is intended to perform both Air superiority fighter, air superiority and attack ...

s have not flown the Loop. In addition to this all non-UK based aircraft are also prohibited from using the Loop unless part of a UK exercise.

Photography

The Mach Loop is among the few places in the world where photographers can see combat aircraft flying below them. One popular viewing point is the carpark located on the site of

Llyn y Tri Greyenyn Llyn y Tri Greyenyn was a small lake not far from Cadair Idris in the old parish of Tal-y-llyn, Gwynedd, Tal-y-llyn, Merionethshire (now Gwynedd) in north Wales. It was located at the head of the valley of Cwm Rhwyddfor (or Cwm Rhwyddor) on the ...

In virtual aviation

It is possible to fly the Mach Loop using a flight simulator. Arguably the most accurate representation is with

Microsoft's Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washingt ...

Flight Simulator A flight simulator is a device that artificially re-creates aircraft flight and the environment in which it flies, for pilot training, design, or other purposes. It includes replicating the equations that govern how aircraft fly, how they rea ...

platform, launched in 2020. The simulator streams

Bing Maps Bing Maps (previously Live Search Maps, Windows Live Maps, Windows Live Local, and MSN Virtual Earth) is a web mapping service provided as a part of Microsoft's Bing suite of search engines and powered by the Bing Maps Platform framework. Since 20 ...

data to reproduce the contours and appearance of the loop and surrounding countryside with an increasing range of jet aircraft available to make the flight. An alternative is the

FlightGear ''FlightGear Flight Simulator'' (often shortened to ''FlightGear'' or ''FGFS'') is a free, open source multi-platform flight simulator developed by the project since 1997. David Murr started the project on April 8, 1996. The project had its ...

flight simulator, created by the FGUK community as an add-on for the simulator, which provides the player with the challenge of guiding aircraft at high speed through rings that mark the route. In addition, the scenario has "start" and "finish" points, and each run in the Mach Loop is timed to let the player know the time per lap. The

International Virtual Aviation Organisation International Virtual Aviation Organisation VZW (IVAO) is a non-profit association which operates a free-of-charge online flight-simulation network. Following free registration users can connect to the IVAO Network (IVAN) either as a virtual a ...

(IVAO) had an event using the Mach Loop.

References

External links

RAF Low Flying Training Timetables

MachLoop.co.uk
Geography of Wales Low flying Royal Air Force United States Air Force {{Aviation-stub

Activity

Photography

In virtual aviation

See also

References

External links