Tanker town.

[gary1701]

Hi gents,

It's been quite a while since my last round of pic's from East Anglia. After a full week of rain, fog and no sun during work hours I finally got a bright sunny Saturday, so figured I'd make the most of it and spent the day at Mildenhall. The usual rule is that sunny weekends see next to no activity and dark and grey one's find the base busy. Thankfully it was an exception today as it looks like the USAF are in the middle of one of their in theatre tanker rotations, which usually means a steady stream of reserve and ANG '135's in and out for a day or so.

There was already a few in from Friday and they usually go quite early the following morning so just caught this Nebraska ANG example turning onto 29 for departure as I got there.

First inbound of the day was actually a AMC bird, and it's a former Mildenhall 100th ARW jet as well.

Next was the first of a pair of AFRES jets from Grissom. Nice line in nose art as well.

Followed by the second. I'd moved locations down to Folly Road (see my spotting map on a previous post) by now to catch something on the taxiway as well as the inbounds.

This being one of the resident MC-130J's who was quite sensibly off to Spain to join his mates on exercise and escape the sub-zero temperature!

more below...

Edited December 6, 2014 by gary1701

[gary1701]

...couple of hours later the two Maine ANG examples also turned up.

So there you go, five inbounds and two departures in about five hours on a Saturday at Mildenhall. Pretty good. There was also two Andrews birds due in after dark but obviously wasn't going to wait around for them.

Gary

Edited December 7, 2014 by gary1701

[11bee]

Nice shots, especially of those MaineIACS's birds. When I was working up near Bangor, ME, I'd often hang out by the airport and watch them coming and going.

Jealous that you have access to a relatively busy airbase. Nothing much left here in my area (MA). The closest base is Westover ARB (2.5 hr drive, and their C-5's are usually either down with maint issues or away on deployment) or Pease, NH (2 hr drive to see some KC-135's).

Keep the pics coming!

[gary1701]

Nice shots, especially of those MaineIACS's birds. When I was working up near Bangor, ME, I'd often hang out by the airport and watch them coming and going.

Jealous that you have access to a relatively busy airbase. Nothing much left here in my area (MA). The closest base is Westover ARB (2.5 hr drive, and their C-5's are usually either down with maint issues or away on deployment) or Pease, NH (2 hr drive to see some KC-135's).

Keep the pics coming!

I'll do my best! Mildenhall stays open for most of Christmas and I get a fair bit of time off so will try and get over, weather permitting. I suppose I am lucky, as I have Mildenhall and Lakenheath less than an hour away, a big Apache field just five minutes up the road and also Tornado and Typhoon bases just a couple of hours North. You don't get many C-5s in nowadays, although they're frequently seen contrailing overhead as the main military US-Europe route goes right over the top. There was a C-5 in a week or so ago, but it quick turned and was out in a few hours. Quite an achievement that as they invariably break down and sit here for weeks when they do show up! Still wish it was a as busy as the old days, when you had a constant stream of transits in and out 24/7, but I suppose that's the same everywhere nowadays. At least with the new MC-130J's and Ospreys, there's something different to watch/photograph. Speaking of which, the sixth and newest MC-130J (12-5760) for Mildenhall's 352nd SOG left Canada a few hours ago so should be here this evening. Something else new to photograph when I can catch it!

Gary

[Jaypack44]

Awesome shots, Gary! I'm also quite jealous of the "busy airbase" fact... I'm only a few minutes from McChord AFB here in Washington, but it's really not all that spotter-friendly (with my lens setup and the layout of the base/surrounding area, there's really only one decent spot, and it's only good for arrivals from one direction), and movements are so few and far-between that it's often not worth the trouble even when the weather is cooperating... Out of curiosity, how do you find out about when a/c are "due in", or where they're from/headed?

[gary1701]

Awesome shots, Gary! I'm also quite jealous of the "busy airbase" fact... I'm only a few minutes from McChord AFB here in Washington, but it's really not all that spotter-friendly (with my lens setup and the layout of the base/surrounding area, there's really only one decent spot, and it's only good for arrivals from one direction), and movements are so few and far-between that it's often not worth the trouble even when the weather is cooperating... Out of curiosity, how do you find out about when a/c are "due in", or where they're from/headed?

