Tag Archives: hawk

The Hawk 115 and I Are Aging Together

Not a great shot, in this case, but one that means something to me.  When I went to the Abbotsford Air Show, there was a Hawk 115 in the static display.  It was in an interesting color scheme but the lighting was a bit tough and it was surrounded be people.  The reason I liked it was that I was involved in the Hawk 115 program when it was first underway.  I left the company before the first jets were completed so I never actually saw one.  This might actually have been my first encounter with one.  Since they have been in service for nearly 25 years, they are probably nearing the end of their time so I did leave it a little late.  It looks in better shape than me!

Boscombe Down Aviation Collection

Middle Wallop was my first aviation museum of our vacation but there was a second.  I didn’t have a lot of time but, with a small gap in the schedule and a very accommodating wife, we headed to Old Sarum, home of the Boscombe Down Aviation Collection.  For those not familiar with UK military aviation, Boscombe Down is the center of military test in the UK and has a variety of unusual aircraft that are used for test duties and test pilot training.

The weather was dismal but the vintage hangars meant I could stay dry (although there were a couple of exhibits outside including a Hunter and the nose of a Comet).  The collection is full of interesting items.  There are whole airframes and cockpit sections from others.  The cockpits are all accessible and, if I had been there longer, I would probably have got in to some of them.  However, time was tight and hopping in wasn’t that important to me.  There were a variety of Canberra front fuselages and a Sea Vixen.  Some of the exhibits are special enough to justify their own posts so those will come in due course.  The stories of restoration of the airframes were pretty interesting too and a lot of good work had been done to preserve them.  (As an aside, the one thing I was a little disappointed in was the painting of the aircraft.  The colors and markings seemed inaccurate which seemed at odds with the great efforts made in to earth respects.)

A Sea Harrier was on display as was a Jaguar.  One of the highlights for me was Hawk XX154.  This is the first Hawk built and one that had a full career in test duties ending up at Boscombe.  It was moved to Old Sarum by the RAF with a Chinook lifting it across as a training exercise.  It is displayed in its final gloss black finish but I will always think of it in red and white.  There is also a front fuselage from one of the ETPS Hawks that was written off in an accident.

So much variety of exhibits and definitely a top place to visit if you like military aviation.  The nice thing is that the airframes are unusual in their configuration and history.  They tend not to be regular squadron jets so give extra to learn about.  I would love to go back again some time.

The Arrows’ Display Itself

I have posted a few times about the Red Arrows at RIAT covering their prep for display and post display.  I haven’t actually shared any good shots from the display itself.  Here are a few that I got over the course of the show.  Some were taken close to show center and others were taken from the end of the display line to give a different perspective on the same maneuvers.  They put on a great show and it is funny that, when you see them regularly, you get blasé but, when you haven’t seen them for a while, you come to appreciate the display a lot more.

Red Arrows Launch and Recover

The Red Arrows operated from ramp space at the eastern end of the show grounds at RIAT.  I spent some time down there on one of the days.  It provided a chance to watch them brief, crew up, start and then recover after the display.  Here area. Few shots of the team in action.

Welcome to Seattle Red Arrows

The Red Arrows have conducted a North American tour this year.  It commenced just after RIAT so, while I saw them there, I hoped to catch them at some point during the tour.  Their closest displays were in Oregon and Vancouver and I wasn’t able to go to either sadly.  They did stage through Seattle, though, so I figured I would go and see them arrive.  The twelve jets showed up on a heavily overcast day.  They did some flybys over the city and then a run in across Boeing Field.  A pair of jets landed directly while the remaining ten flew around a little more – nine ships in formation and one getting some photos.  Then it was run and and break to landing before taxiing off to parking.

BOAC and the Red Arrows

RIAT is known for special formations and British Airways has been part of them in the past.  Concorde with the Red Arrows and an A380 with the Red Arrows spring to mind.  For 2019 and BA’s 100th anniversary, they wanted to do something special.  The focal point was to be the BOAC liveried 747-400.  I shot this jet at SeaTac and covered it in this post.  To see it in formation with the Red Arrows sounded pretty good.  They put together two passes.

The first was from the right and involved a gentle turn in the direction of the crowd to give a slightly topside view of things.  This was nice but the distance involved did mean there was a bit of heat haze to combat.  The second pass in the other direction was a more straight pass along the display axis.  The sun was popping in and out during this time so the colors popped sometimes and not others.  It made for some tricky shooting but it still looked pretty good and it was nice to just watch when not shooting.

Concorde Formations Flypast

RIAT is known for putting together formations of different types to celebrate certain events.  The fiftieth anniversary of the first flight of Concorde resulted in two display teams getting together.  Concorde was an Anglo-French collaboration and so was the celebration in this case.  The Red Arrows and the Patrouille de France both fly formations to represent Concorde so, for this joint effort, both teams got airborne and flew their two Concorde formations in line astern.  They made passes in each direction with the national anthems of each country playing – one on the first pass and the other on the second.  It was a simple demonstration but an impressive one all the same.

Hawk Hunting

AU0E0102.jpgOn occasions you get lucky and something comes right to you. However, that is not always the way and sometimes you are just never quite in the right place. A Hawk was running along a ridge-line next to a drainage channel near me. I saw it first from a distance and figured it would be long gone by the time I got to the area. Apparently not. As I came alongside the ridge, it flew towards me before gentling drifting along the ridge in the direction I was traveling, i.e. away from me. As it got the end of the ridge it wheeled around to the other side. I figured it would soon repeat the process given the way the wind was blowing onto the ridge. Next time I would be perfectly placed for it to come towards me. I guess it never read the plan. I didn’t see it again. Therefore, the only shots I got were a little distant.

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Farnborough ’92 – The Rest

0701-2.jpgThe attendance of the Russian contingent at Farnborough in 1992 was pretty impressive but they weren’t the only game in town. There were plenty of other aircraft on display. The Rafale prototype was there to follow up from the demonstrator a few years before. The first A340 was also part of the flying display.

0803.jpgPlenty of smaller types were on show including the Optica and the Pillan. Harriers and Hawks flew and the Gripen development program was represented by one of their jets. The Tucano for the RAF was taking part and the US military had a Black Hawk in the static display. Quite a variety of stuff to enjoy and interesting to see what is still in production today and what has disappeared from service.

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Curtiss P-36

AU0E0569.jpgVintage aircraft are not my specialty. I know my P-51 from my P-47 but I am not too knowledgeable of the different types of the more famous aircraft and I am certainly on shaky ground when it comes to the less numerous types. Consequently, when I was preparing to go to Chino for the Planes of Fame airshow, the GAR team told me to get shots of the Curtiss P-36 Hawk that was going to be on display for the first time. I agreed while secretly wondering what a P-36 was. Fortunately, the internet is a wonderful source of information and I was able to get an idea of what it was I was looking for before it got there!

C59F8786.jpgThis P-36 has been restored at Chino and will shortly be heading to the UK to join a collection there. Not only was it on display in the static area but it also participated in the flying program. Therefore, I got many opportunities to get some shots of it for the GAR piece. It is an interesting looking aircraft, even if it didn’t end up being a huge seller. It looked great coming from restoration and was flown together with the AT-12 (which is apparently a two seat P-35 – so I am told). On a sunny spring day in California they looked very nice together. I hope everyone in the UK enjoys them when they arrive.

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