On August 6/7, 2009 I was fortunate enough to be at Abbotsford, British Columbia for the annual airshow. This year celebrated 100 years of powered [...]
Another show which has been on my list for a while is Seoul ADEX (Aerospace & Defence Exhibition) which is held bi-annually at Seongnam Airport. [...]
May 14, 2010 - a unique and exciting day in my chosen hobby - I participated in the first ever Air-2-Air Academy organised by Eric [...]
In June 2015 I attended the spotters days for Anatolian Eagle 2015/2 at Konya AB, Turkey. The Anatolian Eagle exercises are the European equivalent of [...]
The annual Russian International Military-Technical Forum, known more generally as ARMY 2019, was held as usual at 3 locations near Moscow - Patriot Park Exhibition [...]
As part of what is now an annual deployment, 6 B52H's from 2nd BW at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana arrived at RAF Fairford for exercises with [...]
Whilst driving through California recently, I came across a temporary heliport which had been established in support of fighting the Valley fire in Lake County, [...]
As part of my visit to MAKS 2017 and Monino Central Air Force Museum, the group I was with arranged a visit to the repair [...]
To celebrate the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings, a large contingent of Douglas C47/DC3 Dakotas gathered in the UK and and France in June [...]
After an absence of 13 years, Edwards AFB re-opened its doors to the public over the weekend of October 15/16, 2022. Timed to coincide with [...]
In mid April 2016, 12 F-22 Raptor's F-22s deployed from the 95th Fighter Squadron at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., to RAF Lakenheath. I ventured [...]
After visiting Edwards AFB for the October 2022 show, I took the opportunity to get to General William J. Fox Airfield in Lancaster, California, home [...]
In the 2010 Strategic Defence Review, the decision was taken to retire the BAe Harrier from service with the RAF. The two remaining Harrier bases, [...]
Following on from my highly enjoyable visit to Hyakuri AB in 2012, I decided to return in October 2014 for the Japan Defense Forces 60th [...]
Having visited Iruma AB in 2012, I knew that I had to come back. Iruma AB has to be one of the most conducive locations [...]
In October 2012 I achieved one of my ambitions, namely to visit Japan to get some images of the uniquely coloured military aircraft from that [...]
At the end of 2019, I traveled with 4Aviation to Japan for the airshow at Hyakuri AFB to catch the last of the 501 Hikotai [...]
Celebrating the 65th Anniversary of the Belgian Air Force, Koksijde Air Base on the North Sea / Channel coast held an air display on 6th/7th [...]
Since I had some time during my visit to Nellis AFB, I decided to drive back to McCarran Airport to capture some of the civilian [...]
When I think back to my early days of aircraft spotting and photography, I am full of regret for not capturing images of the variety [...]
I had always wanted to sample low-flying areas and see how my images might come out. Whilst the Mach Loop in Wales is somewhat closer, [...]
It's been a long time ambition for me to attend the biennial international air and trade show held at Zhukovsky Airfield (also known as Ramenskoye [...]
The second of the museums visited in January 2024 was March Field Air Museum, located on the Western side of March Air Force Reserve Base. [...]
It's been over 40 years since I last visited this base - previously I was fortunate to get a ramp tour when Boeing B-52D's and [...]
No visit to Moscow (as I did for MAKS 2017) would be complete without a trip to the infamous Central Air Force Museum at Monino. [...]
My recent travel to Japan (see Atsugi, Iruma and Hyakuri) was via Narita on Virgin Atlantic. Here are some images from the observation platforms at [...]
Atsugi NAS is close to Tokyo (about a 45 minute train ride) and offers excellent facilities for photography, although if sunny heat haze can be [...]
In September 2014 I was able to spend some time on NAS Fallon, home of the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center (NSAWC). More famously [...]
On April 10, 2008 I visited NAS Joint Reserve Base New Orleans in Belle Chasse, Louisiana. This large base is shared by the US Navy, [...]