Hi there. I'm surprised that McChord is that quiet, isn't that a four squadron C-17 wing with over 50 aircraft assigned? I suppose you aren't going to get many transits there though and many of the aircraft will no doubt be away at any given time. Mildenhall may have half that number assigned but does have a decent number of aircraft deploying through. Any KC-135 and most C-130's will come here for their stopover when heading out East, or West bound when coming home. The heavy stuff (C-17/C-5) will usually go to Ramstein in Germany.

A old school friend of mine spent several months as a student living in Seattle back in the 90's and he loved it over there. A few years ago I did spend some time researching McChord when planning the base for flight simulator. Looking at it and the surrounding area on Google Earth it does look a lovely location for photography and for a US base looks unusual in only having one runway. I don't know what it's like for access and what the attitude is for photography around the outside?

How do we know what's going on? There's many ways we have access to the information nowadays. I don't know the specifics as to how the information works myself, as I only get the info after it's been relayed onto a enthusiast forum or one of the local aviation info mailing lists, and I don't have the equipment myself, but the widerspread use of planeplotter and SBS systems by enthusiasts worldwide mean that virtually all military and civil flights are tracked as long somebody has a receiver plugged into their PC that picks up the transponder and all the encoded info from a flight. This info is then plotted and recorded on virtual maps online that show the data from many receivers in realtime and you more or less have a real time radar net worldwide. Enthusiasts then post this up on their local goggle or yahoo mailing lists (we have two that cover Mildenhall and Lakenheath) and as all this can be accessed via smartphones guys at the fence can see the info straightaway. Combine that with the fact that the NOTAMS and Air Reservations for specific operations (like air-to-air refuelling over the Atlantic) are publicly accessible, and most enthusiasts are extremely familiar with ATC procedures, callsigns, reporting points...etc...etc and you get the idea. For short range work most of us have hand held scanning radios (which can still pick up aircraft a 100 miles away) and are listening to all the bases UHF/VHF ATC and unit/base operations frequencies and as long as you know what all the talk means then there's very little routine comms that isn't said over a open frequency.

Giving some examples. That new arrival today (MC-130J 12-5760) went into St Johns, Canada last night, callsign 'Singe 42' on his outbound flight. He was picked up by somebody local using the equipment above which would have given all the info about the aircraft, including the specific code his Mode-S transponder would be broadcasting. That was soon circulated on the enthusiast network, so went on the local mailing lists and also the UK spotting forums, which are updated minute by minute with new info. It was posted that he was getting his oceanic clearance at St Johns at 15:00 (UK time) today, so somebody was obviously on their radio frequencies, he was recorded as being off the deck a hour later. He was picked up via transponder by somebody in Ireland at about 19:20pm (again, our time) as he came into range. 30 minutes later he was passing Dublin, then was passed to London Mil ATC, made his 30 minute out call to Mildenhall ops ('Banter ops') at 20:20. I turned my radio on from home and listened to him go in shortly afterwards. As you can see, movements are tracked virtually all the time using the various tools available.

Another one from Friday evening. How many KC-135s do they use to refuel a E-4B? Four, although I would guess there may have been a spare due to the nature of the receiver. The spotter forums listed a AAR reservation for Friday evening and there was some debate as to what it was for, as some of the more knowledgeable guys can tell you what the receiver type is just from the altitude specified. Anyway somebody picked up a E-4B (Brett 25) was East bound over the US at around 20:00 and a four ship of Mildenhall tankers checked in for departure (Quid 94 flight) and they were tracked via planeplotter and ATC heading as a flight of four Westbound at around the same time as the E-4B was first picked up. Some of the guys with HF listening capability monitored the AAR at various stages and tracked the whole formation down over the UK when they swapped to normal UHF frequencies, the KC-135s returning to Mildenhall sometime around 02:00.

