First departure of the morning, this 4 Sqn marked jet rolling on the Cottesmore runway.

Same jet after landing and taxying out to runway 22 again. Gives a idea as to how close to the fence the taxiway is.

Not many twin-sticks are flying at the moment, as most of the survivors are ungoing conversion from T.10 to T.12. This was possibly the only example flying with the Cottesmore units.

Besides practise bomb carriers the aircraft is completely clean of stores.

The '02' code on the fin shows this was the second Harrier II built for the RAF, and has therefore been upgraded from GR5 to GR7, and finally to GR9 standard. It also carries the new lighter grey scheme.

Another 4 Sqn jet taxying out with drop tanks and the BOZ chaff adaptor rails fitted on the AIM-9 Sidewinder pylons.

Returning to the hover over the 22 threshold before landing on.

The fence that curves around the taxiway allows for some early morning straight down the nose shots. Later on, the sun moving to the left prevents this.

The new colour scheme looks nice, but it is a pain to photograph against a bright sky, which is presumably what it's meant to do!

Waiting at the hold short. Cottesmore certainly is a nice place to take pictures.

The two-seater returning, this was the only jet seen in 1 Sqn markings during the morning.

Close up while holding. Pilot wouldn't wave unfortunately.

Not noticed at the time was the Sniper targetting pod under the fuselage. The Harrier fleet have used the old TIALD pod for some years but now have acquired this far more modern pod which is rarely seen in the UK.

Whichever pod is fitted, it's under the fuselage in place of one of the ventral strakes which is also where the gun pods would have been if the MoD had been capable of competent procurement.

ZD348/26 is the last of the GR7 variants still flying. The aircraft is carrying LGB mission marks from service with the Harrier detachment in Kandahar.

When carrying out a conventional rolling landing at Cottesmore, the Harriers pass only a few feet over the low fence. This is certainly a place to be careful when visiting.

'Striker 16', a Harrier GR9 from 20 Sqn at nearby Wittering on the approach.

Although Cottesmore houses all the UK's operational Harrier units (both RAF and FAA), the small training unit, 20(R) Sqn is still the only flying unit based at RAF Wittering, which is only a few miles away. How this odd arrangement escapes the MoD bean counters (Cottesmore is hardly too busy to take the whole fleet!) has been a mystery for many years.

Just at the point of tuchdown.

Harrier passing over the top showing how dirty the undersides can become on this type, as well as all the various stores stations.

A Slingsby Firefly from the Joint Elementary Flying Training School at nearby RAF Barkston Heath on the Cottesmore approach.

Second visit on another friday morning. This Wittering based T12 is taxying out for a runway 23 departure at Cottesmore. Back seater is in a good mood.

A clean GR9A going up for a short airtest over the field before returning. With several new panels and no markings this looks like it's just out of overhaul.

Upon returning to the overhead for some hover work I can see why it's in for overhaul. It's recently completed a tour of Afghanistan with the deployed squadron at Kandahar.

A close up of the nose. After some research it looks like the two rows of bombs depict the ground and airburst versions of the standard UK 540lb freefall bomb, while the other insignia depicts the two variants of CRV-7 unguided rockets. Paveway LGB/GPS guided bombs are also in use intheatre but this airframe lacks those markings.

I've backed off for a more normal shot on the last approach. From his comms on the radio, sounded like the aircraft was being flown by a USMC exchange pilot.

Although unmarked the aircraft is being operated by 4 Squadron, which was the only unit at home on the friday morning I was there.

This GR9 has the full set of 4 Squadron markings. The aircraft are in the standard training configuration for UK sorties.

This is one of the best aspects of photography at Cottesmore. If they're landing from the East, you can walk right around the edge of the field to the very end of the runway beside the lights, and they'll clear the fence by a few feet - literally! This is one of the airfields where you do not stand on the fence under the approach...