I finally found some time to continue the logging.
Today was flying school day, with both T-7's and T-4's on the menu. But first we wanted to have a quick look at the preserved F-104 with Hasegawa in Shizuoka. We thought we had the right coordinates, but at the indicated spot there was no sign of a Starfighter, or even a Hasegawa company for that matter. So a bad start.... We quickly continued to Shizuhama and arrived at a platform which only held three aircraft. But soon things would change!
JASDF Shizuhama
T-7, 11 HK:
36-5907, 46-5920, 56-5927, 56-5928, 56-5929, 56-5930, 56-5932, 66-5933, 66-5935, 66-5936, 66-5937, 66-5938, 66-5939, 66-5940, 66-5941, 66-5943, 76-5944, 76-5946
04-8183 F-86D pr, 3 Koku / 8 Hik mks
62-7417 F-86F pr, 21 Hik mks
76-8696 F-104J pr, 203 Hik mks
25-5840 T-1A pr, 1 TS mks
91-5511 T-3 pr, 11 HK mks
51-5612 T-33A pr, 201 Hik mks
We arrived here around 8 am, and as said the platform was almost empty. But we soon found out this was because the first mission was already underway! They really rise early here. 5932 carried special markings, comprising of the text "Shizuhama Air Festival 2009" in mirror view! All preserved aircraft are easily visible form the southern side of the airbase (from where you can also take great pictures of landing T-7's), except for the T-3. This is at the main gate and can only be seen from here. They also have a T-6 and a T-34 preserved here apparently, but those are kept inside a hangar. We were checked out again by security, and when they were satisfied one of them offered to take a picture of us with our own cameras in front of the gate, as a "souvenir". Polite as we are we agreed, and after the security guy took it he also wanted to take one with his own camera. Ooohhh, so you wanted to take a picture of us but were afraid to ask.....?
When we got enough shots of the landing T-7's we continued to Hamamatsu, which is only some 60 km from here.
JASDF Hamamatsu
31 Kyoiku Hikotai:
86-8609, 06-5630, 16-5655, 26-5689, 36-5699, 56-5741, 66-5744, 86-5769, 96-5771, 96-5780, 96-5781, 06-5783, 16-5797 (rd/wh c/s)
32 Kyoiky Hikotai:
86-5610, 86-5612, 26-5682, 36-5698, 36-5706, 56-5734, 66-5746, 76-5753 (rd/wh c/s), 86-5762, 86-5766, 06-5782
85-1079 C-130H 401 Hik, "50 years Japanese AF" mks
64-3501 E-767 Hiko Keikai Kansentai
74-3503 E-767 Hiko Keikai Kansentai
84-3504 E-767 Hiko Keikai Kansentai
02-8920 F-15J no mks, with 1 JG (technical school)
58-4563 UH-60J nn (yellow c/s)
08-4571 UH-60J no mks (blue c/s)
66-5603 XT-4 Hiko Kaihatsu Jik. mks, with 1 JG
06-5636 T-4 Sotai Shireibu Hik
92-3012 U-125A Hamamatsu Kyunantai
52-0074 T-6G std, no mks
61-5207 T-33A std, no mks
71-5254 T-33A std, no mks
Many T-4's can be seen from outside, but reading them off on the platforms can get difficult because of heat waves. Best spot is south of the runway, about halfway. There's a sharp bend in the road, and that's the right spot. We were visited by a security guy again (no problems, as usual), and we asked him wether we could expect an E-767 flying. He hesitated some time, and then said he didn't know. Only some 10 minutes after he left 504 arrived! Obviously we were very happy with this one. From outside you can take a picture of the one(s) at the main platform, but due to heat waves this is far from perfect. But the arriving one was graphed great on the runway and taxiways. The Hercules was another great catch, after the camouflaged ones at Hyakuri now we got a blue one as well. And a nice bonus were the red/white T-4's, especially since later this trip we had to skip Ashiya (where the rd/wh ones are based) due to lack of time. When we were satisfied with the T-4's we drove around the base to the northern side, from where we could see our third E-767 inside a hangar, and also the two stored T-33's. We forgot however to drive on towards the main gate, so we misses the preserved F-86 here....
After this we paid the museum a visit.
