Fighters departing Nellis are well out of burner by the time they get anywhere near you outside the base. However, if you are shooting in low light, the burners can show up quite well even though you are a long way off. The plane is a small part of the overall shot but the intensity of the burner plume can make it far more conspicuous in the shot than would otherwise be the case.
E-8 JSTARS are not a rare thing at Red Flag but they do often get involved in the night sorties. Seeing one heading out to play for the daytime activities was a pleasant surprise. On their return on the first day they were following in the KDC-10 that I mentioned in a previous post. They also adopted some sporty approach techniques and were similarly unsuccessful in converting them in to a landing. The go around ensued and was followed by a more conventional straight in approach and landing.
Some late day departures after the Flag returns included F-15Es, F-35As, L159s and A-4s. You don’t know how long anyone is scheduled to be out but you find yourself hoping that they will all make it back before the sun sets so you can get some arrival shots in the nicest light available. Once they are gone, it is a case of watching the time and crossing your fingers. As it was, we got lucky. They came back in a steady stream with all of them showing up as the sun was at its best. Arriving over Cheyenne is not ideal from a sun angle perspective at this time of year but we still got some nice angles. Some turned tighter while others went wider so we got to try all sorts of angles out to see which picked up what light was remaining.
Helicopters are constantly moving around McCarran. There are tourist rides operating seemingly around the clock so hearing a couple of helps is not a surprise. However, these two were close to each other and seemed to have a more powerful sound. It turned out that they were two USMC AH-1Z Vipers coming in to an FBO. Paul was able to try and get some shots as they landed but I had to move the car. I settled for watching them for a bit and then got the camera as they were shutting down. It was unbelievably dark given how much ambient light there is in Vegas so I was pushing the camera’s capabilities a bit. The closer one shut down first which was unfortunate but let’s not get picky. They were still there the following morning when we were shooting departures as I could see them in the background of some shots.
There were two tankers I was hoping to shoot at Red Flag. One was the Colombian 767. It didn’t fly on the first day but on the second it started to taxi before returning to the ramp and shutting down. Never mind. The other was the Dutch KDC-10. I hadn’t shot one before and they are not likely to be in service for too much longer so this might have been my last chance. Therefore, I hoped it would fly and it didn’t let me down.
The winds were strong on the first day and it departed towards us off 21L. As soon as it was airborne, the nose cocked into the strong crosswind and it turned towards us. A right turn overhead and it was on its way to the ranges. When it returned, they went for a very impressive curving approach. It looked great. However, it wasn’t great from a flying perspective and a go around followed. The second approach was more conventional and more successful.
On the second day they flew again. This time the arrivals were from over the Speedway so a more traditional view of them coming in. I was hoping for a go around and a tight circuit to land but that was a tad optimistic. Maybe after the previous day they were more content to get the beast back on the ground.
Do you ever see an airframe and think to yourself “That isn’t a real aircraft. It looks like something left over from a movie shoot.” That was exactly what was in my mind when I visited the Air Zoo museum in Kalamazoo MI. They have the sole remaining XP-55 Ascender. It looks like something that was included in Raiders of the Lost Ark with its unusual configuration. However, it is a genuine program that was part of US experimentation with unusual configurations in the hope of boosting performance.
A number of types were developed for this program but the arrival of the jets soon rendered the concept moot and they were cancelled. This sole example found its way to Michigan where it is kept in great condition (at least it was years ago when I visited so I hope that is still the case). It has a really cool look to it and, while that era is not my specialty, I am still pleased that you can come across some surprises from that period.
I have photographed Janet 737s operating out of their hub at McCarran International in Las Vegas before. They have made it on to the blog too. However, it turns out I can get them a lot closer to home. Normally when they leave Las Vegas, they fly for a while and then disappear to wherever they are headed. In the case of the destination being Paine Field, no need for such subterfuge. Like a lot of operators, it seems they use ATS for maintenance.
I knew an aircraft was in as they had been filing flight plans for a number of days but never going anywhere. The weekend came around along with another flight plan so I was skeptical. However, when they got airborne, I figured it was time to be ready for the return. The weather was doing its usual thing. Clouds everywhere but with sun regularly popping through. Could we get the same thing?
Hardly surprising that a big cloud rolled in as they were lining up on the ILS. There was still hope of light further up the approach and the cloud was moving fast. In the end, we had good light far out, a lot of gloom for most of the approach and then sun just over the threshold. Not perfect but it would do. The flight must have been successful because the departed for Las Vegas later the same day. We have had some before so hopefully there will be more. The 737-600 is pretty rare anyway so this is one of the few times I get to see one.
While the UPS freighter had enticed me to Everett, I was interested to see that Boeing was busy moving KC-46s around. They have a hangar at the south end of the field where they work on the Pegasus aircraft and they were taking on out of the hangar. To do this, they needed to move a bunch of them out of the way so they had a juggling act underway putting different planes in odd locations while they all were moved. They stuck a row of them down by the Flying Heritage and Combat Armor Museum.
The plane came out of the hangar and was rolled off to park. Then, one that had been sitting outside for a while was moved back inside. I wasn’t going to hang around to see if they moved them all back that evening but I did go across to the museum side to see them parked in this odd location before leaving. At this time the Air Force had halted deliveries due to loose items in the received airframes so I guess the chance of more airframes stacking up was back on the cards.
There will be much online about the retirement of the Tornado from RAF service. Global Aviation Resource has been putting together some great information on the history of the jet in service and I would recommend you take a look there if you are interested. I am not going to repeat the information about the history of its service. However, I do have a history with the jet. It was entering service just as I was getting very in to aviation. Then I ended up working on the program undertaking handling clearances for different configurations and clearing urgent changes that were implemented for the first Gulf War.
I figured I would share a few pictures of Tornados. These are all the IDS version of the jet be they GR1 or GR4. I haven’t included the ADV jets since they went away a while back. Some of these shots are scans of old negatives and aren’t the greatest quality but they are part of the early life of the jet. Some others are more recent.
I will always have a soft spot for the Tornado. It remains in service in Germany, Italy and Saudi Arabia but for the RAF, the service that drove the aircraft to be a more complex jet than the other partners initially wanted, it is now history.
The Planes of Fame museum at Chino is a fantastic place to visit for any aviation enthusiast. Many hangars are open and they are filled with all sorts of interesting aircraft, restored either to static or flying condition. However, they are not all that is there. There is a backlot in which other aircraft are stored awaiting either their own restoration or for them to provide parts for the restoration of something else. Some great looking vintage aircraft here including jets that it would be so good to see back in the air. I decided to dedicate this post to some shots of these less glamorous residents.
