Category Archives: military

Sun Greets the Talon’s Return from California

For a while, I saw a lot of the Boeing T-38 chase jets but, it had been quite a while since I last saw one. Then I saw one had been in use for a couple of flights. I wondered what had been the cause of this but didn’t follow up on it. Then I saw that one was coming back to Boeing Field from California. I don’t know what the test activities were down there but, with it heading back and the weather being pretty decent, I figured I would try and catch its return. Since it was coming up late in the day, I was going to be able to be there.

I wondered whether the good weather would give up before the jet made it back but things held together nicely and the sun was out when it touched down. Since the T-33s went into retirement, the Talons have been the only chase jets to see and they have, as I mentioned, been a bit rare. I don’t know how long they will have. Maybe Boeing will ultimately replace them with T-7s – perhaps the early jets that will not be to a production standard and can take over chase duties. Since I am now gone, I won’t get to see either one so this was a nice catch before I departed.

Metrea Defeats Me Again – Sort Of

Leave a Reply

I was heading to a meeting south of Seattle when I got a message from the person I was joining that they were running late. I stopped off at Boeing Field to wait for their call and to see if anything cool was around. One of the Metrea KC-135Rs was on the Modern ramp. It was the nicest of their paint schemes and the winter light was lovely. Naturally I grabbed a shot as I waited. They were looking ready to go and I hoped that they would take off before the call came through. I was to be disappointed. I heard from my contact that he was en route, so I left. About ten minutes after I did so, the jet took off. I can only imagine how good it looked in that light.

A few days later, I was back in Georgetown to meet some friends, and I saw that the jet was out again on a mission. It was due back shortly before sunset so I hoped I might get lucky with the light clearing up. It certainly wasn’t as nice as it had been previously, but you never know. As it turned on to the approach, conditions were getting better but not what I was hoping for. Despite that, the jet still looked okay as it came into land. It could definitely have been better but not a total bust.

Refueling the Hornet

Leave a Reply

Two quite different versions of the same thing here. The Comox Air Show this year included demonstrations are aerial refueling with the RCAF Hornet. The first of these was perfectly sensible because it was the Hornet formating on the C-130 Hercules fitted with refueling pods. The Hornet took up station behind the drogue units to demonstrate how refueling would be done.

Later in the show, there was a slightly odder version of things. A USAF KC-135R Stratotanker (which was carrying Kadena tailcodes which might be a first for me) was airborne and the Hornet formated on this too. Some KC-135s do carry hose drogue units on the wings or a drogue adaptor on the end of the boom but this was not one of them. Instead, they simulated the boom refueling. The Hornet can’t refuel from the boom but, since it was just an airshow, I doubt too many people were bothered by this.

If You Have an F-104, Wouldn’t You Mount it on the Wall?

Leave a Reply

The California Science Center has featured quite a bit in previous months with the various aircraft and that are preserved outside. There is one I haven’t included previously and that is a Lockheed F-104 Starfighter. This one is a bit more dramatic. It is mounted on a structure attached to the wall of the museum giving it a rather dynamic pose. Seems appropriate given the nature of the Starfighter. It does look like it could do with a repaint, though.

Another Experience of Northwest Regional Aviation Consortium

Leave a Reply

This year I did make a return trip to Arlington Municipal Airport for the Northwest Regional Aviation Consortium emergency exercise. This is a gathering of various operators from the region that would be called on in the event of a major incident. There are aeromedical operators, helicopters from the local counties and local military units. Search and rescue teams participate along with first responders.

Plenty of helicopters come and go during the day heading off to remote locations for parts of the exercise. Some drills are conducted on the field including one of the cooler elements when a helicopter carries teams up on a platform that can be used for lowering them onto the roof of buildings should that be needed.

I was not covering the event for anyone so didn’t have any preferential access. I stayed a safe distance away to watch as the teams were at work and, in the downtime between movements, I could get on with some other work I had to do. I was pleased this year that the Navy Sea Hawk was a around more. The previous visit, it had come in and then departed again, never to return. This time I had a bit more of a chance to photograph it. I don’t know whether the exercise was a success or not, but I am sure they all learned a lot from the training it provided and can tweak things to make them better if that is needed.

Why Land When a Flyby Would Be Better?

Leave a Reply

The view from the tower at Boeing Field is excellent (which makes sense, of course) but, when planes are landing from the south, they will have touched down long before they get close and so are not going to give the best photo opportunities. A small price to pay for having such a good spot to hang out so no complaints from me. However, I was rather pleased with the USAF F-35A demo when it completed its show.

It came in on a curving descent towards the runway but, as it got lower, up came the power and the gear was cleaned up. Keeping it low, the pilot gave us an impressive show as they blasted along the length of Boeing Field’s runway before pulling up aggressively into the downwind. The second time, they did actually land. I would have been fine with a few more of those passes but I guess I shouldn’t be greedy.

Sentry Heading Overhead

Leave a Reply

Another overflight video to follow on from my A380 video from a while back. I saw a USAF E-3 Sentry show up on FR24 heading directly towards Seattle. I did have some hope that it might be coming to us on its flight from Alaska (with a Denali call sign) but, as it got over the Olympic Peninsula without starting its descent, it was clearly going further afield. I was scanning the sky to see if I could pick it out and, fortunately, it was pulling a small contrail which made it easier to pick up.

As with the A380, I decided that video was the better bet. I did switch to get occasional stills every once in a while, but mainly focused on the video. The motion of the contrails is so interesting to watch and only video allows that to be seen. As it got closer, you could also see the motion of the rotordome on the pylon about the fuselage since the black and white finish makes the slow rotation apparent. It wasn’t long before it had passed overhead and disappeared behind the cloud layer that was to the east of me.

My First Lakota and it Looks Brand New

Leave a Reply

The US Army has been taking delivery of a lot of the UH-72 Lakotas in recent years. Despite the number that they have acquired, I had only a single shot for some reason. Then I happened upon one as it visited Boeing Field. It was one of the newer versions – the UH-72B is fitted with the Fenestron anti torque system that dates back to the days of Aerospatiale along with a five bladed rotor. I don’t know how long it had been since this airframe was delivered but the paint was gleaming when I saw it and looked like it could have been fresh from the factory. Either that or they just really look after them!

Shocking Times with the Blues

Leave a Reply

One of the highlights of the Blue Angels’ demonstration is the Sneak Pass. The main formation heads off in one direction and the crowd’s attention follows them. Meanwhile, one of the pair comes running in at high speed and low level from the left catching many people by surprise. Just as this is done, the other of the pair comes at high speed from crowd rear and most people jump again. I am most interested in the first pass because it offers a couple of possibilities. If the atmosphere is humid, you can get some vapor on the jet around the shock waves and expansion fans. If there is a background other than the sky, the other opportunity is to have the refraction from these phenomena distorting whatever is behind.

Seafair does provide a background with Mercer Island providing the backdrop to the pass. The downside is that the display line is a long way out over the lake, so you are stretching the reach of lenses to get a close enough look at the jet. This year I did have the benefit of the long end of the 200-800 so I could get something of the shot I was after. Perhaps not the best of shots but at least there is something of the refraction to see.

Planes on Poles in Arizona

Leave a Reply

Early 2024, during the trip to Arizona with Mark, we saw plenty of planes moving but also a few that won’t be flying again. Mark knew of a bunch of planes on display in the area and we were able to swing by a few of them during our trip. Some were in odd locations – a school would not be a place I expected an A-26 for example. A Veterans center was a more logical one. Old airframes show up in the oddest places. Here are some from our explorations.