Join us live from the Viewing Area at RAF Lakenheath, a USAF base which is home to the 48th Fighter Wing. RAF Lakenheath might carry the name RAF, but it is a USAFE base and home to four combat ready fighter squadrons under its wing. The base is home to the birth of 'SKIM THE FENCE' and 'SKIM THE VAN' where the F-15E Strike Eagles and F-35A Lightning pilots like to show us all how it's done. Scenes 00:00:58 Intro 00:04:00 Opening guard’s march + USAF style one 00:04:53 Opening presentation 00:24:59 F-15 – wave 1 departing 00:44:26 Presentation – RAF Lakenheath history 01:12:14 F-15 – wave 1 returning (34 min.) 01:13:45 Presentation – Fweeeeep! + F-35 versions Explained 01:19:06 Back after camera restart 01:44:43 F-15 emergency landing w/ arrestor cable 02:11:29 Land based v carrier aircraft 02:21:26 Presentation – 50k subscribers! 02:25:06 F-35 – wave 1 departing 03:07:29 3x F-35 landing 03:20:29 Outro RAF Lakenheath is the home of the 48th Fighter Wing and home to four combat ready fighter squadrons; 492nd FS, 493rd FS, 494th FS and the recently reactivated 'Valkyries', the 495th Fighter Squadron. It may carry the title RAF but it is a USAF base. This is because the base was originally built for and operated by the Royal Air Force in 1940. The airfield started life out as decoy airfield (Q-site) to RAF Mildenhall, which is about 5.5 miles the way the backwards crow flies. RAF Mildenhall was an established bomber station built in 1934 and to protect it, Lakenheath was chosen to become a decoy, to take any attacks. However, things changes and it was decided that RAF Lakenheath would become a satellite station to Mildenhall. RAF Lakenheath was home to 20 OTU with Wellington Bombers, 149 Squadron with their Short Sterling Bombers who were also joined later by 199 Squadron. After WWII, and from 1948, it then became home to the USAF's 307th Bombardment Group and also the 2d Bombardment Group. However during WW2, the 48th wasn't even founded. It was on the 10th July 1952, the Oklahoma Air National Guard 137th Fighter-Bomber Wing at Chaumont-Semoutiers Air Base, France was redesignated as the 48th Fighter-Bomber Wing. The fighter squadrons being redesignated the 492d, 493d, and 494th respectively, the 58 F-84Gs and support aircraft of the ANG were assigned to the 48th Fighter-Bomber Group under the Hobson Plan. To this day, the 492d, 493d and the 494th Fighter Squadrons still serve under the 48th FW today! Further more, the Statue of Liberty was actually made near the base and the Mayor of the town gave a ceremonial name to the base as the "Statue of Liberty Wing". The 48th Fighter Wing is the only Wing in the USAF to have a number and a name! It wasn't until 15th January 1960 that the 48th Tactical Fighter Wing made Lakenehath their new home. LR, LS and LT were the tail codes for the base with the F-100's but when they transitioned to the Phantom, a temporary tail code of LK was introduced until a few months later it changed once more to LN, which is active today. In 1977 a fourth squadron joined Lakenheath's 48th, the 495th Tactical Fighter Squadron. They were known as the "Thundervarks" flying the F-111's. However, they deactivated in 1991. They also sported the green tail flash. In 1991, The 48th Tactical Fighter Wing was redesignated as the 48th Fighter Wing. This included the 'Tactical' title being dropped on the squadrons too. The 495th disbanded with the retirement of the F-111 in that year but returned 30 years later in 2021 with the F-35A. #f35 #f15 #runway #lakenheath #raflakenheath #usaf #usafe #fighterpilot #awesome #tedconingsby #trending #lookatthis #oohyeah aviation #usaf #trending #number1 #best #fun #armedforces #livestream #runway #top #sendit Official Ted Coningsby Merchandise https://tedconingsby.co.uk/shop/ noTEDS https://tedconingsby.co.uk/noteds/ Ted Social stuff Instagram https://www.instagram.com/ted_coningsby/ Facebook https://m.facebook.com/tedconingsbyuk X https://twitter.com/tedconingsby www.tedconingsby.co.uk Ted Coningsby Membership: Join our channel to get access to members only perks. In reality, we rely on your subscriptions to keep our channel growing, so this is a MASSIVE help and thank you to ALL of you who have subscribed. We go all over the country to get the footage we need for you to enjoy but this comes at a cost. Your membership will help fund us with the fuel and the equipment we need... null