Tag Archives: military

Tankers at Sunrise

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Boeing started delivering KC-46s to the USAF as I covered in this post.  However, it didn’t take too long before the Air Force found various items of tooling in the aircraft that shouldn’t have been there and stopped taking delivery.  Consequently, rather than delivering the backlog, it has continued to build.  Paine Field had well over a dozen aircraft in various locations when we were there including three over by the Heritage Flight Foundation’s hangars.  Here three were illuminated nicely by the sun as it rose across the field so a pano seemed in order.

Rainy Pegasus Takeoff

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I have shot KC-46s in bad conditions more often than would seem probable.  I got one in conditions so dark it was like a night shoot.  This time it was heavy rain.  Of course that can mean vapor.  The matte gray of fuselage actually looks better when it is wet.  I had hoped the inlets would fog but that didn’t happen.  However, the flat light helped the fuselage a bit which often gets too contrasts.  Besides that it throws up a ton of spray behind it as it accelerates down the runway. Rotating in front of me meant I was rather happy with the result compared to what I expected.

Brand New F-15SA Jets

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The Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) was attending Red Flag 19-2 with some brand new F-15SA jets.  These jets had come direct from delivery so had not yet even made it out of the US.  I guess they had that new fighter smell.  They did fly the first day we were there, despite the strong winds which was a pleasant surprise.  They flew along with the rest of the jets on our second day.  I have mentioned their slightly strange approach to flex departures before so I won’t go there any further but instead will share what I have of the jets from the two days I was there.

Low and Sporty Lightning II Departure

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Speedway departures can be a mixed bag at Nellis.  Flex departures with a pull over the Speedway are the best but it does depend on how high planes have got.  Some climb out quite steeply and are way too high for a good shot by the time that they reach you.  On my most recent Nellis trip, though, we were treated to a few departures by the locals that broke the mold. They got airborne and kept it nice and low as they accelerated towards us before breaking in to the flex departure routing.

The evening light combined with the great angles made for some good shots.  It didn’t hurt that I had a lower shutter speed than usual so got some nice blur of the mountains behind the planes courtesy of them being nice and low.  The Strike Eagles also gave it a go which was nice.

Sunset Burner Departures

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Fighters departing Nellis are well out of burner by the time they get anywhere near you outside the base.  However, if you are shooting in low light, the burners can show up quite well even though you are a long way off.  The plane is a small part of the overall shot but the intensity of the burner plume can make it far more conspicuous in the shot than would otherwise be the case.

E-8C JSTARS

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E-8 JSTARS are not a rare thing at Red Flag but they do often get involved in the night sorties.  Seeing one heading out to play for the daytime activities was a pleasant surprise.  On their return on the first day they were following in the KDC-10 that I mentioned in a previous post.  They also adopted some sporty approach techniques and were similarly unsuccessful in converting them in to a landing.  The go around ensued and was followed by a more conventional straight in approach and landing.

Please Come Back Before Sunset

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Some late day departures after the Flag returns included F-15Es, F-35As, L159s and A-4s.  You don’t know how long anyone is scheduled to be out but you find yourself hoping that they will all make it back before the sun sets so you can get some arrival shots in the nicest light available.  Once they are gone, it is a case of watching the time and crossing your fingers.  As it was, we got lucky.  They came back in a steady stream with all of them showing up as the sun was at its best.  Arriving over Cheyenne is not ideal from a sun angle perspective at this time of year but we still got some nice angles.  Some turned tighter while others went wider so we got to try all sorts of angles out to see which picked up what light was remaining.

Late Viper Arrival

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Helicopters are constantly moving around McCarran.  There are tourist rides operating seemingly around the clock so hearing a couple of helps is not a surprise.  However, these two were close to each other and seemed to have a more powerful sound.  It turned out that they were two USMC AH-1Z Vipers coming in to an FBO.  Paul was able to try and get some shots as they landed but I had to move the car.  I settled for watching them for a bit and then got the camera as they were shutting down.  It was unbelievably dark given how much ambient light there is in Vegas so I was pushing the camera’s capabilities a bit.  The closer one shut down first which was unfortunate but let’s not get picky.  They were still there the following morning when we were shooting departures as I could see them in the background of some shots.

Dutch KDC-10

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There were two tankers I was hoping to shoot at Red Flag.  One was the Colombian 767.  It didn’t fly on the first day but on the second it started to taxi before returning to the ramp and shutting down.  Never mind.  The other was the Dutch KDC-10.  I hadn’t shot one before and they are not likely to be in service for too much longer so this might have been my last chance.  Therefore, I hoped it would fly and it didn’t let me down.

The winds were strong on the first day and it departed towards us off 21L.  As soon as it was airborne, the nose cocked into the strong crosswind and it turned towards us.  A right turn overhead and it was on its way to the ranges.  When it returned, they went for a very impressive curving approach.  It looked great.  However, it wasn’t great from a flying perspective and a go around followed.  The second approach was more conventional and more successful.

On the second day they flew again.  This time the arrivals were from over the Speedway so a more traditional view of them coming in.  I was hoping for a go around and a tight circuit to land but that was a tad optimistic.  Maybe after the previous day they were more content to get the beast back on the ground.

Janet is Local!

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I have photographed Janet 737s operating out of their hub at McCarran International in Las Vegas before.  They have made it on to the blog too.  However, it turns out I can get them a lot closer to home.  Normally when they leave Las Vegas, they fly for a while and then disappear to wherever they are headed.  In the case of the destination being Paine Field, no need for such subterfuge.  Like a lot of operators, it seems they use ATS for maintenance.

I knew an aircraft was in as they had been filing flight plans for a number of days but never going anywhere.  The weekend came around along with another flight plan so I was skeptical.  However, when they got airborne, I figured it was time to be ready for the return.  The weather was doing its usual thing.  Clouds everywhere but with sun regularly popping through.  Could we get the same thing? 

Hardly surprising that a big cloud rolled in as they were lining up on the ILS.  There was still hope of light further up the approach and the cloud was moving fast.  In the end, we had good light far out, a lot of gloom for most of the approach and then sun just over the threshold.  Not perfect but it would do.  The flight must have been successful because the departed for Las Vegas later the same day.  We have had some before so hopefully there will be more.  The 737-600 is pretty rare anyway so this is one of the few times I get to see one.