On Saturday that meant when I got to Mildenhall and had a chat with the locals they could tell me that a pair of Grissoms were due in around 11:00, the two Maines a hour later and two Andrews birds after dark around 19:00. We were monitoring them from the phones as they came in via Europe (Westbound flights) and knew when they were over Germany and about a hour out before calling Mildenhall ops with their 30 minute check in (well, that is when Mildenhall bothers to answer them!). That's all pretty much standard practise with all flights so nothing turns up unexpectedly - unless something that's going through overhead goes u/s and diverts in. That can be quite funny as you get people who were not at the base but are monitoring their radios/PC/phone suddenly make a mad dash for the airfield. Another example is the Friday a month or so ago when we were waiting at Lakenheath for the Hornets of VMFA-314 to come in as they were transiting back home from the Middle East. Their arrival time was well known but was just before dusk. There was a crowd of us at Lakenheath waiting but their departure from Signollea kept being delayed (KC-10 broke) and the info from people in Italy was being sent as it happened, eventually they got off so late that I knew they would arrive after dusk and went home.

It also helps that there are several local enthusiasts who actually work as civilians on the base. I'm sure they don't say anything that they shouldn't but routine movements don't seem to be a problem. Also most AMC flights are actually posted by the USAF themselves on their public facebook pages. I've never looked myself but it does seem to provide pretty good info as although it doesn't say aircraft type the departure and destination points of flights are obviously posted and that's usually a pretty good guide to aircraft type.

I hope I haven't gone on too much but that should give a idea. Us Brits and also the Dutch are fanatical aircraft enthusiasts and the tools and info available now mean that you can pretty much say that no military aircraft movement over the North Western part of Europe goes through without being monitored. You should follow the forums when the Russians come over and pay us a visit and the alert/QRA jets launch, lots of people monitoring the airwaves then.

Gary

Edited December 7, 2014 by gary1701

[Jaypack44]

Wow, thank you for the detailed response! That's actually extremely helpful! I was aware of a few of the methods you mentioned for keeping track of flights, but will have to check out some of the others. The closest ADS-B receiver I'm aware of is in Oregon, and it picks up things all the way from Travis AFB to YVR, so it's pretty hard to tell what's going where. It sounds to me like a lot of it is dependent on community, which doesn't seem to be anywhere near as active around these parts, sadly. I know a few guys who occasionally stop by McChord, but I think some of the other local airports (BFI and PAE especially) tend to draw a lot more attention.

Re: spotting at McChord, I've found that like most bases, the action is extremely sporadic, with some days having all sorts of activity, and some where I might see/hear one plane go by all day (I live near the approach for RWY 16). I've only been seriously spotting in the area for about a year, but from what I've found so far there are really only a couple of good spots: one on the west side of the approach to 16, which is my usual haunt, but only good for afternoon arrivals, another on the East, which has a better view of the field itself and the flightline (though I'm always a bit skittish when it comes to shooting from there, as I believe it's on private property, and shooting toward the base facilities is pretty frowned upon. The East perimeter is fairly accessible, but it would be very difficult to not draw attention to oneself, and from what I've heard, the police tend to get called pretty quickly. There's also the road that crosses under the approach to 16- which allows for some awesome shots, but also has no parking signs all along it, and pedestrians tend to draw a lot of attention. And of course the heritage hill on base would be an amazing spot, but there are "no photography" everywhere- I guess it didn't used to be that way, but sadly, things changed before I was able to take advantage of it! All that is also of course dependent on the weather- Good weather tends to favor runway 34, so good-weather 16 days are few and far-between... When it does cooperate, the results can be pretty great, though!

USAF C-17A 08-8197 by Josh Kaiser, on Flickr

Traffic is typically nothing but C-17s, and I've only caught two that weren't local birds- other than that, we see the occasional C-130 or KC-135, and P-3s from NAS Whidbey are semi-common (though they always seem to show up just before or after I've arrived or left for the day). I've only seen/heard of one C-5 in the last year, and maybe two KC-10s- both of which are at the top of my "wish list", as I have yet to get a good shot of either type in the air. There was a flock of MC-130s in the area a few months ago, but they only seemed to fly after dark, or while I was in school (I'm attending a local technical college to get my Airframe & Powerplant mechanic certificate). We also see the occasional chartered flight, and supposedly the 142nd FIS from Portland still comes up to do pattern work occasionally, though it seems that they stopped coming as soon as I picked up a camera, as I have yet to see them at all, let alone photograph them!

Anyway, enough of my ramblings; many thanks for the info, and please do keep posting your photos! Drop me a line if you ever do make it over this way and I'd be happy to show you around!

