Category Archives: military

Alpha Jet Action

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The Alpha Jet has attracted the attention of a few owners in the Pacific Northwest.  This example is pretty cool because, rather than being painted in some new scheme, it is still in the colors it wore when operated by the Luftwaffe.  It flew a few passes during Skyfair so we were able to see it in action.  I have seen lots of the French style Alpha Jets with the spinning nose but my exposure to the German style of jets over the years has been a lot less.  The pointy nose has a slightly more purposeful look to me.

Eastern Front Veteran

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The FHCAM IL-2 Shturmovik has been airworthy for a while but I have previously only seen it on the ground.  Skyfair was my first opportunity to see it flying so I was rather pleased.  This is a pretty rare type and a new one for me so having it display was a treat.  The sun was rather high when it flew which is a bit less than ideal for a plane with a dark paint scheme but that is a small price to pay.  It flew a number of passes, all of which felt nice and close.  Great stuff.

A-26 Invader Visitor

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I have seen very few airborne A-26 Invaders in my life.  They have been in museums and have been on this blog but the last time I think I saw one active was at North Weald in the late 80s.  To see one at Skyfair was, therefore, a treat.  It flew a couple of times and was flown with some vigor during its flypasts so we got a good look at it.  It is a beefy looking aircraft and to see it hurtling by was a lot of fun.

Friendly Crews

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The taxiway at Hyakuri jinks around the shrine and consequently the towers we were on.  This is probably an inconvenience the crews but this didn’t stop them from being friendly.  The kids on the tower next to me waved at the crews and always got a wave back.  I joined in too and waved whether the kids were there or not.  I don’t think I ever failed to get a response!

Storch Delivery

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The Fiesler Storch was a most unusual aircraft.  It was used for utility purposes and was able to drop in to the smallest of locations and get back out again.  Speed was not its thing but it was the one for special missions.  I have seen scale versions in private use and some in museums but I am not sure I have ever seen a genuine one fly before.  Skyfair included a performance by FHCAM’s example.  I got some shots of it airborne although the dark paint scheme was not ideal on a sunny day.  When it came to take off, I figured stills would not show anything about the performance so I switched to video.  This allows you to see just how quickly and easily the slatted wing lifted the plane off the ground.

Crewing a Recce Jet

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I was on the wrong tower at Hyakuri when the crews came out on the recce ramp to crew up.  Rather than get down and move around and potentially miss it, I accepted that shooting through the trees would have to do.  The ground crew did their work efficiently and the flightcrew walked around the jet before jumping in.  Soon they were powered up and coming towards us.  This was early in the day and the beginning of a fun day out!

A Loaded Black Hawk

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The UH-60 Black Hawk is a pretty neat helicopter but in the standard fit, it is not terribly exciting.  However, I do like it when they are kitted up with a lot more stuff.  The external stores support system makes them look very purposeful and a flight refueling probe is another good addition.  The UH-60JA at Hyakuri had both with tanks fitted to the pylons.  It was at the far end of the ramp so, when it took off, I couldn’t get anything worthwhile.

It returned later in the day and came almost directly overhead.  Shooting a dark blue/gray helicopter looking straight up on a cloudy day is not a great combination but you aren’t going to ignore it.  I wish it had flown a few patterns or even taxied by, but I guess it was not to be.  Still, it was good to see it up close.

Spirited B-25 Pairing

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The two B-25s that live on Paine Field are regular performers.  When they both went up at Skyfair, I have to admit that I was not so excited.  However, I was not anticipating a series of flypasts that were significantly better than I had seen from them before.  They brought them in with a tight formation and some angles that allowed some great topside shots as they curved around on to the runway alignment.

Watching them line up, you could see that they weren’t going to come so close and ruin the photo opportunities.  Instead, we got lots of banking and pulling with far better shots than I had achieved previously.  I was not alone in appreciating the effort.  Everyone around me was most impressed by the performance.

Hyakuri Pano

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Any visit to a base includes time when nothing much is going on.  This can be time to take a break, have a snack, text someone an update on how things are going or even nap.  Or, you can take panoramas.  In the morning the light on the ramp was not ideal.  It improved later in the day.  Even so, you never know how much stuff is going to be out at any one time so shoot while you can.  You can always delete later.  Here is a zoomable and pannable pano from Hyakuri.

F-4 Bi-Plane

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These Phantoms were taxiing towards me from the ramp and they headed out to depart.  As the came along the taxiway, I got a moment as they started to merge from my position and, briefly, there was a moment when one was hidden behind the other with the exception of the wings.  For that second I had a Phantom bi-plane in front of me before the effect was gone.  I consider this the rare Phantom II/IV!