In early September 2013, I was fortunate to be granted permission for a base visit to NAS North Island, the main helicopter base for the [...]
On August 24, 2009 I visited NAS Whidbey Island, in Washington state. This large base is home to a number of US Navy squadrons and [...]
The Tiger Meet is an annual event which brings together many squadrons from around Europe to fly together in realistic scenarios and assess their skills [...]
The Tiger Meet is an annual event which brings together many squadrons from around Europe to fly together in realistic scenarios and assess their skills [...]
Once again, I was fortunate to be able to attend the Tiger Meet Spotters Day in 2011 at Base Aerienne 103, Cambrai. This time there [...]
This year's Nato Tiger Meet was held in May at Base Aérea Zaragoza in Northern Spain. Blessed with good weather, the participants managed to provide [...]
The 2017 NATO Tiger Meet was held at Landivisiau in Brittany, France, home of 11F, flying the Dassault Rafale M. There were two spotters days [...]
The annual Nato Tiger Meet was held at Poznan-Krzeisny AB in Poland, hosted by 6ELT, Polish Air Force. Much was expected for this first meeting [...]
Having been blessed with near-perfect weather in the week leading up to the Spotters Day at NTM 2019, Base aerienne 118 at Mont-de-Marsan was deluged [...]
After a break of a few years, mostly due to COVID-19, I returned to the NATO Tiger Meet Spotters Day, held on June 10, 2024 [...]
The Nellis Airshow is the traditional homecoming show for the USAF Thunderbirds Demonstration Team. It is usually very well attended and the sun tends to [...]
I traveled to Southern California in late January 2024 and had the opportunity to visit a couple of excellent museums in the area, the first [...]
Taking advantage of the Nato Tiger Meet being held at the nearby airbase, the organisers of Poznan Airshow offered a combined entrance pass for both [...]
On April 1st, 1918 the Royal Air Force was formed by amalgamating the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service. To commemorate the [...]
It's been a while since I paid a visit to RAF Lakenheath, so I decided to take a drive to the base. Unfortunately, the day [...]
Phil Dawe, with the support of the O/C 32 (Royal) Squadron at RAF Northolt, regularly organises night photography shoots, with proceeds going towards the restoration [...]
Now almost becoming a regular event, the station commander for RAF Northolt, Gp Capt van den Berg together with 32 Squadron, host night shoots for [...]
Once again, Phil Dawes, along with the co-operation and consent of the Station Commander Group Captain Tom Barrett , together with the O/C No. 32 [...]
As promised, Phil Dawes, along with the co-operation and consent of the Station Commander Group Captain Tom Barrett , together with the O/C No. 32 [...]
Once again, for Nightshoot X, Phil Dawe put together an outstanding collection of aircraft for the discerning nightshoot photographer! This events' theme was Search and [...]
Increasingly popular, the RAF Northolt Nightshoot events provide an opportunity to photograph aircraft under the floodlights on the 32 Squadron apron. Once again, Phil Dawe's [...]
As part of the preparations for the security surrounding the London 2012 Olympics, four Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft were brought to RAF Northolt in May for [...]
Once again, Phil Dawe organised another great evening for Nightshoot XIV, with no less than 3 unique items. He managed a significant coup with the [...]
Once again, the elements and tasking priorities caused a few issues for this nghtshoot. The French Securite Civile S-2FT Tracker in anniversary markings was re-directed [...]
After many frustrated attempts, Phillip Dawe finally managed to get the specially marked Conair S-2T Turbo Firecat from the French Sécurité Civile to one of [...]
The 2023 Autumn event took place on 5 October, with the evening blessed with warm, dry weather. A few familiar faces were missing, probably due [...]
Nightshoot XXV took place at RAF Northolt on the evening of October 18th, 2018, under clearing skies. As ever, Phil Dawe and his team worked [...]
The weather definitely got the better of the planned participants at the 26th nightshoot organised by Phil Dawe and his team at RAF Northolt. Having [...]
