The update was late as it now has to go through the 100% security check entrance with all the other information.

Happy to see F-4s on the list. Fingers crossed they both make it. And how great would it be if the Greeks sent them again this year? Can but hope!

I hope they don't simplify things by forcing air crew to join the Blue entrance queue each day to get in. The flying display wouldn't start till about 3pm!

Excellent photos and some quite rare sights too. Thanks for posting.

That’s an incredible set of photos. Impossible to pick a favourite, but I really like that P-3 Orion. I really must make it to the US someday.

Thanks again. I can’t wait to get back, but then again, the States is a huge lure now. Maybe I need to divorce and marry an American!

Alf wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 19, 2024 4:02 pm

Is the viewing deck still open at Komatsu?

It is. It's an excellent facility for watching activity on the apron and for keeping warm between the action. There's quite a good shop there as well with a nice selection of souvenirs.

I'm glad my photos were appreciated. Thanks all. Another great post from the Land of reducing aviation colour! Clear proof it's not yet too late to enjoy a visit to Japan, but that time of grey on grey approaches! :roll: Yep, with the end of the Phantoms and OH-6s to name a couple and the immanent e...

That's cool. I didn't even know about them. Nicely discreet scheme for its purpose.

Great to see as I thought it'd gone and been replaced by the Hawks. The topside is especially brilliant!

I like that C-21 too. A really attractive jet and not so commonly seen at Mildenhall I believe.

Thanks again gents.

Following on from my visit to Iwakuni, a couple of weeks later I made my way to Komatsu and Iruma air bases. As was pointed out in the Iwakuni post, Komatsu is a rather tricky base for photography. But the lure of the Tactical Fighter Training Group aggressor Eagles is hard to resist. It was bitterl...

That's a pity about losing that option to get east of the runway. I wonder what would happen if you hired a boat... Iruma is great for photography, Komastsu is NOT imo! Worst thing ever when the aggressors left Nyutabaru. Iruma certainly has got plenty of options for viewing/photography through most...

Thank you everyone for the kind words. I'm glad that they were of interest. I might post a few that I took at Komatsu and Iruma air bases a couple of weeks later. You should be very pleased with your luck & shots. As you say, the opportunity to shoot from any other location is non-existent since acc...

I’m not a regular poster on here, more a lurker, but I thought some of my recent photos from MCAS Iwakuni might be of interest. It doesn’t seem to be the most commonly visited air base in Japan, but it is home to USMC, USN and JMSDF aircraft. I was in Japan for a family holiday, but managed to get s...

Harkins, to get a feel for the likely sortie rate and times, last time 7BW were here in Oct was 2021. https://www.fightercontrol.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=379&t=210613 or if you want to look further there is a record of the bomber deployments going back to 2009 here https://www.fightercontrol.co....

I know this is most likely in the wrong place and I know nobody knows exactly what is going to happen, but would previous experience of deployments and the time of year suggest that most activity will likely take place in darkness or near darkness? I.e. take offs and landings?

Does anyone know what the score is for the 02 end regards access and photography? I’ve seen quite a lot of photos that appear to be from that end, but I had read about hay bales and stuff suggesting it was completely out of bounds. The do seem to have used 02 quite a bit in this exercise and I’ve se...

Rockstar wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 10, 2023 8:29 am

For the first time night flying will form part of the Exercise, and this will take place in the third week.

Does that mean week three is a bit of a write-off from a photography point of view, with sunset being about 7pm around then? Or will there likely still be some daytime flying?

With just three weeks to go, I was looking at the FRIAT ticket page and at a glance it looked barely half sold. However, after a quick count, I got about 1954 seats in the stand with 1488 sold and 466 unsold. So nearly 80% sold out. And given that there was only the six day ticket option this year (...