Tag Archives: aircraft

Hawgsmoke on the Ramp

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B11I4043.jpgEvery two years the A-10 community gets together for the Hawgsmoke competition.  I covered it again for GAR and you can see the piece I wrote here.  The first day we were there was the arrival day.  The plan had been to watch some landings and then to move to the parking ramp area.  As it happened, we couldn’t get too close to the runway and some of the arrivals were delayed so we headed to the ramp instead which proved to be a good choice.  The A-10s were coming in from the various units.

AE7I5421.jpgInitially he team were a little concerned about how we could access the area while the jets were on the move but we gradually got more access as they got more confident in us staying in the right places.  The jets were taxiing along the outsides and then parking facing inwards.  Consequently, we could be in between the rows and out of the way of the aircraft on the move.  As more jets were parked up, we could move further out towards to the taxiway and closer to the arriving aircraft.  It all worked pretty well.

B11I3922.jpgOnce the jets were on the ground the ground crews were straight into action taking off he baggage pods and starting to load up with practice bombs ready for the range slots that were to come as the exercise got underway.  Most of the jets were parked outside the sun shelters so the crews were getting pretty hot as they worked.  Plenty of coolers of water were on hand to keep them in good shape.  This was a good start to the coverage of the exercise from my perspective.

Eagle Field Fly-In

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AE7I7531.jpgMy trip in the Harpoon was to get to the fly-in at Eagle Field.  This is an event that I previously didn’t know anything about so I went with few preconceptions.  As it turned out, this year was not the most well attended that they have had.  A selection of aircraft showed up for the event but not as many as hoped for.  A few T-6s were there along with a C-54, some Navions, an Interstate Kadet and us.  Some less exotic types were also there such as Pipers and Cessnas.  There was also quite a gathering of military vehicles.  These are not something that I know a lot about.  During the day some reenactors also carried out some firefight demonstrations.

B11I7095.jpgThe following morning, the visitors headed back out.  We were one of the last to go so got to watch the other aircraft start up, taxi out and take off.  Most put in at least one pass before they headed home.

Flying in the Harpoon

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B11I6923.jpgI had a really fun experience recently.  I was given the chance to head down to a fly-in in one of the participating aircraft.  The aircraft was a Lockheed PV-2 Harpoon.  Beautifully restored, this aircraft was piloted by Taigh Raimey.  Taigh works with a variety of aircraft including a lot of Beech 18s but the Harpoon is a great aircraft to fly in.  Inside it is extensively restored so a lot of the original equipment is included.  Consequently, it is a little cramped in there and you have to be careful as you move through the airframe.

B11I6952.jpgThere are two places inside that are worth spending some time.  In the middle of the fuselage is an astrodome.  This is certainly a great place to watch what is going on.  You can look freely in any direction.  I was up there when we arrived at Eagle Field and got a good view of our flyby.  However, my favorite spot was the rear of the fuselage.  It is extensively glazed and you can lie on your stomach and watch the world pass behind and below you.  That will get a post of its own.

Incomplete JetStar

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AE7I0382.jpgRegular readers will know I am partial to the Lockheed JetStar.  I have previously posted about shooting one at Hayward when it was taking off and another that was at the airport as a source of spare parts.  This spare aircraft has moved from the location I previously saw it and is now out on the ramp near the taxiway.  While out working with the HueyVets guys, I ended up by the airframe waiting to shoot the Huey.

AE7I0378.jpgUp to this point, the airframe looked in good shape.  However, recently, one of the engines was removed so I guess it will progressively become more obvious that this jet is not going to be flying again.  For the time being, though, you can choose an angle to make the missing items no longer apparent.  Then the jet still looks like a great airframe.  I hope it lasts a bit longer and that its sacrifices are enough to keep the other jet airworthy.

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A340 Season

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AU0E3312.jpgIt may be that the A340 is in its twilight years but it is still a type that is in operation with a number of airlines. Having watched a few different types disappear from service recently, I am paying more attention to those planes that might not be around for too much longer. I figure the A340 is one of those types. SFO gets a number of them on a normal day from a variety of operators. Virgin Atlantic brings in an A340-600 most days. Meanwhile, the original version shows up with a couple of airlines. Swiss and SAS bring in the A340-300 as part of their services. Philippine Airlines has been known to bring them in too but they are currently using 777-300ERs on this route and the 340s are elsewhere.

