The RAF have explained why the Hercules aircraft did not appear on the east coast.
Residents in Angus, Dundee and Fife were left disappointed after missing the chance to see the Hercules flypast when the planes changed their planned route.
The three aircraft are marking their retirement from service with a flight across the UK on Wednesday.
After leaving RAF Lossiemouth just before 1pm, the planes had been due to fly south over Angus, Dundee and Fife, according to the official route map.
But those who turned out to catch a glimpse of the planes – including a group gathered on the Law in Dundee – were left looking at empty skies.
The planes instead flew south over Perthshire before turning towards Stirling and Glasgow, completely avoiding Angus, Dundee and Fife.
An RAF spokesperson said: “The area surrounding Dundee was not on the publicised route.
“The graphic offered on the RAF website that shows a route towards the east coast of Scotland, was offered to provide a rough idea of the routing and was not a precise nor accurate representation of the actual route flown.
“Additionally this portion of the flight was flown above 10,000ft”.
‘Unbelievable’ – Hercules flypast route changes
Locals took to social media to express their disappointment.
Writing on The Courier’s Facebook page, one said: “Just a shame they always leave out the east coast.
“Whoever chose the flight path really doesn’t know how to put in a proper plan.”
Another said: “Unbelievable that they missed out the east coast of Scotland – especially missing out RAF Leuchars, considering it was a major RAF base until recently.”
One Twitter user said: “What happened to flying over the Fife side?
“I’m guessing the rest of the timings will be totally wrong too!”
Residents in the north of Scotland got the chance to see the planes as they visited RAF Lossiemouth during the flypast.
