Tag Archives: trainer

Tiger Moth is Perfect for a Sunny Day

I recently shared some images of a Spitfire two-seater that was providing rides at Compton Abbas when we visited. It wasn’t the only plane providing rides (although it was definitely the most expensive). There was also a de Havilland Tiger Moth taking people up. I might not have quite the nostalgia that some have for old de Havilland types (let’s leave the Dragon Rapide out of the conversation at this point), but I have developed more of an interest in older types as I have similarly become an older type myself.

I did wonder whether the gusty conditions might make it a bit difficult for a tail dragger but they seemed to be coping just fine. It did look in fine condition and had a more sedate pace that didn’t test my panning skills quite as much as the Spit. I have had a flight in a Tiger Moth once in my life and that came courtesy of my friend Eric. I know how much I enjoyed that and I imagine that the passengers at Compton Abbas had a great time too.

The Tutor is Going

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It seems that equipping display teams is becoming rather difficult for some countries. The RAF has taken the Red Arrows down to seven jets because of engine issues and a replacement has not yet been selected. Meanwhile, the RCAF has selected the PC-21 to replace the Tutor with the Snowbirds, but they won’t arrive for a while. In the interim, the Tutor is being retired so there will be a hiatus for the team.

The Tutor was a strange little jet. Looking a bit like a Jet Provost but with a bit more oomph, the RCAF retired it from training duties a long time ago but kept a bunch of them running just to support the Snowbirds. I have seen them display on multiple occasions and really enjoy the display. The team also were a lot of fun when I got to spend time with them in Waukegan for the show there. Moose Milk is dangerous stuff.

This year is the last year that they have displayed with the Tutor and, since we have been gone for a while now, I didn’t get to see their last shows. My last year of seeing them display was filled with difficulties either with aircrew that had been injured or with unserviceability. In one show a jet went down and the pilot ran to a backup jet but couldn’t get that one to work either. I guess that was a sign of just how much the fleet was aging. Oh well, farewell Tutor. I hope I get to see the display with the PC-21 at some point.

Generations of Provost

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RAF Cosford provided a perfect venue to have a demo from an old RAF Jet Provost T5. As the home of part of the RAF Museum collection, they have the original Jet Provost which is currently stored at Cosford outside the museum building. Looking at this airframe on its stalky undercarriage, you can see that not a lot was changed when adding the jet engine from the original Percival Provost. I saw one of these flying at Old Warden last year.

The later versions of the JP had a more optimised approach. The airframe was tweaked and the undercarriage was shorted considerably. With the need for prop clearance, there was no need for long undercarriage and, I imagine, it was probably really inconvenient for boarding and servicing. The JP3, JP4 and JP5 have their differences but they can clearly be seen to be of the same basic design. Having two of the three on one day was an interesting comparison.

Taking a Chance With the T-38 Landing

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The T-38 chase planes that Boeing operates from Boeing Field did not fly as often as I would have liked. I’m sure they got plenty of use out of them, but it seemed to be a lucky break if one was up – particularly if I was in any place to see them. Consequently, I was always wondering whether I should make sure to get a sharp shot or take a chance on getting a more interesting look to the image. On this occasion, I decided to go with the latter. I dropped the shutter speed down to 1/100th of a second and hoped. A few came out okay. The cluttered background at Boeing Field is always a problem so a bit of blur helps put the focus on the plane.

A Hawk With Many Guises

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In the days when the old Hawker plant at Kingston/Dunsfold was still around, products like the Harrier and Hawk were generating plenty of revenue and opportunities. The company would build its own demonstrators for use outside the scope of the core client – the RAF. A Hawk airframe was company funded and it was registered G-HAWK. It was originally built as a 60 Series jet before having modifications to reflect the airframe shape of the 100 Series. It also had a COMA serial of ZA101 added at some point.

This aircraft moved to Warton when Dunsfold closed and continued to be used for all sorts of development work. I was long gone from Warton by the time its use ended. I was, therefore, pretty pleased to see it again at the Brooklands Museum. It is in the BAe house colours, but the nose is not a shape I recognise. I guess it did something interesting that needed another nose to be grafted on. I photographed this jet at various times over the years (although very little when I worked at Warton and could have seen it frequently!).

Kemble’s Other Residents

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My visit to the TBAG event at Kemble was quite a while ago now. However, still more to share from that day out. The airfield is home to the Buccaneers and the Phantoms that I have posted about but there are some other aircraft that are parked there. This includes one of the Ex-British Airways 747-400s that were painted in retro liveries. There is a Gnat painted in Red Arrows colours, and a Canberra PR9 in a silver scheme. Both look good.

A Hunter is also in a silver scheme which is a nice addition and there is a Bristol Britannia that I have posted about previously. These are all by or close to the café so any visitors to the airfield will have a few cool planes to check out during their visit.

Return of the Reds

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One of my days at RIAT was spent down towards the threshold of the runway. This meant I was able to get shots of the approaching planes and, hopefully, their touchdown. I say hopefully because a couple of things were working against me. First, there were some distance to go boards that could be in just the wrong spot depending on where the plane touched down. Second, because I was close in and there was a lot of distracting stuff in the background, I was going with a lower shutter speed to give the sense of motion and blur out some of the distractions.

I didn’t have a high success rate with some of these shots which was expected. When going through them, I can be pretty aggressive at culling anything that is not super sharp (at least on a part of the airframe that will be the first point of interest for a viewer) but I do have to bear in mind that I am looking at a high resolution version of the image zoomed in to 100%. When it is a 1600 pixel image on a screen, it will forgive a lot of the detail problems.

Anyway, I got some shots of the jets on approach and then as they touched down. Some of them came out pretty well. I did also use the location for take off shots where, since the planes were just beginning their take off rolls, they weren’t going that fast and getting the blur required was a bit trickier. Some of those will, at some point, show up on here too.

Sun Greets the Talon’s Return from California

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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.

My Luck with the Snowbirds Continues to Go Downhill

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Last year, when I went to the Abbotsford Air Show, the Snowbirds were displaying with eight jets instead of nine. There had been an issue with one of the crew and they were completing the season down a jet. When I headed to Comox this year for the show, I was hoping to get a full display from the Snowbirds. That was not going to be the case. On arrival, my friend Mark advised me that one of the pilots had injured an arm in a non-aviation related accident. Oh well, I thought.

Then, when they started up for the display, one of the jets wouldn’t play ball. I thought they might run to a spare jet but, no, we were down another jet. This meant we would only have seven jets for the display. Surprisingly, this didn’t cause as many issues in my shots as I thought it might. The four ship cross was gone which was disappointing but, when shooting tightly on the formations, things actually seemed to look okay. In fact, sometimes it stopped me having to worry about getting the whole formation in shot since they had “cropped” for me.

It was a pretty good display and I enjoyed watching it. Here is a selection of shots from the day.

T-38s Including Some Color

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Mesa Gateway Airport is a popular spot for cross country flights by various military aircraft. T-38 training jets are particularly common apparently so, while it was my first time visiting the airport, catching some arriving Talons was not a surprise. What was unusual was that one of them was in a retro paint scheme in a green camouflage design. It was looking very well finished as it taxied in and parked. The various student trainees parked their jets and walked into the FBO. Many of them appeared to be overseas students training in the US.