Tag Archives: surveillance

Metrea’s Appearance

When I was still in Seattle, we would get periodic appearances from Metrea and their KC-135s. They would provide tanker support to the US Navy. That they operated from Boeing Field rather than going to a Navy base was always welcome. I didn’t know much about Metrea other than that they provided tanking services. However, they showed up at RIAT with a couple of their other types.

They brought a pair of turboprops. The King Air was in a low-key grey paint scheme and didn’t have many conspicuous external additions. There were some antennae that suggested extra comms capabilities and some ventral fins that imply something else might get added that reduces directional stability.

The Dash 8 had a bit more of a colourful paint job. A grey base livery but some red and yellow stripes brightened things up a bit. It similarly didn’t have anything too conspicuous added while it was flying but, when it was on static display, there was a turret under the front fuselage. There was another Dash 8 which did have some sensors which will get a post at some point.

RAF’s First Wedgetail

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The provision of airborne early warning seems to be a topic that is vexing countries currently. The RAF retired its E-3 fleet without a replacement. They then ordered five Wedgetails only to later reduce the order to three. Now there is discussion of increasing it again. Meanwhile the US decided to similarly replace the E-3 fleet with Wedgetails and ordered two.

A change of administration brought a plan to scrap that idea, use satellite surveillance and buy some more Hawkeyes in the interim. Congress is pushing back on that. Meanwhile, NATO had planned to go down the Wedgetail route but is now looking elsewhere given the lack of commitment from the US to the platform. SAAB’s GlobalEye has since picked up more orders including one from France and NATO might follow that route. All a bit of a mess.

Anyway, all of that is a long prelude to the fact that the first of the RAF’s Wedgetail fleet made an appearance at RIAT in 2025. It was supposed to appear on one day but apparently scrubbed. Consequently, it was rearranged to come in the following day. I imagine the RAF didn’t want the embarrassment of it failing to appear. It made a run in with the Red Arrows providing formation support. Then it made solo passes and an approach for a touch and go.

I don’t know how far off service entry it is, but testing continues at Boscombe Down. I have seen its distinctive outline on the airfield when driving along the A303. Hopefully they will be active before too long and also that, this time, the funding is provided to keep the systems current unlike the issues that led to the E-3 fleet fading away.

An E-3F For the First Time for Me

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The early 90s had both the RAF and the French Air Force buying new airborne early warning aircraft in the form of the E-3. Unlike the USAF and NATO jets, these included the upgrade to the CFM56 engines which improved endurance and performance. I saw the RAF’s jets on many occasions but never encountered a French jet until this year – after the RAF jets have been retired and not long before the French ones follow suit. I’m not sure how much longer they have but seeing one arriving and departing the show was a nice result. I was pretty happy that I happened to be at the arrival end when it came in which was a bonus.

How Many Cameras Do You Need?

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While waiting for the ferry at Lymington, I saw this post with the various cameras that Wightlink uses to keep track of what is happening in the loading area. There are quite a few cameras here. I wonder whether they are all in use or some have replaced others that haven’t been taken down. Either way, there are a lot of cameras on this one pole!

U-2 Displays Take Me Back to the ‘80s

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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.