[gary1701]

Hi again Josh,

I wondered a few days ago if you were able to shoot pics there with Mount Rainier behind - that C-17 shot answers it! That's a gorgeous shot, catching that in good light is stunning. It's a real shame that photography seems so difficult there as the opportunities for some stunning images look really good. That's the problem with living in the South Eastern corner of the UK, it's very flat and boring! I've just had a look at McChord again on Google Earth and can see a could of major roads that border the North and North West side of the base and approach to runway 16, would you be shooting from somewhere around there? I can see there's a fairly open wooden area to the East and what looks like a disused dispersal track with hardstandings on that side. I can see why you would stand out.

I love the C-17, and we don't get that many in at Mildenhall, and those that do I tend to get unlucky on. I think I have a decent pic of just one McChord bird after all these years. I've got decent shots of Charleston, McGuire and surprisingly a couple of Hawaii ANG examples, but none of the others. The C-17 is also one of few military aircraft I've flown on, as I was lucky to get a short trip in the second RAF example back in 2001 whilst doing some media work. Those things are smooth, as when I was in the main cabin we flew a overshoot at another airport and I never even realised!

I don't suppose there's any chance of coming to some sort of arrangement with the base about photography if you're local and could maybe write to them explaining the situation. Perhaps offer them some pictures for publicity/in house use and show them some of your work? Official military photography tends to be rather poor regardless of if it's US or UK so they might be interested in some better quality pics. If you could perhaps bypass the base security force then you might get somewhere. I find that senior officers and public relations officers, not to mention aircrew, are sometimes more understanding and approachable and also keen to be community minded, with an eye to good publicity. At Mildenhall/Lakenheath us local photographers have provided many of the aircrew with photographs when we've caught them and the goodwill is very much two way. I've been contacted by many US based aircrew for pics when they see that I've photographed them during stopovers at Mildenhall/Lakenheath. I know some of the guys around here have contacts amongst even stateside aircrew which has opened doors for them when they've gone out to the US.

I realise it's easy for me to say, and those restrictions that you're under would never be practical at even the USAF bases at Mildenhall/Lakenheath in the UK. We do sometimes have a few incidents with the security squadron but ultimately they have no authority over what we do outside the fence, and when the UK civilian police are called during a incident they will invariably back us, but that's rare and only usually happens with the newbies. A lovely touch a few months ago was at the other US operated airfield of Fairford, which is down in the South West and is usually a empty, 'bare bones' base that is on standby to host USAF heavy bombers. For some reason U-2s transiting through to theatre have always gone through there for years. I don't know why, as they get photographed there as much as if they went through Mildenhall/Lakenheath so it's not a security reason. Anyway, a few months ago some guys were on the fence waiting for the U-2 that had come in the previous day to leave when the pilot came over to the fence and had a chat with the photographers and also passed out a few souvenirs. He told them what time he was leaving and also said he would hold the U-2 infront of them on the taxiway before departing. True to his word he came out, told ATC he was stopping for a few minutes while he waved to the photographers and they got their pics before he departed. The guys were chuffed to bits, and pleased that the pilot was prepared to think beyond the obvious. So if that can be done with a U-2 it shouldn't be a problem for a trash hauler, if they had the will to just look beyond what is a reflex 'security' response.

I'd love to come over, as my only visit stateside was in 1996 to the East coast, but it's not really feasible at the moment, but you never know.

Gary

Edited December 9, 2014 by gary1701

[gary1701]

Hi again gents,

Another December Saturday of clear blue skies here in the South East of the UK, very strange. I was meant to be Christmas shopping but decided that could wait and made the run over to Mildenhall for the second Saturday running. I was hoping that the rare for these parts USN P-3 that came in yesterday would go but apparently he's going on Monday. So, not very busy, espically after last week but not a complete waste of time.

'Cathy 22', was the current TDY RC-135V and he taxied out for a dawn departure, just as the sun was coming up which threw some interesting light on him. I'd gone early so that I didn't miss any early departures. It must have been a short one by his standards as he never took a tanker with him and apparently recovered shortly after dark, so I reckon he was out for about seven hours.

