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 up to RAF Lakenheath in mid May, just before their departure back to the USA and captured some images of … Continue readingF22 Raptors at RAF Lakenheath
My first job after leaving school was with British Airways at Heathrow, from 1973 to 1980. You would think I would take advantage of the location and have lots of images from that period? Being young, there was always tomorrow so there are a lot … Continue readingLondon Heathrow, 1975
Back in the day, when NAS Miramar was “Fightertown” as made famous in TopGun, I stood outside the fence capturing a few images of the resident F14’s and E2’s as they carried their training. Although standing outside the fence of an active US Navy base … Continue readingNAS Miramar, 1988
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 The Blue Angels and the setting provides them with the opportunity to perform their display over water. Other display acts … Continue readingSan Francisco Fleet Week 2015
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, California. As I arrived, it appeared that the facility was being broken down, as the fire was now 75% contained … Continue readingCalifornia Firefighters
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 in order to capture the visitors. Las Vegas in late August – what could go wrong? I also realised by … Continue readingRed Flag 15-4 and Green Flag 15-9 Nellis AFB
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 for some criticism from aviation buffs in recent years, it remains one of the largest and most varied public gatherings … Continue readingRIAT Fairford 2015
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 Red Flag and Maple Flag, designed to provide training for joint operations support in a realistic operational environment. Participants for … Continue readingAnatolian Eagle 2015/2
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 his famous nightshoots. In addition, there was a rare overseas trip by a Belgian Gendarmerie Nationale Cessna 182 Skylane, which … Continue readingRAF Northolt Nightshoot XVIII
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 Terminals 1 and 2 on both my arrival and departure days.