The US Marine Corps has ended operations with their Harriers. This isn’t the end of Harrier ops because both Spain and Italy continue to operate the type but it a significant event in the life of the Harrier. I have had plenty of encounters with USMC Harriers over the years although I have only seen Harrier IIs fly. My Harrier I photos are only from museum examples. I went through the shots I have got and compiled a selection of the jets that I have seen over the years. Here you go…
I did post some Eagles previously and had said I would repeat types much in this string of Red Flag posts, but I didn’t say never. Eagles are worth breaking the rule. The aggressor eagles went away a while back with the F-16s taking on the role alone until F-35s started being added. Th Eagle looked great in aggressor colours so here are some of those that I shot at different visits.
Something brought me to some shots of a jet now sadly gone. The MRJ has shown up on the blog in the past. I saw one at Paine Field which showed up here. That wasn’t my first encounter with the Mitsubishi developed aircraft, though. While they were built in Japan, flight testing was undertaken at Moses Lake in Washington. Ferrying the jets across the Pacific meant choosing the route and one of the jets was routed from Hawaii to California. It landed at San Jose and, since I was living in the Bay Area in those days, I went to see it arrive.
San Jose has pretty reliably good weather and the conditions were about as good as you could hope. The light can be a bit harsh, but it wasn’t too bad. The arrival gave a good chance to get a shot. The stop was not a long one. Clear customs and refuel and then they were on their way north to Washington. Departure shots at San Jose are a little limited. The spot I had was a bit far down from the point the planes get airborne so they can be quite high by the time you get a good look, or the heat haze is bad when the angle is better. Still, I did get some shots that are okay.
The F-15 was in a previous post as a favourite of mine and it was replaced in the primary air defence role by the F-22A Raptor. The Raptor is an impressive aircraft in many ways, but it is not something that appeals to me in the same way as the Eagle. However, it really has some novelty value given that it was produced in limited numbers. Being close to Raptors as they launch is so much fun. Just try not to balls it up!
The first Red Flag of the year has traditionally been the one where the closest allies are invited with the RAF and RAAF being frequent attendees. The RAF brought a selection of Typhoons one year when I was there. The Typhoon fleet is not totally without squadron markings, but they can be a bit sparse. Fortunately, the jets that had been brought across had a few squadron markings on them. This spruces up the otherwise bland look of the grey paint finish.
I found myself in a plane over Gloucestershire recently and our route took us very close to RAF Fairford. Most of my photos at Fairford are from the Air Tattoo. However, in this case, whilst there was a fair bit of cloud in the area, I was getting shots looking down on the airfield. It has been used a lot recently for USAF missions to the Middle East. Things were a bit quiet while I was there but there were plenty of B-1Bs on the dispersals awaiting whatever might come next. Shooting through windows does not make for great image quality unfortunately.
When I was a kid, Airfix released a kit in 1:48 scale of the Grumman EA-6B Prowler. When it was released, I didn’t even know what it was. However, the unusual shape fascinated me and it continues to do so although they are now long retired and replaced by the EA-18G. I got to see them on a variety of occasions including not long before their retirement but this visit to Red Flag got me some close-up time with them departing.
The last returns at the end of the Red Flag evolutions are usually the larger aircraft. The tankers and the AWACS will be near the end as might be the larger bombers if they are involved. You do also get some transport activity on the missions, and the Royal Australian Air Force had one of their Hercs included during one of my visits. I was off base for this return, and the light was beginning to get low which made for far better conditions than the high sun in the middle of the day. The Herc picked up the late light really nicely.
As a kid, I was a big fan of the F-15 Eagle. It was the fighter of the 70s and 80s and its size and power were so impressive to me as a kid. It could also go faster than almost anything else (although it wouldn’t in real life). The big wing (causing the nickname flying tennis court) and the nodding inlets looked excellent. Aerobraking and the speedbrake are just a bonus. Being able to see them so close up when at Red Flag was a big treat for me. I am so glad that the EX model means that they will be around for a while yet. Here are some shots of the jets that, I assure you, resulted in a big grin on my face at the time.
This US Navy Hornet was rolling out at Nellis AFB during a Red Flag exercise. Looking at it now, it doesn’t have the antenna locations that the C model had so this must be an old A model. The US Navy has now retired all of its original Hornets (although the Marines haven’t relinquished all of theirs yet). However, when it took this, I think that the Navy was mainly using C models so this must have been on its last legs. I do love the look with the speedbrake deployed. There was a Charlie as well so I shall include that for fun.