The new extension to the North side taxiway that goes right to the end of the under run on 29 has been open for some time now, but this Alabama ANG '135 was the first aircraft I've seen use it up close and also photograph on it. I'm not quite sure why they went to the trouble to build it for most of last year, as aircraft were quite capable of back taxiing and then doing a 180 on the very rare times that they required it (usually only E-3s and RC-135s). It only takes a couple of minutes and believe me traffic levels are hardly busy enough for that to be an issue, Mildenhall ATC would be overwhelmed long before that, given what usually happens when they handle more than two or three aircraft at any one time. Still, it's improved photography from the fence at that end so can't complain.

..and that was it. Except for the newest arrival for the base SOG fleet that was handily sitting on the end of SOG row. I mentioned last week that a new MC-130J came in on Sunday. Well, apparently there should have been two, but the other one went u/s before even getting to Canada. MC-130J 12-5759 made it on Thursday and is brand new, here less than 48 hours after arriving at it's new home and the 67th SOS/352nd SOG. Neither it or last Sundays arrival have flown again yet. All the MC-130H models have now left, the last going stateside a week or so ago, with Mildenhall now up to seven 'J' models of an eventual total of twelve - a 50% increase on the old establishment when it operated MC-130P/H models.

Gary

Edited December 13, 2014 by gary1701

[Sentry30]

Nice shots Gary!

Guess 87-0024 was the last one to leave??

To bad that Cobra (663) just did a quick gass and go, otherwise I'd payed a short visit to the Hall too!

Cheers,

Daniël

[gary1701]

Hi Daniel,

I gather they have a couple of 'H' models deployed that won't be coming back when finished, they'll go straight back to the US where I assume they'll be reassigned as I doubt they're old enough to be retired. 88-1803 did a final sightseeing trip recently which included going through the 'loop before departing a week or so ago. Somebody caught some nice shots of it;

http://www.fightercontrol.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=107742

The next two MC-130J's are already flying at the factory in the US so it probably won't be long before they make their way here. I found out why there hasn't been any new CV-22 deliveries for a year (the original schedule had the whole fleet of ten aircraft being here back in August). Apparently deliveries to the USAF have been suspended since the incident in Africa recently when a couple got shot up badly. Additional armour protection is being incorporated on the assembly line before deliveries resume.

If only 'Cobra Ball' had come in on a weekend!

Gary

[11bee]

Hi Daniel,

I gather they have a couple of 'H' models deployed that won't be coming back when finished, they'll go straight back to the US where I assume they'll be reassigned as I doubt they're old enough to be retired. 88-1803 did a final sightseeing trip recently which included going through the 'loop before departing a week or so ago. Somebody caught some nice shots of it;

http://www.fightercontrol.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=107742

The next two MC-130J's are already flying at the factory in the US so it probably won't be long before they make their way here. I found out why there hasn't been any new CV-22 deliveries for a year (the original schedule had the whole fleet of ten aircraft being here back in August). Apparently deliveries to the USAF have been suspended since the incident in Africa recently when a couple got shot up badly. Additional armour protection is being incorporated on the assembly line before deliveries resume.

If only 'Cobra Ball' had come in on a weekend!

Gary

Interesting update on the CV-22 status. More so than new armor, I hope they can get a handle on reliability issues. Sounds like these aircraft are truly maint pigs.

Thanks for the new pics!

[strikeeagle801]

Hi again Josh,

I wondered a few days ago if you were able to shoot pics there with Mount Rainier behind - that C-17 shot answers it! That's a gorgeous shot, catching that in good light is stunning. It's a real shame that photography seems so difficult there as the opportunities for some stunning images look really good. That's the problem with living in the South Eastern corner of the UK, it's very flat and boring! I've just had a look at McChord again on Google Earth and can see a could of major roads that border the North and North West side of the base and approach to runway 16, would you be shooting from somewhere around there? I can see there's a fairly open wooden area to the East and what looks like a disused dispersal track with hardstandings on that side. I can see why you would stand out.

I love the C-17, and we don't get that many in at Mildenhall, and those that do I tend to get unlucky on. I think I have a decent pic of just one McChord bird after all these years. I've got decent shots of Charleston, McGuire and surprisingly a couple of Hawaii ANG examples, but none of the others. The C-17 is also one of few military aircraft I've flown on, as I was lucky to get a short trip in the second RAF example back in 2001 whilst doing some media work. Those things are smooth, as when I was in the main cabin we flew a overshoot at another airport and I never even realised!

