Tag Archives: surveillance

U-2 Displays Take Me Back to the ‘80s

In the late ‘80s, I got to go to my first serious air shows. The Air Fete at Mildenhall was the first one I did that was a specific trip and it became a regular feature for me. One of the regular displays at that time was the Lockheed TR-1 from USAFE. The designation was a bit of a feeble effort to pretend that they weren’t U-2R airframes and that they were a tactical asset. I don’t think anyone bought that. A few years later, they were re-designated as U-2R so I guess there wasn’t much to distinguish them. With later upgrades and a new engine, these then became U-2S airframes.

We lived for a while in Huntingdon which was close to RAF Alconbury where they were based. If you want to see the widest HAS structures, Alconbury had them because the TR-1s lived in their own HAS. One would launch at 7am every morning to go and have a look at the neighbours to the east and you could use it as an alarm clock! Very regular. They were withdrawn to the US after the wall came down and so the only way to see them was with deployed aircraft operating from locations like Fairford.

Their presence there combined with the Eyes in the Skies theme of RIAT this year meant that there was the potential for a display of one of the aircraft. It wasn’t long after Beale AFB had held their show where a jet was also displayed so two displays in short order. A U-2 is not going to be ripping up the sky. However, it will climb rapidly – particularly as it won’t be fully fuelled – and you do get to see the approach and landing. We were also treated to a low pass along the runway followed by a steep climb away which was great because the original take of was a bit far off and didn’t result in any shots I was too happy with.

While one airframe was on display in the static lineup, the display aircraft was a bit more interesting because it was fitted with the Senior Span satellite communications mount on the spine of the aircraft. This is a big fairing and makes the plane look very different. There was also a shark mouth painted on the nose. All in all, a great addition to a show that already has a ton of cool performers.

A Pair of MC-12s But Only One Moves

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I don’t know why two MC-12s might be showing up in Seattle. Maybe they have training requirements that involve deploying to random places or maybe they were intently listening in to the people of Seattle. I suspect that might not have been super interesting but you never know. Whatever the reason, there were two of them parked on the Modern ramp at BFI a while back. Normally a King Air would not get me terribly excited but stick lots of lumps and bumps on it and now I will show some interest. I was hoping that they both might fly while I was there but only one was fired up. It as a warm day and heat haze was not on my side so the ramp shots were a bit ropey. At least the one that flew came closer when it headed to the runway so I could get a slightly less hazy shot!

Sentry Heading Overhead

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Another overflight video to follow on from my A380 video from a while back. I saw a USAF E-3 Sentry show up on FR24 heading directly towards Seattle. I did have some hope that it might be coming to us on its flight from Alaska (with a Denali call sign) but, as it got over the Olympic Peninsula without starting its descent, it was clearly going further afield. I was scanning the sky to see if I could pick it out and, fortunately, it was pulling a small contrail which made it easier to pick up.

As with the A380, I decided that video was the better bet. I did switch to get occasional stills every once in a while, but mainly focused on the video. The motion of the contrails is so interesting to watch and only video allows that to be seen. As it got closer, you could also see the motion of the rotordome on the pylon about the fuselage since the black and white finish makes the slow rotation apparent. It wasn’t long before it had passed overhead and disappeared behind the cloud layer that was to the east of me.

JSTARS is Gone

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The retirement of some types from service gets a lot of attention from people. The last Phantoms leaving US service were well covered. The upcoming end of KC-10 operations is already getting discussed. However, the removal of the E-8 JSTARS seemed to just happen without much discussion. I have to admit it caught me off guard. I didn’t know that they were going away let alone that it had already happened.

With this milestone having slipped past me, I figured I should go back through the catalog and see what times I have shot E-8s. Not a lot of encounters with Red Flag having been my most productive venues. They were old jets when they became E-8s and I heard from a friend that one of them had gone through some interesting other configurations before making its way in to the E-8 fleet. They are consequently old enough to deserve retirement. It will be a shame not to see them around anymore.

MC-12W (Possibly?)

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The C-12 Huron is the military version of the King Air. While it has been successful as a transport, it has also been the basis for a ton of derivatives. I am not an expert on this type and all of its subtypes so, when I see one, I can’t say for sure what it is. The most recent versions have been the MC-12W but I am not sure that they all look alike. When I saw this plane taxiing out at Boeing Field, I wondered if it was an MC-12W and asked a couple of friends that know more than me. They weren’t sure either. It might be or it could be something else. Whatever it is, it was an unusual visitor.

Hurricane Hunters Back In Town

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I was heading back from south of Seattle when I was surprised to find out that the NOAA WP-3D Orion, Kermit, was at Boeing Field. It had come in the day before but I hadn’t heard about it. I was planning to stop for lunch so why not go to BFI? Just after I got there, I saw a prop start turning on the number one engine. However, after running it up, they shut down again. I was dreading that they were going to go tech and the plane wouldn’t move.

Fortunately, whatever they were concerned about wasn’t too much of an issue. A little while later, while I was still eating my lunch, I looked up to see two engines running. This looked more promising. Sure enough they taxied shortly afterwards. The nice news was that they crossed the runway to taxiway bravo so we got a good look at them. A while later it was their turn for departure and they came my way. The nice thing about a four engined prop is that they didn’t climb too rapidly so a good angle on them. It was pretty overcast so not ideal light but the dark colors show up better without too contrasty light.

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.

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?

EP-3 Aries

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P-3 hunting was part of the plan when Paul and I headed to NAS Whidbey Island. We had some success. There was a nice bit of icing on the cake for us. An EP-3E showed up too. The EP-3 has a nice selection of large radomes added to the airframe to cover the wide variety of sensors that this type has to fulfill its role of listening to transmissions around the world. I don’t know how long the EP-3 has once the P-3s are gone from fleet service so getting one was a definite plus.

The Spooks Are in Town

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The subject of this post ended up getting some coverage but, when I saw it, I didn’t know about the interest surrounding it. I was at BFI awaiting the departure of another aircraft when a turboprop took off over me. I had the camera to hand so grabbed some shots of what I realized was an Airbus CN235. Painted in a dark gray scheme, it looked a little odd. A closer look at the shots showed it had a few lumps and bumps suggestive of an array of antennae. I figured it was just passing through en route to somewhere more interesting.

However, that wasn’t the case. It had been spotted flying some patterns over the city. I had seen some odd flight paths on Flightaware being flown by a plane called Spud21. I loved the name! it was flying orbits over the city but I couldn’t see anything else about it. However, when I saw the plane crop up in the media, the article identified that it was the owner of the Spud21 callsign.

I don’t know what the purpose of the flights was. It is suggested that the aircraft is owned by the US military but whether it is for their use or is in support of an overseas operator, whether these flights were for testing purposes or were checking out the residents I don’t know. I do know that it was something a little out of the ordinary though.