This 777 pulled onto the gate in front of my while I was at Haneda. The radome seems to have taken a bit of punishment. It looks a bit like some of those shots you see of jets that have gone through a hail storm. I don’t know whether that is the case for this one and it has, no doubt, been checked and found to be airworthy but it certainly looked out of keeping.
The FHCAM FW-190 is one I have seen on the ground a few times but I have been thwarted with regard to it flying. It was scheduled to fly at Skyfair so I was optimistic. While waiting for the Skyhawk to arrive, we were pleased to see the 190 taxi out and depart. Hopefully it would be a short test flight and after a few minutes, it came back into the overhead. A very nice early turn to final brought it around the waiting crowd and there was much rejoicing!
On the day of the show it flew again. A nice bunch of passes and some good maneuvers to give us a view of the topside of the glossy paint scheme. The light was a touch harsh but the plane was definitely worth it. Combine that with the extra from the evening before and this will count as a success for me.
Japanese jets have a reputation for interesting colors and, while the fighter units were pretty dull gray, the recce jets were far more interesting. Most of the flying jets I saw were in the blue camo scheme and they look very nice. One the first wave I saw, there was also a jet in green and brown camo. Sadly it only flew once and I messed up a bunch of my shots. The other scheme on the ramp was a green and grey scheme that looked a lot like the old German colors. Sadly, it stayed on the ramp the entire time I was there.
I nearly missed this one. A JAL 737 was taxiing in at Haneda and the guy next to me seemed very interested in it. He was shooting it when it was still a long way off and I didn’t know why. As it got closer, I could see two Japanese flags flying from the cockpit windows. I figured it must be something so grabbed a few shots. As soon as it was gone, he packed up and left. Talking to someone the following day, he told me that JAL currently has the royal transportation contract and that includes some flights on the narrow body fleet. I guess someone royal was on this flight.
Skyfair proved to be a fun day out at Paine Field. A variety of types flew and they put on some nice passes that made getting shots a lot easier than is sometimes the case. The biggest problem was the heat haze which was really tough and affected all but the closest shots. One great combination that was put up was the Mossie with the Spitfire. After an event last year where I was disappointed trying to get shots of the Mossie alone, I was hoping it wouldn’t be in formation. However, when I saw this pairing fly by, I couldn’t help but be pleased with the way things turned out.
Paine Field is about fifteen minutes from the office. I wouldn’t normally nip out at lunchtime to photograph something but, when I saw that an Avanti was coming in, I figured that was worth my time. They are not too common around here so grabbing my lunch and heading up was worth it. At least I knew exactly how far out it was and when it was due so I could be there just in time and get the shots before heading back to the office. It beats eating your lunch at the desk!
While waiting for a few vintage types to arrive at Paine Field for Skyfair the following day we got an interesting bonus. A Kodiak showed up on approach. Not only was it equipped with floats but it was also painted in a tiger stripe livery that was pretty striking. Not a type that might normally get too much attention but, fitted out like this, it certainly did.
ANA painted three jets in special schemes in association with Star Wars. They have an R2-D2 scheme on a 787-9 and a BB-8 scheme on a 777-300ER and I have shot both of them in the US. They have appeared on the blog here and here. The third jet was a C-3PO scheme that was on a jet that was used in the Asia regional flights so I did not anticipate seeing it. However, it showed up at Haneda while I was there. Consequently, I got to shoot it at last. Sadly, it departed off the other runway so I only got a distant backlit shot.
There was another 767 that also showed up with some Star Wars markings on it. It wasn’t a complex scheme like the first three but it was a Star Wars scheme. I guess I must have got all of them by now unless anyone knows of another one that is out there?
I was able to have a day out while in Japan after the work was done and the meetings were complete. I have seen plenty of pictures from Hyakuri and I was keen to get there. Mark had kindly brought me up to date with the latest arrangements for visiting, a rental car was booked and I was all set. Starting out from the center of Tokyo on a Monday morning was surprisingly straightforward and I was soon cruising through the countryside heading to Ibaraki Prefecture.
The weather was a bit overcast. After days of heat and sun, this was a bit of a surprise but it actually worked a bit in my favor. I didn’t have a ladder so switching sides in the afternoon was not going to be too simple. With the clouds, there was far less need to move. However, that was an issue for later. I drove up and, as I got close, I had a Phantom pass over me as it was on final approach. A promising sign.
I got to the towers and got myself settled in. There was plenty of action on the ramp of the recce unit. Soon a couple of jets spooled up and taxied. The came right by me. I was shooting away but there seemed to be a bit of a focus issue. Repressing the AF button brought things back into focus so I kept shooting. Only after they took off did I realize that I had somehow switched to One Shot focus mode. Crap. No doubt most of the take off shots would be out of focus – they were. However, problem fixed and then things were performing as intended.
What followed was a day of Phantom fun. Recce and fighter jets went up in regular waves. They taxied right by and then took off in front of us. What a great way to spend a day. The recce jets would do a straight in approach and landing. Some of the fighter guys were more happy to bash the pattern for a while when returning which added to the fun.
As the afternoon wore on, there was a hint of sun showing through the clouds. Backlight was becoming a bit of an issue but at this point I was staying put until I called it a day. I had the drive back to the city to deal with, rush hour was beckoning and I needed to get the rental car back. I made the most of what was on offer before packing up for the day. The whole trip was so worthwhile. Plenty have been so it was nothing original but it was pure fun. There were also other types flying and they will get their own posts.
The KC-46 Pegasus test program drags on. The delivery of jets to the USAF is still not happening and the number of jets built increases but they are stacking up at Paine Field and Boeing Field. Meanwhile the test jets are working through test points and endeavoring to prove that the problems identified in previous tests are now resolved. I have seen a few jets now and shot them in varying conditions from sun to downpours.
I was at Boeing Field one evening waiting to pick up someone at SeaTac later in the evening when one of the test jets taxied out from the Boeing ramp at the north of the field and came right by me prior to departing on another mission. The jet was configured with the boom and the underwing pods so the planned final configuration. As it came by, I decided to get some shots of the airframe to get a better idea of what the various parts look like.
The airframe is the familiar 767 although there are some changes structurally. The cockpit is updated too but you can’t see that from the outside. However, you can see the various sensors mounted around the airframe which, I assume, are radar detectors. Above the cockpit is the receiver receptacle for the refueling boom to allow the jet to receive as well as dispense fuel. You can’t see much from the ground other than the markings to guide the boomer (and the markings that identify which jet it is).
The underwing refueling pods are a source of some of the troubles the program is having. Apparently, the supplier in the UK underestimated what was required to achieve he civil certification that is part of the contract requirements. The pods may not be cleared when the initial jets finally enter service. Modern pods have a more streamlined look. Earlier pods have a blunt back end that the hose and drought come out of. The modern pods and more streamlined and the rogue comes out of a ramp in the bottom of the pod.
The back end has the boom. Given how many boom tankers Boeing has produced, modern booms seem to cause them a lot of trouble. This one is still one of the major defects with the jet. Hopefully it will be resolved soon. The boomer does not have a window like the earlier jets but instead uses stereo video cameras to give the boomer the view of what is going on. I assume some of the apertures around the rear fuselage are for the cameras to support this functionality. We shall see how long it is before we see this being used for real by the USAF as opposed to the test team.