Tag Archives: AH-64E

Qatar’s Apaches Look Better Than Everyone Else’s

The Apache is a mean looking helicopter with plenty of angles and bumps to make it an interesting photo subject. However, the one shortcoming is that it is usually painted a dark green colour and that really sucks in the light. Getting a great shot of it is surprisingly difficult. Qatar, on the other hand, has done a nice job of coming up with a desert camouflage scheme for their Apaches. It really stands out against the usual dark schemes. It looked great in the sun when it arrived at RIAT. On an overcast day, even it struggled in the static display, though.

An Apache is a Surprise Visitor

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.

Updated AAC Apaches

The British Army bought a bunch of Apaches which were locally assembled by Westland and were fitted with Rolls Royce Turbomeca engines to bolster the local content.  Since that acquisition, the Apache has gone through a bunch of upgrades and the current AH-64E Apache Guardian is the latest and greatest.  The British Army decided to acquire these and, this time, there is none of the local content to worry about.  Their airframes have been rotated back to Boeing and AH-64E airframes get delivered.  Some might have originally been British but others are not.

Middle Wallop is not the busy airfield it once was but there is still some Army flying underway and that includes operation of these new Apaches.  While I was visiting, there were some airframes flying around the local countryside and also doing some pattern work.  They pattern is a bit distant from the museum area but I was still able to catch some shots of them.  Hopefully I will see them in more detail at some point but this was my first encounter with the updated fleet.