Together with Joey (whose photos you've probably already seen) and another friend we went to RMS.
The reason we decided to go was because an OC-135B was planned to arrive on sunday. (which got cancelled
)All in all these were 2 great days anyway
As RMS is about a 4 hour drive for us, we decided to take a hotel and stay for 2 days.
I really recommend this hotel by the way, it's perfect for spotters! Search for hotel Atlantis, it's in the approach of runway 08 and it only cost us 35 euros per person for a night, breakfeast included! #notsponsored
Anyway, enjoy the pics I've made. At the end I'll add a log of what we saw over the 2 days
Sunday had some nice visitors, but the weather wasn't amazing...
1. When we arrived, the first visitor was this KC-10A
85-0027 by Zonan Adolfse, on Flickr2. A KC-46 (the 4th time one was in Europe!!!) was departing from runway 26, this was the first time I've seen one
16-46023 by Zonan Adolfse, on Flickr3.
16-46023 by Zonan Adolfse, on Flickr4. This VR-56 C-40A is temporarily deployed to RMS I believe, but I still don't mind seeing it
166694 by Zonan Adolfse, on Flickr5. We decided to go to Landstuhl to see what we could make of it. With my 400mm lens I thought I would never get any good pics, but I still could read every aircraft (apart from the C-37s, which were almost 5km away from the Landstuhl point)
I think it's fair to say that these pics are still decent
05-5141 by Zonan Adolfse, on Flickr6. A Stewart, Anchorage and Charleston C-17
3 C-17s by Zonan Adolfse, on Flickr7. A departing Omni 767 turned out to be a better shot than how I got it during it's landing
N468AX by Zonan Adolfse, on Flickr8. back to the runway 26 approach, as my guy told me a C-32B and C-37A were expected in the evening. As it was a sunday, the LVIS gate was closed, so we could stand in the middle of the street with not a single car passing us. Also, as the light was gone, this wasn't a bad location at all.
10-0216 by Zonan Adolfse, on Flickr9.
99-6143 by Zonan Adolfse, on Flickr10. What a great ending of the day
Sadly the C-37 would arrive even an hour later, which meant it would be pitch black, so we decided to get to the hotel and hope to catch it the next day.
99-6143 by Zonan Adolfse, on FlickrThe next day started with a C-17 and a lot of departing C-130s (I think around 6?). We were on the departure end with backlight, so I'm not gonna bother editing those pics.
11. the first landing with good light was this C-17 that could use a bit of paint...
02-1111 by Zonan Adolfse, on Flickr12. This C-37 was here for about 5 days already, sadly it had to take the full length runway so it was already pretty high at the departure end...
The C-37 that came in on sunday departed a few hours later, but full of heathaze, so no worthy picture there...
97-0400 by Zonan Adolfse, on Flickr13. D-day herky, nothing else to say
07-4635 by Zonan Adolfse, on Flickr14. CATBIRD1 from Sigonella, with a beautiful sky in the background
165151 by Zonan Adolfse, on Flickr15. Tried some prop blur on the local C-130s, turned out pretty nicely
15-5831 by Zonan Adolfse, on Flickr16. 10 Blackhawks and 4 Apaches came in for a fuel stop en route to Eindhoven. We missed the first 4, terrible shots of the second 5, but the third flight was finally photo worthy
94-26587 by Zonan Adolfse, on Flickr17.
13-20616 by Zonan Adolfse, on Flickr18. Charleston C-17 departing
99-0169 by Zonan Adolfse, on Flickr19. After the departure we rushed to the arrival of this Mississippi C-17. I didn't even have time to shut off my car and Joey wasn't even in time...
I couldn't go for a better angle as I litterally heard it flying over trees as I parked my car
03-3116 by Zonan Adolfse, on Flickr20. Well, back to Landstuhl to end the day. This picture is really really sharp, don't judge
4 C-17s by Zonan Adolfse, on Flickr21. Gotta love the D-day stripes
07-4635 by Zonan Adolfse, on FlickrBack home we went. First a stop at Spangdahlem to see if we could get the gate guards there.
