Tag Archives: Douglas

Talon Hate

Talon Hate is a program that the Air Force is running involving an infrared sensor mounted in the front of a centerline fuel tank. It is mounted on an F-15 from the operational test unit at Nellis AFB. The first time I saw it, I was walking along the flight line at Nellis. We were shooting with the California ANG unit that was the next space along the line. As we walked past the Talon Hate jet, we were under strict instructions not to photograph it. I was right there but nothing I could do.

During my visit to Red Flag 16-4, the Talon Hate jet flew a couple of times. It flew with a second F-15 each time and sometimes with other jets. The pod is clearly visible on the jet but the other modifications are less conspicuous. There is a satellite communications antenna mounted on the back on the jet. When it turns for final, you can see the antenna mount. I don’t know what the outcome of the program will be but it is cool to see the venerable F-15 still trying out new stuff.

Orbis MD-10 – Close But So Far!

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Not all old airliners end up being broken down for parts. Some get a reprieve, at least for a while. A frequent secondary use for airliners is freighters and FedEx have an extensive fleet of old DC-10s that they use. These have gone through a cockpit upgrade program and have been renamed MD-10. However, even that is not enough to keep them going indefinitely and the fleet is gradually being reduced. One of them has got a new lease on life though.

Orbis is a charity that carries out eye surgery around the world in places where the medical facilities are limited. Cataract surgery is a simple procedure in some countries but a rarity in others yet it is a simple solution to a problem that affects thousands of people. Over the years they have had a number of airliners that are fitted out with an operating theater and they can fly into locations and carry out surgery on people who would otherwise have little hope of regaining normal sight. The current aircraft (see at the bottom) was a DC10-10 that had originally been with United. That aircraft is now being replaced with the MD-10 from FedEx.

I first saw the aircraft at LAX during its press roll out. I was landing and looked out of the window and there it was on the ramp. No camera to hand so just a memory. More recently, it spent some time at Moffett Field and I was able to grab a few shots. It was hot so, while I chose the better side for the light, it meant being a distance away and getting a fair bit of heat haze. I did also see the shady side through the fence. I imagine the jet is now off doing good work around the world. A great cause.

Scooters in the Overcast

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Draken International has been acquiring some of the best of the retired A-4 Skyhawks to add to their fleet. Their goal is the provision of tactical training services to air forces. Their jets have come from Israel and New Zealand and they have won a number of contracts. I saw them at Nellis AFB where they were providing support services to the USAF. They had a number of jets there working on Red Flag and weapons school projects.

We didn’t get the best conditions to shoot them. They were departing in the morning in conditions when they were rather backlit. For the recoveries, we were struggling to be in the right place to get them. Overall, I was not too happy with the results. I will be back at some point though. Hopefully I will get a better chance to shoot them. Having missed the media day, I didn’t get to shoot them on base which would have been a lot better. Sadly, the twin seater was lost shortly after my visit. Fortunately, the pilot banged out okay.

: An A-4K of Draken International climbs out of Nellis AFB in support of a USAF training mission.

Some Nice Evening Light on the Planes

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During the evening of the Eagle Field fly-in, there was a dinner held in the hangar. I took the time to wander around outside as it had become a lot quieter and the chances to shoot the aircraft had improved. As the sun went down, things got considerably better and the evening light was lovely. Not all aircraft were well oriented to take advantage of it but there was still plenty of scope.

Eagle Field Fly-In

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My 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.

The 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.

DM’s Museum Jets

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Many 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.

The 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!

Marine Corps C-9

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If you had asked me whether the McDonnell Douglas C-9 Skytrain was still in service, I would have said no. Used by the Navy and Marine Corps, the fleet had been wound down as C-40 Clippers were introduced. I thought that they had all gone by now. You can guess, then, that I was rather surprised when I saw one at SFO. Two aircraft were on parallel approaches – one a Delta 757 and the other appearing to be a DC-9/MD-87/Boeing717. I wasn’t paying a lot of attention but parallel approaches are always worth a shot so I was taking pictures when I realized that the aircraft was a C-9B Skytrain in Marine Corps markings. The conditions were a bit heat hazy but I wasn’t going to miss this.

