Category Archives: military

Mixed Formations

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Returning jets from the Red Flag missions often come back with the other jets from their units.  However, you do occasionally get a mixed formation or two as a straggler joins up with some other jets for the run in and break.  This time, it might have been my imagination, but there seemed to be more mixed formations than normal.  We discussed whether, with the F-35s taking part in larger numbers, other pilots were kind of keen to get in formation with them and check them out from closer quarters.  Whether that was the case or not, whether there was another reason or perhaps it was just coincidence.  Whatever the reason, we got a few mixed groups and not always just with the Daves!

Armee de l’Air A400M

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The A400M Atlas is now in service with a number of air forces.  My encounters with them, though, have only involved the development airframes displayed by Airbus.  That changed in Sacramento when The Patrouille de France arrived as part of their North American tour.  They brought an A400M as he support plane.  I was rather disappointed that it arrived late in the evening, after I had gone home and disappeared early the following morning to recover some delayed jets.

It was back for the day of the display though.  It started up at a remote location but then proceeded to give a short flying display.  It then taxied back to the crowd line where it shut down and was opened up for visitors.  The people were lined up to get inside it for ages.  The plane still looked pretty clean so I guess it had not been in service too long.  I was glad to get a close up look around the outside as well as to see the crowds inside and the flying display itself.  Not a dramatic performance like the test crews have put on but still good to see.

A C-146 But Only in the Distance

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This shot won’t win any prizes.  I only show it for relative rarity value (although one of my friends has caught a lot of these near his home).  The US Special Forces have their own choices of equipment and the Dornier 328 turboprop has been something they have found a use for under the designation C-146.  This one showed up on the downwind for Nellis during a break in Red Flag.  It was rather far away from me but I wasn’t going to miss taking a shot of it given that it is the first I have seen.  I didn’t even change the camera settings so it has frozen props.  I think the artistic failings are the least of the problems when shooting something this far away!

At Last a Voyager – But…

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The Royal Air Force has replaced its tanker force since I left the UK.  The VC-10s and TriStars have been retired and there is a public private partnership in place to deliver tanking support.  This uses converted Airbus A330s.  They are able to provide tanking and transport services (with some of the aircraft configured only for transport).  In RAF service, these jets are named Voyager.  Red Flag 17-1 was my first real opportunity to photograph a Voyager in action.  (Annoyingly my sister has shot them before me and has been on a refueling mission with them!)  While an A330 might not be the most exciting jet to see, I was really looking forward to photographing it.

As the mission was recovering, the light was great.  Low sun providing a warm and soft illumination on the returning jets.  Then, the Voyager called up.  Just as it did so, the sun went in.  The Voyager came down the approach, its gray fuselage in the shade of some clouds.  It landed, taxied in and then the sun came right back out again.  Arghh!  Sure, I can bump up the white balance a bit to warm things up but the jet was in shade and there is not much I can do about that.  I had to leave before it recovered on the following day so no luck then.  They will be around for a while so I guess I will get any crack at this at some point.

Building But Not Delivering – The KC-46 Story

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The tale of the USAF’s quest for a new refueling tanker has been long and drawn out.  People went to jail, awards were made and overturned.  None of that matters now.  The contract is with Boeing to produce a variant of the 767 as the KC-46 Pegasus.  The program has not been smooth.  Technical and production issues have caused delays.  The in service date has slipped and Boeing has incurred a lot of overruns.

While all of this has been going on, the production process has not stopped.  Consequently, while testing still continues, there are production airframes coming off the line.  If you go to Boeing Field, there are a bunch of test airframes on the flight line.  If you go to Paine Field, there are a bunch more that remain to be finished.  It appears that Boeing is building the airframes, sealing them up, not fitting high value items like engines, and parking them wherever there is space.  A few years ago, Paine Field was covered in undelivered 787s.  Now it is as if time has turned back because the Dreamliner’s predecessor is the type parked all over the place.

F-16 on a Pole

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Our overnight stop at Medford in Oregon was close to the airport. I took a stroll towards the terminal which had an F-16 mounted on a pole outside.  This was an F-16A model.  I assume it had been there for quite a while.  There was a time a while back when units would detail bits of their jets with chrome.  A-10 guns would be chromed and F-16s would have the port around their guns chromed up too.  This jet had obviously had the treatment.  The odd thing was that, over the years the paint had become heavily faded.  However, the gun port looked exactly like new.  These pictures won’t really emphasize this since they were taken wide to get the whole jet in but you might just be able to make out the gun port.

Bones Are Cool But Better in Pairs

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Paul and my second full day at Red Flag was also the one where we both had to fly home.  We knew that the timing would mean leaving before the last of the big aircraft came home but we should get most of the recovery.  We set a time and started packing up.  We had done well so no complaints.  We hopped in the car and drove towards the turn to take us out to the freeway.  Just as we got there, a pair of B-1s came running in to the break in formation.  Surely we couldn’t let them go.  A rapid stop at the side of the road, grab cameras from the trunk and start shooting.

They flew by in formation and broke downwind.  Each of them turned in reasonably tight for their approach and it was possible to get some nice topside views as the curved around to final.  We could have been a bit closer and probably would have chosen different lenses if we had been able to choose but we got the shots.  Then it was time to repack the bags and get going.  We only lost about five minutes and everything worked out fin getting back so it was totally worth it.  There was no waiting for whatever followed them though.

Some Raptors Because, Well Why Not?

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The 1st FW at Langley AFB was the source of the Raptor contribution to Red Flag this year.  They weren’t the only F-22s I got to see though.  Some of the based aircraft were busy before and after the Red Flag missions so there was plenty of Raptor action.  Not much of a story to tell on these.  Just a chance to gratuitously show a variety of photos of F-22s because, from the right angle, they look pretty cool!

Stalking the Jollys (Or Are They Stalking Us?)

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A combat search and rescue element is usually included in Red Flag.  The HH-60 Pave Hawk is the usual resource used whether from the locally based unit or from a visiting outfit.  When you are set up for the jet action, the helos don’t tend to come anywhere near you.  They depart perpendicular to the runways and then head off on course.  Two things were different for me on this visit.  At one point Paul and I were checking out some other areas when the Hawks launched.  We were pretty much directly in the flightpath so we got a good look at the pair as they flew over and headed off to the ranges.

The other change was that on both days we were there, they turned early and flew out directly over our location at the Speedway en route to their exercise are.  I hadn’t seen this before.  I was surprised the first time and even more so the second.  I assume this was good luck on our part to have them come so close but maybe they were actually following us rather than the other way around?

Late Gear Down for One Warthog

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The normal operations at Nellis continue even while Red Flag is on.  The local units try to fly their missions at times that fit between the larger exercises.  A four ship of A-10s launched in the morning and they were recovering shortly before the Red Flag launch.  Rather than run in and break, they flew a straight in approach to runway 21R.  Strangely the first jet came passed and it was still gear up as it came close.  I have no idea whether they were just keeping it late or had got a call from the tower but the gear came down alongside us.  The following three jets were gear down a lot earlier.  Let’s say it was deliberate…