I didn't bother changing my lens, so a phone picture it is.
Spangdahlem gate guards by Zonan Adolfse, on FlickrAnother stop at Liège/Luik/Lüttich/LGG/that Belgian airport in the hopes the maintenance helicopters were outside, but they weren't, so back home we went.
Hope you enjoyed the pics and story, I certainly did enjoy the trip!
As promised a little log here:
Sunday 28th June (visually, between around 11:00 and 22:00) :
Locals excluded
Type Reg Callsign Tail
Arriving:
KC-10A 85-0027 RCH153 McGuire
B763 N438AX CMB185
C-17A 08-8202 RCH166 McChord
C-40A 166694 CNV6628
C-17A 10-0216 RCH661 McChord
C-32B 99-6143 RCH588
C-17A 99-0169 RCH525 Charleston
Departing:
C-17A 03-3125 RCH981 McGuire
KC-46A 16-46023 RCH171
C-17A 10-0216 RCH661 McChord
C-17A 05-5141 RCH151 March
B763 N468AX CMB185
C-17A 08-8202 RCH166 McChord
C-17A 03-3116 RCH839 Mississippi
C-17A 02-1108 RCH455 McChord
C-32B 99-6143 RCH588
apron around 16:45LT:
B763 N468AX (departed)
C-17A 98-0054 Charleston
C-17A 00-0185/AK Anchorage
C-17A 01-0188 Stewart (New york air guard on the side of the landing gear)
C-17A 03-3116 Mississippi
C-17A 03-3124 Charleston
C-17A 04-4136 McGuire
C-17A 05-5141 March (Departed)
C-17A 08-8202 McChord (hot cargo)
C-17A 09-9205 Charleston
C-17A 10-0221 Charleston
C-37A 97-0400
C-40A 166694
Monday 29th june between 08:00 and 18:00:
Arriving:
C-17A 02-1111 RCH252 McChord
C-20G 165151 CATBRD1
HH-60M 11-20351 R85548 flight
AH-64D 04-05426 R85548 flight
AH-64D 04-05439 R85548 flight
AH-64D 07-05535 R85548 flight
AH-64D 08-05548 R85548 flight
UH-60L 94-26587 R26596 flight
UH-60L 95-26596 R26596 flight
UH-60L 99-26830 R26596 flight
HH-60M 08-20172 R26596 flight
HH-60M 13-20616 R26596 flight
C-17A 03-3116 RCH839 Mississippi
B744 N401KZ CMB164
Departing:
C-40A 166694 CNV6628
C-17A 98-0054 RCH1815 Charleston
C-37A 97-0400 SAM951
C-17A 02-1111 RCH252 McChord
C-37B 06-0500 SAM952
KC-10A 85-0027 RCH153 McGuire
UH-60M 11-20361 R20361 flight
UH-60M 11-20370 R20361 flight
UH-60M 11-20392 R20361 flight
UH-60M 11-20422 R20361 flight
C-20G 165151 CATBRD1
HH-60M 11-20351 R85548 flight
AH-64D 04-05426 R85548 flight
AH-64D 04-05439 R85548 flight
AH-64D 07-05535 R85548 flight
AH-64D 08-05548 R85548 flight
C-17A 99-0169 RCH525 Charleston
UH-60L 94-26587 R26596 flight
UH-60L 95-26596 R26596 flight
UH-60L 99-26830 R26596 flight
HH-60M 08-20172 R26596 flight
HH-60M 13-20616 R26596 flight
Apron around 17:00LT
B744 N401KZ
C-17a 02-1109 McChord
C-17A 03-3116 Mississippi
C-17A 03-3124 Charleston
C-17A 04-4136 McGuire
C-17A 05-5141 March
C-17A 09-9205 Charleston
C-17A 10-0216 McChord
C-17A 10-0221 Charleston
Nice work