I grabbed a bunch of shots as it landed and felt rather pleased with the turn of events. I then stopped thinking about it. A little later I moved around to the other end of SFO to get some head on departures of some of the widebodies that were due out. You don’t get many narrowbodies taking off on the 28s unless the wind is particularly strong down those runways. One or two will use it but not many. I saw a narrowbody start its takeoff roll and almost ignored it AGAIN!

However, I did end up trying some shots and then realizing as it got closer that it was the C-9B again. I guess it was just my lucky day that I had two opportunities to miss it and didn’t either time. As it flew overhead, I was able to get some far better angles on it than were possible when on approach. I also got to experience the noise levels that jets of this vintage came with. I did a little research afterwards and apparently only two jets remain in use with the Marine Corps and all Navy and Air Force examples are retired. This one is a rare one indeed, not least because it is based on the east coast. No idea how long they have left but this was certainly a fortunate encounter.

Santa Monica – The Friendly Airport

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My buddy Pete joined me for some fun in the LA area. Pete is a commercial pilot but any form of aviation appeals to him so we have a lot in common. We had a full day available to go exploring. One part of the day was allocated to a helicopter trip but the rest was open time for us. Our first stop was Santa Monica airport.

I was introduced to this great place by another friend, Paul, who was, coincidentally, introduced to me by Pete. It is a short distance north of LAX but is the total opposite. Santa Monica accommodates everything from light sport aircraft to some pretty substantial corporate jets. What it also accommodates is visitors. A nice terrace area is laid out at the terminal building providing a great spot to watch operations with the runway only a short distance away.

The tower frequency is piped to the terrace so you know what is going on. There are vending machines and bathrooms to cover both ends of the spectrum and, in the past, I have seen the airport police officers handing out stickers to kids. The place is so welcoming you see lots of parents show up with their kids to watch the planes. As a UK based pilot, Pete found this to be an amazing improvement on his usual experiences at small airports.

I didn’t actually take my camera initially. I wasn’t sure how long we would be there. As it turned out a couple of cool jets including a nice Gulfstream came in while I was cameraless. No matter. I did get it after a while and got a few shots of traffic before our plans took us onward. Before we left, we did walk across the road to the Museum of Flying. Santa Monica was the home of Douglas Aircraft for many years. The museum was sadly closed when we were there but there was a nice DC-3 on a pole along with an A-4 and an F-86 so something nice to see.

Delta 717s

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When Southwest bought AirTran, they inherited a mixed fleet of 737s and 717s. AirTran had been a 717 only fleet for a while but had expanded to include 737s as they grew and the production of the 717 ended. It didn’t take too long for Southwest to announce that the 717s were going away. Where to was the question. That was soon answered when Delta picked them all up. Consequently, there has been a steady stream of 717s showing up in Delta colors recently.

I have come across a few of them recently on both sides of the country. Despite the age of the basic DC-9 design, the updates introduced and the chunkier profile of the more modern engines means that there is something slightly different about the appearance of the jet. I quite like the look of it. Previously, the majority of the examples I had seen had been Hawaiian (including those I had ridden on). It is nice that the type has found a new home which means they shall be around in the US for a while to come.

DC-7 Tanker

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I previously posted an item about the DC-7 tanker that was parked up on the Erickson ramp. Over the course of the few days we were there, this aircraft had a few visits from me. It’s positioning was not always ideal for what I wanted. The evening light was often great for photos but, sadly, the aircraft was almost exactly tail on to the setting sun. However, that did provide some silhouette options as well as playing with HDR to see if I could come up with something I liked.

One morning the sun came up as there was still some rain in the area. There was some good light on the nose for a while but the best option was the rainbow that formed in the background and was well aligned with the aircraft. I tried a variety of things over the days and some of those results are here. Of course, it would have been far more fun to see it in action!