I don't suppose there's any chance of coming to some sort of arrangement with the base about photography if you're local and could maybe write to them explaining the situation. Perhaps offer them some pictures for publicity/in house use and show them some of your work? Official military photography tends to be rather poor regardless of if it's US or UK so they might be interested in some better quality pics. If you could perhaps bypass the base security force then you might get somewhere. I find that senior officers and public relations officers, not to mention aircrew, are sometimes more understanding and approachable and also keen to be community minded, with an eye to good publicity. At Mildenhall/Lakenheath us local photographers have provided many of the aircrew with photographs when we've caught them and the goodwill is very much two way. I've been contacted by many US based aircrew for pics when they see that I've photographed them during stopovers at Mildenhall/Lakenheath. I know some of the guys around here have contacts amongst even stateside aircrew which has opened doors for them when they've gone out to the US.

I realise it's easy for me to say, and those restrictions that you're under would never be practical at even the USAF bases at Mildenhall/Lakenheath in the UK. We do sometimes have a few incidents with the security squadron but ultimately they have no authority over what we do outside the fence, and when the UK civilian police are called during a incident they will invariably back us, but that's rare and only usually happens with the newbies. A lovely touch a few months ago was at the other US operated airfield of Fairford, which is down in the South West and is usually a empty, 'bare bones' base that is on standby to host USAF heavy bombers. For some reason U-2s transiting through to theatre have always gone through there for years. I don't know why, as they get photographed there as much as if they went through Mildenhall/Lakenheath so it's not a security reason. Anyway, a few months ago some guys were on the fence waiting for the U-2 that had come in the previous day to leave when the pilot came over to the fence and had a chat with the photographers and also passed out a few souvenirs. He told them what time he was leaving and also said he would hold the U-2 infront of them on the taxiway before departing. True to his word he came out, told ATC he was stopping for a few minutes while he waved to the photographers and they got their pics before he departed. The guys were chuffed to bits, and pleased that the pilot was prepared to think beyond the obvious. So if that can be done with a U-2 it shouldn't be a problem for a trash hauler, if they had the will to just look beyond what is a reflex 'security' response.

I'd love to come over, as my only visit stateside was in 1996 to the East coast, but it's not really feasible at the moment, but you never know.

Gary

Hey Gary

Great pics as usual. I love your work!

Josh is one of my good friends over here, and I frequent McChord as well. One of the main problems that we face at McChord is inconsistency. One day, we'll sit on Steele street (the main road on the East side of the runway) and shoot pics, and the security guys will drive right on by and wave at us, and nothing will be said or done. Then, the very next day, they'll stop and tell us we HAVE to leave. Of course, we are on public property, and so *technically* there is nothing that they really can do about it, but as a courtesy, I always leave (as does Josh). I honestly wish they just would get on the same page and let us know what is allowed and what is not. Of course, I have one advantage over Josh...I live 70 miles away from Grant County International Airport, where McChord does a lot of their training. I can go out there just about any day of the week, with no security, and catch them pretty much all day long, as well as NAS Whidbey P-3's and EA-18G's, RC-26's out of Fairchild, and just about every new jet rolling off Boeing's assembly line from Renton and Everett.

Aaron

[757flyer]

Gary,

Great photos! Any chance you got a close up shot of the nose of one of the Maine -135s?

Thanks for sharing your work!

Mike

[gary1701]

