Tag Archives: royal air force

One Of The Oldest Tornados

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The Tornado was entering service in big numbers with the RAF at the same time that I was getting seriously into aviation.  I always felt it was the plane I knew the best.  When I ended up working on them, it felt like a continuation of my youthful enthusiasm.  The Tornado GR1 was my jet.  After I moved on to other projects, MLU came along and that became the GR4.  Somehow, the GR4 never felt like it was mine.  I was a GR1 kid.

When I went to the Boscombe Down Aviation Collection at Old Sarum, there was a Tornado at one end of the hangar.  It was a GR1 that had never been updated.  Better than that, is was one of the earliest production jets that the RAF received.  Some of the test jets at Warton were from this batch so this one really felt like one of the originals for me.  The Tornado is long gone from RAF service but, for me, to see one of these earlier jets was really a treat.  Camo with black radomes is how the Tornado should look!

Missed One Chinook But Got Another

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During our day out in Portsmouth, we had lunch at a very nice pub by the harbor.  We sat outside enjoying the various boats coming and going.  I popped inside before leaving and, when I came back outside, Nancy had to inform me that, as soon as I went inside, three helicopters had flown by.  There had been on Chinook with two smaller, unidentified, types flying formation with it.  Needless to say, I was rather disappointed but such is life.

A while later, as we were walking along the sea wall at Southsea, the sound of rotors returned.  The nice thing about Chinooks is that they don’t really sneak up on you.  I had ample time to switch to a longer lens and set up the camera for something more appropriate for a helicopter (although the Chinook rotor rpm is so low, it still is not ideal).  Sure enough, it came right towards us and flew through the harbor entrance and right by.  A nice surprise.  It then flew out to sea and I wondered whether it was going to return.  Instead, it appeared to be hovering over one of the forts out in the Solent.  That would have looked great from closer up.

A Pair of P-8s Testing Together

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P-8 production is really moving along at the moment.  Aside from the US Navy aircraft, there are planes destined for the Royal Air Force, the Indian Navy and the Royal Norwegian Air Force in production and on test.  One afternoon I got both an Indian and an RAF jet arriving in close succession.  The nice thing about arrivals from the south when they are military jets is that they then taxi back past you as they head to the military ramp.

The End is Nigh for the Sentinels

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On two previous occasions, the RAF’s Sentinel fleet has made an appearance on this blog.  The most recent was for a damp example at RIAT that was in this post.  The Sentinel fleet has spent a number of years under threat of retirement.  It is a small fleet and it is custom made so it will have very high sustainment costs.  Also, it provides a role principally in support of the Army so I imagine it isn’t the highest priority for some of the RAF upper echelons.

Previous reports of its retirement have been followed up with a reprieve.  However, the MOD in the UK has just issued a request for proposals (RFP) for companies to come and dismantle the aircraft (along with a pair of E-3D Sentrys).  This looks like it is really going to happen.  The RFP states that the aircraft are not for reuse and that the selected contractor will disassemble them on site at RAF Waddington.  Not only is the RAF not going to use them but they are making sure no one else does.

Various bits of information have flowed around about them.  There is a suggestion that obsolescence issues mean a lot of equipment needs to be replaced.  Since that will be a custom process, it will be an expensive thing to do and, with the axe having been hanging over them for a number of years, spending a lot of money on them if they might not be around for much longer just doesn’t seem likely.  Maybe there are other issues too.

I’ve had a soft spot for V Sqn from the Lightning and Tornado F3 days.  Seeing it move from a fast jet to a bizjet derivative was a bit odd but at least it survived while so many other squadrons disappeared.  I wonder whether it will surface again.  Maybe an F-35B unit at some point?  We shall see.  My best interaction with the Sentinels was on a Red Flag when I got to shoot them in some great light.  Farewell you oddball.

More of the RAF’s Poseidon Test Flying

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In this recent post, I had an RAF Poseidon flying over the house.  A little while later, I was at Boeing Field when the same jet came back from a test flight.  Here are some shots of it as it rolled out after landing.  It wasn’t long after this that the jet was delivered to the RAF and made the trip to its new home in Lossiemouth.

Royal Air Force P-8

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The RAF has been taking delivery of its new maritime patrol aircraft.  The retirement of the Nimrods left the RAF without a maritime aircraft for about a decade which is a strange choice to make.  Finally, the P-8 Poseidon was ordered to reinstate that capability.  They started coming off the line here in Seattle a while back.  The fourth aircraft has been undergoing testing ahead of its delivery.  It was returning from a test flight and was coming straight for our house.  It is not unusual for planes heading to Boeing Field to come our way so I grabbed the camera and got a couple of shots as it flew by.  It even turned slightly giving a slightly wing down view in one shot.

Royal Air Force Poseidon

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My Renton visit also produced a P-8A Poseidon.  I have seen plenty of them over the years but this one caught my eye because it is the fourth airframe for the UK’s Royal Air Force.  Sitting on the ramp on a sunny day with heat haze is not ideal but it was still worth a shot since, once it gets delivered, I am unlikely to get much of a chance to see it again.

Welcome to Seattle Red Arrows

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The Red Arrows have conducted a North American tour this year.  It commenced just after RIAT so, while I saw them there, I hoped to catch them at some point during the tour.  Their closest displays were in Oregon and Vancouver and I wasn’t able to go to either sadly.  They did stage through Seattle, though, so I figured I would go and see them arrive.  The twelve jets showed up on a heavily overcast day.  They did some flybys over the city and then a run in across Boeing Field.  A pair of jets landed directly while the remaining ten flew around a little more – nine ships in formation and one getting some photos.  Then it was run and and break to landing before taxiing off to parking.

Rather Disappointing F-35B Appearance

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The F-35 has been around for quite a while by now so I have shot them on plenty of occasions (although an F-35C is still on the wish list).  My UK trip was one where I was hoping to get an RAF F-35B.  It was scheduled to make an appearance at RIAT but the information did not make it sound like a display.  On the first day of the show, the weather was shocking.  Low cloud and rain got in the way of a lot of things displaying.  Late in the day the F-35B was due in.  Our initial forecast for arrival was extended as the cloud base meant an instrument approach was needed.  It finally appeared and flew through the display line once.  Then it powered away and a while later we were informed it had gone home.I was shooting video of that which is at the bottom of this page.

The next day had better weather so I was hoping for a little more.  It did show up and we did get more than one pass.  However, even then, it was a rather lackluster performance.  I guess they have not worked up any form of display – not even a hovering portion – so we got some passes and a couple of configurations and that was it.  I don’t think I was alone in feeling a little underwhelmed by what they put on.  I guess in coming years, a more worked up display will be seen but I will have to wait a while for that.

A Sentinel Looks Glossy When it is Hammering Down

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Based on a Global Express business jet, the RAF’s Sentinel battlefield surveillance jet has plenty of lumps and bumps to distinguish it but the paint scheme is a different story.  It is painted plain gray and, aside from one example I saw at Red Flag, it doesn’t have any interesting squadron markings.  The Friday of RIAT was a very wet a dreary day but this had the effect of making the Sentinel look rather glossy.  I have never seen them look too interesting before (aside from Red Flag) but this looked okay.  I did shoot it departing too on an overcast day and it didn’t look too bad then so maybe this one was fresh out of the paint shop?