I have been asked a few times wether I "gave up" logging our Japan trip by several people. Well, the answer is: definately not! It's just a matter of a serious lack of time lately. But since my reports are appreciated apparently I will try to finish the last few days as soon as possible, starting with day 11.
This day we started at Miho airbase, where the T-400's and YS-11's were our main target.
JASDF Miho
C-1, 403 Hik: 38-1003, 58-1006, 58-1011, 68-1014, 68-1016, 68-1017, 68-1018, 68-1019, 68-1020, 78-1026
T-400, 41 Hik: 41-5051, 41-5053, 41-5054, 41-5055, 51-5056, 51-5057, 51-5058, 71-5059, 01-5060, 21-5062, 41-5063 +1 in hangar
08-1030 C-1 402 Hik
75-1075 C-130H 401 Hik
52-1152 YS-11P 403 Hik
92-1156 YS-11NT 403 Hik
91-1139 C-46D pr, no mks (and no code)
20-8260 F-1 pr, 6 Hik mks
04-8202 F-86D pr, 8 Hik mks
46-8602 F-104J pr, 203 mks
63-4776 S-62J pr, no mks
35-5860 T-1B pr, 5 TS mks
11-5543 T-3 pr, Hiko Kaihatsu Jik mks
51-5647 T-33A pr, 8 Hik mks
58-1011 lost its special markings unfortunately. The weather was very grey this morning, but we photographed a few of the T-400's. And we got all but one of them, so that's a good score! I guess nobody knows the status of 5052 and 5061, so we can tie up the one we saw inside a hangar? The spot between the mil and civ platform is great, but you have to stay on the civil side of the canal apaprently. I was on the other side, next to the fence, and was told to move to the other side by a (civil) guard. There was no activity at the side of the YS-11's, so after a while we decided to give up and try to make it to Tokushima. This was the part of the trip we had most doubts about, since this meant we had to cross the whole country. And at Tsuiki yesterday we had been told it is impossible to combine both airfields on one day as well. But this was our only chance to get some navy TC-90's, so we decided to try it anyway. And it turned to be a good decision in the end!
JMSDF Tokushima
TC-90, 202 Kyoiku Kok: 6811, 6812, 6813, 6814, 6815, 6816, 6817, 6819, 6820, 6821, 6823, 6824, 6825, 6826, 6827, 6828, 6829, 6830, 6831, 6832, 6833, 6834, 6835
6802 TC-90 std, 202 Kyoiku Kok mks
6810 TC-90 pr gate, 202 Kyoiku Kok mks
8967 UH-60J 72 Kok
8974 UH-60J 72 Kok
91(02) UC-90 202 Kok
9305 LC-90 61 Kok
4150 S-2F-1 pr, 11 Kok mks
8926 S-62J pr, no mks
A good score, as you can see! Striking is that we have seen 6810 and higher, the lower serials were not noted. I think it's safe to assume those are wfu (since the Japanese have the habit of retiring the oldest aircraft even while new ones are still being delivered). When we arrived there was no activity in the air, and we decided to drive along the Northern side of the base first, to see what we could read in the hangars. And as you can see that was a lot..... While we were on this side, looking over the big wall that's built here (you need stairs for this!), two or three TC-90's taxied to the runway. First we thought we'd graph those when they returned, since we planned to catch them "in the landing", but we took some (distant) pictures of them speeding down the runway after all. And that was a very lucky decision, since it turned out none of them actually took off; they just did some high speed runs or so. Maybe they were beginning students? In the end we saw almost all of the aircraft on the inventory, but we didn't see a single one fly!
When we read everything off inside the hangars and were convinced they wouldn't fly we decided to take a quick look at Komatsushima as well. It was already getting late, but you never know.....
JMSDF Komatsushima
8240 SH-60J 24 Kok, old c/s
8257 SH-60J 24 Kok, new c/s
8261 SH-60J 24 Kok, new c/s
8265 SH-60J 24 Kok, new c/s
8273 SH-60J 24 Kok, new c/s
8285 SH-60J 24 Kok, old c/s
8161 HSS-2B pr, unknown marking on tail looking like: ]
9010 T-34A pr, no mks
When we arrived one Seahawk was bashing the circuit, so we could take some nice pictures. Then we decided to drive around the base, to the beach side, and walk along the fence here to read off a few more inside the hangars. While we were here two Seahawks started doing some more circuits, and they passed us a few times in a very photogenetic way! But apparently the pilots were not too happy with us under the approach, since they alarmed the guards who politely asked us to leave this spot. Well, we had some nice pics of flying Seahawks (in both the old and the new c/s) so we were very happy anyway. Noteworthy by the way is that we didn't see a single new SH-60K here (nor at Kanoya). Those are not really spread around the country yet apparently.
After this we again had a long drive ahead of us, to Komaki this time. This was one of the few nights we hadn't had a hotel booked in advance, and when we finally got to Komaki we couldn't find one! All we found were the so-called love hotels, but since we didn't understand how to get in and book a room (there is no staff available since everything is anonymous) we ended up sleeping in our car again, next to the airfield. We left a window a little bit open for fresh air, but that was an open invitation to all mosquitos within a range of three miles or so. When it finally got a little light and I gave up trying to ignore them it turned out our whole car was filled with them. No wonder I heard the buzzing all night! And of course Frank managed to sleep through all of this.....
Anyway, it was a very sucesfull day again.
As always comments, additions or corrections are very welcome, and I'll try to do the last three days soon.
That's all folks!
Frank Mink & Patrick Dirksen
Tristar Aviation