REQ: Spotting in Japan

[ketko]

Hi,

I am going to visit Japan in August, and I was thinking about visiting these two airforce bases apart from the civil airfields, since they are close to where my grandma lives. Is anyone aware of any spotting positions which are accessible by upblic transport?

Also, is the Yokota airshow on 22/23rd August worht a visit?

Thanks for reply.

Best regards, Keishi

[Key]

In short: Iruma is great, Yokota is so-so. The latter's open day brings mostly US stuff, I believe. From outside, find the south-eastern tip of the field near the approach lights.
For Iruma rwy 35, go to the bend in the road next to its threshold on the western side. For 17 pm, find the street on the hill that overlooks the threshold from the west. For 17 am and apron view, go to the small road opposite of it, dead-end to an old wooden grandstand that overlooks the aprons too.

Detailed Iruma-info on our Airfield Guide of it.

Erik

[Stefan]

In short: Iruma is great, Yokota is so-so. The latter's open day brings mostly US stuff, I believe. From outside, find the south-eastern tip of the field near the approach lights.

In addition to Key's comments;
- we have some excellent reports on previous Yokota shows on our website; http://www.scramble.nl/showreports.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
- north-eastern tip is really open and interesting as well (depending on the wind of course).

Regards,
Stefan

[ketko]

Hi,

thanks very much for the replies.

As it turned out, that I will probably have Japan Rail Pass, do you know about any interesting airports (civil or military), where spotting can be done easily?

I'm sure, I'm gonna revisit Haneda, Narita, Kansai, Itami, Chubu, Fukuoka and maybe also Sapporo when there's airshow at Chitose. I also plan to visit Komaki to get the JAL E70, FDA E70 and the JASDF 767s.

I will be there for a month, so hopefully I will manage most of the above.

Looking forward to seeing more suggestions.

When I return, I am sure gonna post a report, as I did last year. Last year I only visited civil airports tho. If anyone is interested in info about spotting in Japan at some airports, try to read the report.

http://scramble.nl/forum/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=45040" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Best regards, Keishi