AU0E2600.jpgI made the effort to get the visitors both arriving and departing. Arrival shots are not great at this time of year as the heat haze starts to become a problem. However, you can still get something reasonable if you get a little lucky. You can go further out on the approach to minimize haze but you lose the context a little.

AU0E3240.jpgMoving around to the departure end of the 28s means you can get the planes as they come over your head when taking off. Sadly, all of them went from 28L rather than 28R which means they are slightly backlit when they come by. However, this doesn’t hurt things too much. The shots of them retreating into the distance were not possible on this day though due to the cloud rolling in off the hills which they disappeared into pretty quickly. I guess they will be around for a little longer but it won’t be too long before the A340 is consigned to secondary operators and lower utilization.

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AWACS Oddity

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Scan 2-1594.jpgA number of different airframes have been used for airborne early warning requirements. The Boeing E-3 Sentry is the most well-known but there have been a number of other types over the years. SAAB developed a radar system that has been mounted on Embraer 145 jets, SAAB 340s and SAAB 2000s. The development of this system was started in the 1980s and a testbed was produced prior to the system appearing on a production airframe. This testbed was a Fairchild Metro turboprop. It made an appearance at the Farnborough airshow where I got some shots of it. It was camouflaged in what was then the standard Swedish camouflage scheme. This was a cool look for their planes and I do miss it.

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Iraqi F-16s

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B11I3768.jpgIraq places an order for F-16s a number of years ago.  The first aircraft were not initially delivered to the country but instead went to Tucson to set up a training unit.  There are still some aircraft there being used to train new Iraqi pilots.  Soon the remaining jets will head to Iraq following those that have already been delivered.  I hadn’t seen them before since this all happened since my last visit to Tucson.  They operate from Tucson International, alongside the ANG unit and the Dutch training unit.

B11I3570.jpgWe had a few movements of the Iraqi jets while I was there and these were, apparently, some of the newer jets to have been delivered.  They have adopted a different camouflage pattern to the normal F-16 scheme so it is easier to recognize it is them as they approach.  I doubt I will be back before they leave the country so this was one of the few times I will likely see these jets.

Transport for the Hawgs

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AE7I5174.jpgAll of the A-10s coming in for Hawgsmoke need some support.  There were C-17s and C-5s on the ramp during the exercise.  While we were out watching the jets arrive, a C-130J came in as well.  It landed and then turned to taxi right back passed us.  I don’t know for sure whether it was supporting the A-10s from a unit or it was just a coincidence that it arrived at that time on another mission but I figure that it is a strong chance that is why it was there.

Pan Am

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Scan 2-1424.jpgSummer of 88 meant I had probably the coolest job someone like me could ever have. My summer break was spent working for the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in the UK. I was involved in noise measuring work around airports in London and the vicinity. I spent a few days inside the fence at Heathrow recording all sorts of things taking off.

Scan 2-1460.jpgI did get some photos while there when it didn’t interfere with making recordings of sound levels. In those days, Pan Am 747s were a regular at Heathrow and here are a couple of their planes heading back across the water. They also had 727s at Heathrow supporting routes to Germany. That was a hangover from the post war split of responsibilities and probably seems anachronistic now.

DM’s Museum Jets

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B11I4056.jpgMany airbases have a selection of historic aircraft on display to show something of what has gone before on the base.  Sadly, they are often unavailable to shoot when you visit.  Davis Monthan AFB has quite a few different planes on display and, fortunately, the location of the Fallen Hawg ceremony during Hawgsmoke was in front of the display A-10.  While everything was being set up, we had some time to kill and I was allowed to wander around the other planes.

B11I4070.jpgThe selection included some obvious DM aircraft like the A-10 and A-7 (even if it was actually a Navy A-7E that they had repainted).  A U-2 was a slightly more surprising one to see.  I’m not sure how that qualifies but I wasn’t complaining.  The F-105, F-100 and F-4 all looked good too.  Not only was it nice to be able to shoot them but it gave us something to do since we had got in place pretty early!