Hi again guys,

John, there's a couple of interesting articles I found about the MV/CV-22. I would guess the author may be being selective with the facts, as is often the case on these sort of articles but the statement at the end (if true) which says the author is a former or serving MH-60 driver gives it a little more credibility than normal I would suggest. There's a lot restrictions on Osprey operations there that I certainly wasn't aware of. Some of it, especially the mission availability and maintenance issues certainly seem to be reflected in what I see and hear out of Mildenhall. I doubt the USAF/USMC V-22 bases in the US are monitored as closely as Mildenhall is by local enthusiasts, so I would suggest that it wasn't until they came here that information about their daily operations would become known publicly and without any official 'spin'. Gearboxes have been a recurring problem, and was the reason why we had the precautionary landing away from Mildenhall just a few months after operations started. The quote that was doing the rounds on the UK forums from a former Osprey pilot - 'coming to a field near Mildenhall soon!' - was certainly true. I wouldn't be far out in saying that at least 50% of routine training sorties are either a ground abort or a early return due to various issues. Very few two-ship flights get off without any trouble at all. That's even worse than the current woes the RAF Tornado force is suffering. Before I get jumped on I do realise I'm not military and don't have the expertise available to many here, but having hung around military airfields for probably 30 years now I've never seen or heard of another type that is so fragile.

https://medium.com/war-is-boring/your-periodic-reminder-that-the-v-22-is-a-piece-of-junk-db72a8a23ccf

https://medium.com/war-is-boring/u-s-air-force-finally-talks-about-that-time-three-v-22s-almost-got-shot-down-d6fdeea9313c

Ironically some of those airframes deployed to Sudan a year ago should have come to Mildenhall but got grabbed whilst enroute at Lajes to replace other airframes that had gone u/s. Airframe 09-0046 was supposed to go to Africa but broke down enroute, so a airframe earmarked for Mildenhall was substituted. Mildenhall then got '0046 after it was repaired and that's why the current 7th SOS fleet has 11-0057/60 inclusive and the odd 09-0046. It's supposed to go back when other airframes finally make their way here (I'm being told April now).

Mike, I didn't take close ups of the noses of the two Maine ANG birds. I shot the first Grissom and MacDill jet from a different and closer location which allowed me to zoom in on the nose of the Grissom jet when I saw the nose art. For the Maine jets I'd moved further up alongside the airfield so that I could also shoot on the taxiway (I was expecting that MC-130J to come out) and that's some distance away although still okay for the 100-400mm lens I use if going for the full jet. What I've done is edit a closer crop in photoshop and the results are below. Keep in mind these are only crops of the full picture so the quality is nothing like the zoom on the Grissom nose.

Josh/Aaron, I had a look at Josh's Flickr stream and saw a load from Boeing Field (is it still called that?). Now that looks like a place you can catch some variety. Do you guys get any grief there or is okay?

Gary

Edited December 15, 2014 by gary1701

[Jaypack44]

Hi again Gary,

I think the thing I'm most jealous of is the ability to get taxiing shots... that's something that's pretty difficult at McChord, unless you've got much bigger lens than me (I'm stuck with my kit Nikkor 55-200 until I can afford something better), and even then you've got lots of heat haze to worry about... Anyway, I've actually heard of a few interesting planes in the area as of late (an AC-130, MC-130, and at least one Marine KC-130), so I'll be running over there later today to see what I can see!

Re: Boeing Field, yes it is still called that, and it's definitely my favorite of the local airports to shoot at. There are several spots along the west perimeter (particularly at the south end) that allow for some good shots, and the traffic tends to be at least fairly interesting most of the time. The airport security tends to be pretty understanding, except around the Boeing facilities, which typically isn't a problem, since it's near impossible to get good photos there anyway. One of the FBOs has a military fuel contract, so it's not uncommon to get at least a couple military flights a month during the warmer months (usually Navy or Marine F-18s from California coming up to fly the Cascade VRs or play with the Growlers from Whidbey). There's almost always a steady stream of bizjet traffic (not my favorite, but some of them are cool), and Boeing has several facilities there including the Military flight center and 737 delivery center, so there's always at last a couple of those flying, and the chance to catch a new P-8 or one of the E-3s undergoing rework (though that's pretty rare). Then there are the unique visitors that occasionally stop by, like NASA's Super Guppy, or NOAA's WP-3Ds. The AN-225 even made an appearance back in 2007 (though that was way before my time). I've heard it said that if it flies, it'll show up at BFI eventually, and I've found that to be pretty accurate. Back in the 80s they even had a couple of Russian SU-27s show up for an air show (what I wouldn't give...)!

Edited December 16, 2014 by Jaypack44

[757flyer]

Gary,

Many thanks for the crops of the Maine noses. Those helped out a good deal. I appreciate it!

Mike

[SERNAK]

Very interesting photos!!!

Thanks for sharing.