JASDF Museum Hamamatsu
outside:
91-1138 C-46D pr, Hiko Tenkentai mks
02-7966 F-86F pr, Blue Impulse c/s
76-8698 F-104J pr, unknown badge (a scorpion)
02-4756 H-21B pr, no mks
inside:
43-188 A6M3a Zero pr, no mks (the real thing!)
03-3094 Beech 65 pr, unknown badge
63-5571 DH.115 pr, no mks (only Japanese Vampire!)
90-8225 F-1 pr, 3 Hik mks
90-8227 F-1 pr, 6 Hik mks
84-8104 F-86D pr, no mks
02-7960 F-86F pr, Blue Impulse c/s
76-8693 F-104J pr, 204 Hik mks
91-4709 H-19C pr, no mks
24-4832 KV.107II-A5 pr, Hamamatsu Kyunantai mks
13-3209 MU-2S pr, Hamamatsu Kyunantai mks
53-4774 S-62J pr, no mks
15-5825 T-1A pr, 13 HK mks
52-0010 T-6F pr, no mks
59-5111 T-2 pr, Blue Impulse c/s
59-5114 T-2 pr, nose, no mks
91-5517 T-3 pr, 11 HK mks
63-0581 T-28 pr, no mks
71-5239 T-33A pr, 32 HK mks
51-0382 T-34A pr, no mks
13148 SVA.9 pr, Italian AF c/s, replica?
A great museum, with lots of photo opportunities as well. It is located on the south-eastern corner of the airbase, definately worth a visit. Especially the Mu-2, SAR helicopters and Vampire were my favourites, but actually everything is interesting!
Located in the centre of the town should be a cafe with some W&R stuff, but we had failed to locate this via internet and Google Earth. But we did have a telephone number, and by now we had figured out how to use our Japanese navigation system (at least a little bit). And since this worked on telephone numbers (instead of an address....) we decided to give it a try. This turned out te be a good decision for W&R-fans like us!
Aviation Cafe, Hamamatsu (34 42 08.30 N, 137 41 15.00 E)
80-8212 F-1 pr, nose, no mks
04-8164 F-86D pr, nose and tail, 8 Hik mks
36-8517 F-104J pr, nose, no mks
36-8536 F-104J pr, nose and tail, Hiko Kaihatsu Jik. mks ("APW")
46-8604 F-104J pr, nose, no mks
73-3201 Mu-2S pr, nose, no mks
25-5852 T-1B pr, nose, no mks
25-5855 T-1B pr, nose, no mks
51-5623 T-33A pr, 31 KH mks
8067 HSS-2A pr, nose, no mks
An interesting collection, and diplayed in a funny way! Also present was the tail of F-86 92-7905. Inside there were many memorabilia visible, but since the place was closed we didn't get a good look at those. But it's safe to say the owner is mad about aircraft!
We wanted to finish the day with a look at Komaki airbase, but had problems locating the base. First we trusted our European navigation system (a bit naive by now, I know), but when we suddenly saw signs "airport" we started following those. Only after a while we slowly got the impression we were heading the wrong direction, and it turned out those signs were for a totally different airport ("Central Japan Airport") which is way south of Nagoya instead of Komaki which is north of Nagoya. Damn! Since it wouldn't be possible to get to Komaki before dark by now we decided to check out another preserved chopper not too far from where we were.
Nagoya harbour (35 05 25.30 N, 136 52 49.50 E)
8181 S-61A pr, Shirase Hikohan mks
This is preserved on deck of an icebreaker called Fuji, displayed in the harbour. We were there just before dark, so a tripod was a big help for some pictures. Not planned, but still very nice!
While we were in town after all we also wanted to check out the preserved F-86 (04-8176) at the Science museum, but although we easily found the museum we couldn't find the Sabre. A bit of asking around learned us that the Sabre had been returned to the JASDF about a year ago.
And that was enough for today, we still had some driving to do towards Akeno for our hotel. Again we noticed that, law abiding as the Japanese are, speed limits are for whimps apparently. In a tunnel the official limit was 50 km/h, but we were driving 120 and were still being overtaken on the left and right hand side, even by trucks. Well, only better this way, otherwise the travelling would have taken even more time!
As always additions, corrections and comments are very welcome.
That's all folks!
Frank Mink & Patrick Dirksen
Tristar Aviation
, great reading. Apparently, hardly anything has changed in Nippon the past 10 years or so. Well, except for some aircraft types... Good to see some W&R info, thanks for the extensive reports.