Tag Archives: military

The Constellation in the Inner Harbor

The USS Constellation is the last sail powered warship built for the US Navy. She is now preserved in the harbor in Baltimore. I saw her a few times from a distance while I was in Baltimore but I didn’t get a chance to take a shot until I was walking back from a reception. By that time it was dark and, since I only had my phone with me, that had to suffice. The phone on the camera has a wide angle lens so, even though we were quite close, the ship is a little small in the original shot. However, she still looks pretty impressive. I imagine she would have looked even better when under sail!

Consequences of a Doolittle Style Takeoff

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Grumpy got airborne using the Doolittle technique I posted about here. During the takeoff, there were some puffs of smoke from one of the engines. Initially I thought this might just be some oil blowing through but, as they climbed out, the output from the engine was clearly not as it should be and the one engine was clearly not healthy. They cut short the flight (although not as short as it could have been) and brought the plane back down. I saw Grumpy fly a few weeks later so I guess they dealt with whatever the issue was.

Doolittle Style Takeoff

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Paine Field held an open day which included some flying from the local aircraft. The Heritage Flight Museum had a number of the aircraft taking part including their B-25, Grumpy. On one of the takeoffs, they used a technique that was reminiscent of the Doolittle Raid. They applied power and full back controls to lift the nosewheel from the ground and roll down the runway in a wheelie. It was quite an interesting thing to see.

Patrouille de France Show Up Late

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I am catching up on some things that happened quite a while ago. The visit of the Patrouille de France to Mather for a display as part of their US Tour was a combination of fun and frustration. I was covering the visit for GAR and had arranged to be there for the arrival, the practice and the show itself. They were supposed to show up relatively early but they had some serviceability issues and, when they finally showed up, the sun was setting.

There was still some light when the first jets flew into the pattern. As they taxied in, the light on them was rather nice. By the time the last jets (of the day) showed up, it was dark. The crews were very cheerful despite their difficult day and they spent a lot of time with some local kids for a French school. They didn’t all make it though. Two jets had diverted with problems and they would show up until late the following day. The A400M didn’t arrive until after I had left and it headed straight out the following morning to go and fix the two stragglers. The second day practice and flyby over the Golden Gate were scrubbed as a result with the flyby being achieved after the display rather than before.

It was a few days with a mix of good flying and disappointment but such is the way with aviation.

Preserved KC-97

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A strange airfield means time for a trip around the perimeter to see what is around. Medford didn’t disappoint. A small museum included a nicely preserved Boeing KC-97 tanker aircraft. Sadly, everything was closed up so I couldn’t take a closer look. Meanwhile, the fencing around it was pretty close in so it was a bit of struggle to get a clean shot but there will still some options. The boom was no longer fitted but, otherwise, it looked just like you would hope.

Dormant Centerline Jammer

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The Growlers use the same jamming pod that came from the Prowler. A new jamming system is in development but, for now, the ALQ-99 is the system that they have and the pods are the same pods. The jamming power comes from a generator that is powered by a turbine mounted on the front of the pod. As the jet flies along, the turbine spins in the airflow and provides the “juice” to power the electronics within. Even at relatively low speeds the turbine gets rotating. However, when the jets come in to land, if they have a centerline pod, the turbine is not moving. I don’t know whether the blockage from the nose gear doors is enough to stop it or whether it is deliberately switched off. However, the turbine blades are feathered and it is not moving. Compare the wing mounted pods and the motion and blade angle is clearly different.

Trying Something Different for the Night Burner Shots

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When the B-1s show up at Red Flag, everyone is pretty pleased. A big bomber with four afterburning engines is like a giant fighter to photograph. It is a good looking jet. It also has a nice feature at night. The majority of the fighters that take off in burner are back to military power shortly after getting airborne. The B-1 is a different story. It stays in burner for a ridiculous amount of time. Not having flown one, I don’t know whether they pull back the power from full burner at some point but they do stay plugged in for ages. Long into the climb you can still see the glow.

I have shot the B-1s from a location out in the area on the extended centerline before. Go back to some old posts here and here and you will see the sort of shots I am talking about. Paul has also shot from out there so we agreed to try something different. We headed closer to the rotation point. The jets get airborne pretty smartly and, the closer in they are, the further away they are from the highway. However, something that had more of a side on feel was what I was after and so we tried a different spot.

Of course, you never know what time the launch will start and when the B-1s will be scheduled for so there is a lot of sitting around and waiting – in the dark. During the day it is easy to hang about and wait for something to move. At night things seem to take longer and you feel a bit more exposed. However, they did eventually launch and these shots are the result. I have learned some new things about the behavior of the camera at night which will be useful next time so, while the shots aren’t perfect, it was certainly worthwhile.

Mixed Formations

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Returning jets from the Red Flag missions often come back with the other jets from their units. However, you do occasionally get a mixed formation or two as a straggler joins up with some other jets for the run in and break. This time, it might have been my imagination, but there seemed to be more mixed formations than normal. We discussed whether, with the F-35s taking part in larger numbers, other pilots were kind of keen to get in formation with them and check them out from closer quarters. Whether that was the case or not, whether there was another reason or perhaps it was just coincidence. Whatever the reason, we got a few mixed groups and not always just with the Daves!

Remains of Another Battery

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I mentioned our trip to Fort Ward in this blog post. The fort was designed to protect the harbor at Bremerton. Therefore, it would not be silly to assume that there had been some form of armaments here. Just like our explorations of the Marin headlands here and Baker Beach here, it turns out that there was a gunnery battery covering the entrance to the harbor. The guns are long gone but the concrete emplacements are still in place. The ground has clearly done its best to try and reacquire control of things. Doorways to lower levels are now partially filled in with earth with just the tops of the doors still showing above ground level.

Armee de l’Air A400M

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The A400M Atlas is now in service with a number of air forces. My encounters with them, though, have only involved the development airframes displayed by Airbus. That changed in Sacramento when The Patrouille de France arrived as part of their North American tour. They brought an A400M as he support plane. I was rather disappointed that it arrived late in the evening, after I had gone home and disappeared early the following morning to recover some delayed jets.

It was back for the day of the display though. It started up at a remote location but then proceeded to give a short flying display. It then taxied back to the crowd line where it shut down and was opened up for visitors. The people were lined up to get inside it for ages. The plane still looked pretty clean so I guess it had not been in service too long. I was glad to get a close up look around the outside as well as to see the crowds inside and the flying display itself. Not a dramatic performance like the test crews have put on but still good to see.