Category Archives: military

Second Weekend Flyover – Super Bugs

The football season includes both college and professional games. I shared some shots of some US Navy F-35Cs that had been in Seattle for a UW football game flyover. They were not alone, though. The Navy also brought some Super Hornets for the Seahawks game on the Sunday. Nancy had come along with me to see the F-35s depart and I was ready to move on, but she enjoyed the departure of the first jets and was happy to wait for the Hornets to go out too.

The nice thing about flyovers is that you know that they will go on time because the game will start to a schedule. They often depart early and fly around locally until the time comes for the flyover. I assume this also builds in some capacity in case they have an issue with one of the jets. We watched them blast out of Boeing Field and then headed on. The return would have been okay, but I wasn’t that bothered, and it was a nice day to be out.

Distant Farewell to the Pumas

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The RAF retired its Puma helicopter fleet at the end of March after 54 years in service. They undertook a tour of various parts of the country with three Pumas. Sadly, I wasn’t able to be in place for any of the flypasts. However, one of the last legs included a flight across London using the Thames helicopter route. I was working in the London office that day and so I did head up to the roof to see if I could see them. We are too far from the river to be in a good spot, but it was better than nothing. I also only had my phone. Stills were pointless so I decided to try and get some video instead. Here is what I got.

The Thai Air Force A340 Tempts But Thwarts

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On my last visit to LA before I left the US, I was quite surprised by an interesting airframe parked at LAX. The FBO ramps on the south side of the airport often have interesting visitors but this one was quite special. The Thai Air Force A340-500 was parked up in a corner. I last saw this plane as it overflew Seattle, and I happened to see it. I was in the back of an Uber as we left the airport, and I tried to get a shot with my phone as we drove by outside.

When I got to the airport hotel in the evening, the plane was still there. I got a more distant shot but from a better angle as it sat in the same location. It did have some lights on, and I wondered whether it would depart while I was watching. Sadly, nothing before I turned in for the night. The next morning, I came back and it was gone. The lights were clearly an indicator that it was heading out that night. It must have been quite late.

Flare Doors Open on an F-35

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Early in 2024, Mark and I were down in Arizona photographing aviation in all its forms. We did spend a little time in Glendale at Luke AFB and seeing a wide variety of F-35As (if you count variety as meaning very slightly different low visibility markings). One of the jets that came overhead on approach, and it had a pair of open doors on the underside. Initially I thought that this was the Integrated Power Pack outlet but then I saw that was next to the doors. It is actually the flare dispenser and I guess the doors must be stuck open after something from the mission.

Comparison of a Couple of Edits

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Every once in a while, while I am searching for something specific in the Lightroom catalog, I will come across a previous shot that catches my eye for some reason. This might be because it was something interesting, something I had forgotten about or just something that I think might benefit from a re-edit. Sometimes I have changed the way in which I approach edits and in others there is a new tool that has been added which I think will benefit the edit. This image was exactly that. I thought that the masking tools now in Lightroom would make for a more flexible approach to balancing the different parts of the image. I played around with it for a while. Because Lightroom allows you endless virtual copies, you can try something new out without having to lose what was there before. I then created a combination of the two edits to show how differently the same raw file can end up.

An Apache is a Surprise Visitor

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While waiting for the Ethiopian Cargo 777F at Paine Field, I saw a helo heading in from the south. I realised it was an Apache. Sadly, the light had already started to go away and, while this was okay for a white airliner, the green paint of the Apache really sucked any remaining light out of the shot. A bit of processing helped to improve things a bit but it was still rather gloomy.

Vulcan in the Countryside

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In the 80s, after the RAF had retired its operational Vulcan fleet, you could come across examples of them in all sorts of places. When I moved to Lancashire in 1990, there was one sitting just outside Blackpool Airport. It lasted a few years but eventually succumbed to corrosion and was cut up. It is a big beast to preserve. There are still a few around and the home of one of them is Wellesborne Mountford airfield. It is near Stratford on Avon and I had a work trip that took me within about ten minutes of it. When I had finished my meetings and was heading home, I diverted off to see if I could see it. Sure enough, pulling into the parking by the flying club meant I could see the plane clearly. I will be back in the area at various times so I will see if I can arrange a better look at some point.

The Lancaster Progress is Good, But It Will Be a While

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Jim and I made a trip to the BC Aviation Museum and one of the things he was particularly keen to see was the Lancaster restoration project that they have underway. When we got to the area where the Lancaster restoration is underway, we were disappointed to find the area was closed off that day. We were peering through the entrance at the front fuselage when the president of the museum wandered up with a guest. He asked if we were interested in seeing it and I don’t think it will take great insight to know we said yes.

He was only going to be there for a short while but was happy for us to come in and have a look around while he showed his guest what was underway. The front fuselage was looking very good and much work has been done on it. I was allowed to climb inside and seeing the pilot’s position exposed at the top of the plane was fascinating. The engines are undergoing work and they were in different parts of the museum. The centre wing structure was at one side of the hangar and you could see the work done on it and the engine mounts waiting for the return of some engines.

We didn’t have a long time there but were grateful for the fact we got in there at all. When we went outside, you could see the outer wing panels in storage alongside the hangar. I don’t know what their condition is and whether being exposed to the elements is causing much trouble but I am sure they have considered this as part of their overall restoration effort. It will be a long time before everything is done but then the Lancaster will be displayed in the colors it wore when it was operating as a search and rescue aircraft for the RCAF. Should look fantastic.

Fifi Ramp Tour

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While Fifi, the B-29 Superfortress, was in Seattle, they opened her up for ramp tours. Since they didn’t get to run their normal rides, this was one of the few opportunities to get some revenue while in town. I had not done a ramp tour with her before (putting aside the time I met with the crew in DuPage for an article I was writing. It isn’t a speedy process to get through her and so a good amount of time was spent in line under the wing while we waited for our turn but that was fine.

We started out going underneath into the bomb bay where there was a guide to explain about the plane. Then we climbed up into the cockpit and spent some time looking around and hearing more of the stories of the team. Then it was back outside and time to wander around and see the aircraft up close. She is a lovingly maintained aircraft and I was glad I finally bothered to do the tour.

The New Jamming Pods Make an Appearance

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When the EA-18G Growler came into service, it made use of the same pods that had been fitted to the EA-6B Prowler. The Navy has had a long running plan to replace the different pod types over time and this is a slow process. The first of the new pods to arrive is the Next Generation Jammer Mid-Band which is built by Raytheon. These have gradually been delivered to fleet squadrons and, while I had seen images of them that local photographers had taken, I hadn’t seen one.

Then, one afternoon, while sitting up at Paine Field, a Growler rolled out after landing and came all the way to the north end of the runway. I had no idea it was coming in and missed the landing completely. It taxied off and I grabbed some shots because it was a color bird. Then I realized it had the new pods fitted. The light was so nice, and I was hoping they would just gas a go but sadly they didn’t and I didn’t get to see them depart. At least I have seen the pods fitted before I left.