After an enforced break due to runway resurfacing and the COVID-19 pandemic, Nightshoots returned to RAF Northolt on 13 October 2022. Phil Dawe once again [...]
Phil Dawe and his team work hard at putting together these nights to raise funds for his continuing restoration of the Battle of Britain Sector [...]
As normal, March sees the spring edition of the RAF Northolt Nightshoot. Held on the crisp, cool, slightly blustery evening of March 7th 2024, the [...]
Early October saw the latest (now biannual) night shoot take place at RAF Northolt. A first for this occasion was the arrival and hot running [...]
A new NATO exercise on the calendar is Ramstein Flag. Held in October 2024 at Andravida Air Base in the Peloponnese region of Greece, RAMSTEIN [...]
I had the good fortune to be in San Francisco whilst the above exercises were taking place at Nellis AFB, so a quick visit was [...]
Once again I was fortunate enough to be able to get to Nellis AFB, NV during a Red Flag exercise. Participants for Red flag 16-4 [...]
Another visit to Nellis AFB for a Red Flag exercise - 17-4 in August 2017. As is customary with the summer Red Flag exercises, these [...]
Yet again, I had the opportunity to visit Nellis AFB around the time of a planned Red Flag exercise. Originally booked when the Colombian AF [...]
For some time now, I have wanted to attend the first Red Flag exercise of each calendar year which is usually held in mid to [...]
An added bonus during my trip to Seoul to ADEX 2017 was a simulated response to an occupied building in the centre of Seoul. This [...]
Once again, the British Summer played havoc with RIAT 2011 - torrential downpours started on Saturday morning, putting paid to any flying until about 12.30pm. [...]
Once again, the Royal International Air Tattoo took place in mid July at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire. The weather was a significant plus on the [...]
Once again, the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) was held at RAF Fairford in the third week of July. Whilst the show has come in [...]
It's that time of year again! The Royal International Air Tattoo is one of the largest military air shows in the world (if not the [...]
RIAT 2017 returned to the upper levels of excellence, with participation by a number of special performers, including the USAF Thunderbirds as part of the [...]
So, for RIAT 2018, I decided to attend over 3 days - Friday through Sunday, with the objective of using Friday to concentrate on the [...]
For this RIAT, I decided to purchase FRIAT Membership, which gave me access from Friday through Monday, as well as a reserved seat in the [...]
After an absence of 3 years due to COVID-19 restrictions, RIAT returned to the skies of Gloucestershire in July 2022. The weather held good for [...]
Once again, I attended the annual Royal International Air Tattoo held at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, with the public flying days from Friday the 14th [...]
RIAT returned to RAF Fairford in 2024, with better weather than the previous year. This year was a great year for quality, with some rare [...]
A long held ambition to see the airshow for San Francisco Fleet Week was finally fulfilled in October 2014. I had seen many images of [...]
Once again, I was fortunate enough to be in San Francisco for Fleet Week 2015. As ever, the primary focus of the air show are [...]
Due to a last minute change in plans, I was still in San Francisco for Fleet Week 2016. As ever the proceedings are dominated by [...]
In late June 2018, I returned to Poland not long after the NATO Tiger Meet to attend the Piknik Lotniczy 2018 (Polish Air Force Open [...]
With the imminent retirement from active service coming up in March 2019, the base commander at RAF Marham decided to organise a couple of activities [...]
My journey through to the NTM 2019 at Mont-de-Marsan took me via Toulouse Blagnac airport, home of course of Airbus Industries. I had some time [...]
With some time to spare before making the drive to Mont-deMarsan for NTM 2019, I decide to pay a visit to the museums at Toulouse [...]
In June 2013, after 40 years of service with the Luftwaffe, the McDonnell-Douglas F4 Phantom was formally retired. A special Spotters Day and Open Day [...]
November 2018 and my travels took me to the biennial Chinese International Airshow at Zhuhai in southern China. Meeting up with the 4Aviation group who [...]