Post by karladrage on Nov 12, 2011 21:25:11 GMT 12
Good evening to you all down there!
As promised, I thought I'd share some images from Red Flag with you next. I was lucky enough to get to Nellis AFB in 2007 and 2008 and I also did Red Flag Alaska 08-2 at Eielson and Elmendorf AFBs too.
I'll kick off with RF07-2 first though. These were taken across four separate days, bisected by rather splendid visits to NAS Lemoore, NAS Fallon and a few other bits and pieces inbetween.
The first day provided my first taste of air-to-air photography, but it didn't take long for me to realise that things seldom go smoothly! The aircraft we were supposed to fly on (which the boom operator assured me had got a perfect boom window) went u/s with engines running, so we had a mad dash to jump in the spare. I was invited to sit on the jump seat for take-off, which was pretty cool! It was only once we were airborne that I felt like crying! The boom window on this aircraft was absolutely covered in jet fuel and you simply could not get a clear shot out of the main pane of glass. The only opportunity to salvage anything was provided by a tiny gap in the frame just large enough to poke your lens through to shoot stuff breaking away after getting their fuel. Seeing F-22s, F-15s & F-16s coming up, taking gas and not being able to shoot them hurt a lot.
The second and third days were media days. Day 2 was grey and horrible and we were positioned between Nellis' parallel runways. Believe me, there are worse places to be when it's overcast! ;D
Day 3 was spent at Last Chance and was pretty epic. Conditions were amazing, and we were allowed plenty close enough to the action. It gets pretty busy during a Red Flag 'go', as some of the pictures demonstrate.
RF07-2 was a pretty epic exercise featuring RAAF F-111s, F-117s (their last Red Flag, as I recall), B-2s, F-22s plus numerous F-15s & F-16s. On the tanker flight were two members of the RAAF Public Affairs team and one of them very kindly agreed to host us on the morning of our final day. Having grown up underneath the Daventry Radio Corridor, the sight of F-111s departing RAF Upper Heyford was, literally, a daily occurrence, so to be able to get up close and personal with them once more was fantastic. What a great looking aircraft the 'Vark was....
Anyway, enough yapping, on with said pictures!
As promised, I thought I'd share some images from Red Flag with you next. I was lucky enough to get to Nellis AFB in 2007 and 2008 and I also did Red Flag Alaska 08-2 at Eielson and Elmendorf AFBs too.
I'll kick off with RF07-2 first though. These were taken across four separate days, bisected by rather splendid visits to NAS Lemoore, NAS Fallon and a few other bits and pieces inbetween.
The first day provided my first taste of air-to-air photography, but it didn't take long for me to realise that things seldom go smoothly! The aircraft we were supposed to fly on (which the boom operator assured me had got a perfect boom window) went u/s with engines running, so we had a mad dash to jump in the spare. I was invited to sit on the jump seat for take-off, which was pretty cool! It was only once we were airborne that I felt like crying! The boom window on this aircraft was absolutely covered in jet fuel and you simply could not get a clear shot out of the main pane of glass. The only opportunity to salvage anything was provided by a tiny gap in the frame just large enough to poke your lens through to shoot stuff breaking away after getting their fuel. Seeing F-22s, F-15s & F-16s coming up, taking gas and not being able to shoot them hurt a lot.
The second and third days were media days. Day 2 was grey and horrible and we were positioned between Nellis' parallel runways. Believe me, there are worse places to be when it's overcast! ;D
Day 3 was spent at Last Chance and was pretty epic. Conditions were amazing, and we were allowed plenty close enough to the action. It gets pretty busy during a Red Flag 'go', as some of the pictures demonstrate.
RF07-2 was a pretty epic exercise featuring RAAF F-111s, F-117s (their last Red Flag, as I recall), B-2s, F-22s plus numerous F-15s & F-16s. On the tanker flight were two members of the RAAF Public Affairs team and one of them very kindly agreed to host us on the morning of our final day. Having grown up underneath the Daventry Radio Corridor, the sight of F-111s departing RAF Upper Heyford was, literally, a daily occurrence, so to be able to get up close and personal with them once more was fantastic. What a great looking aircraft the 'Vark was....
Anyway, enough yapping, on with said pictures!
