Japan Airshows 2020

[Stilwell]

Hi Uni,

> I only want to know if you have read my second messages of this column.
> Because your question(s) is(are) one of the FAQ for me, and I'm trying to answer it (them) on my second message.
> If the message is not enough to explain for what you want, please tell me it(them).
> I'll review it(them). (Surely, I know my English is quite poor !)

Don’t worry – your English is good. The question that Jamie asked is not covered by your emails at the top of the thread.
He asked:

> Me and my friend will be spending four days near MCAS Iwakuni this April.
> Do you know the level of activities seen throughout the day and roughly how many Hornets
> (including Supers) are expected to be seen in a day?

And it is a good question – on one trip I did (late in the year, not in April), I stayed at Iwakuni for a week, and up until Thursday the USMC activity was very quiet. Then on Thursday evening one and two half squadrons of USMC Hornets and three Prowlers returned from an Exercise on Guam.

And back in September 2004, the group I was with had our base visit cancelled because one of the USMC Hornet squadrons deployed on that day, so they were too busy to host us. So we stood on the sea wall and photographed them departing, along with two KC-130s and a KC-10. In the rain.

One of the replies to Jamie’s question then warned about the USN CAW embarking, which is a matter that is answered in your opening posts.

I don’t have a good answer to Jamie’s question – the last time I was at Iwakuni in (early) April was in 2009. On the Monday the USMC didn’t fly (the JMSDF did), but the USMC flew through the rest of the week. As for the USN, I visited Atsugi in mid April in 2017, and the USN were flying as normal.

US flying may be reduced or stopped at Easter (10-13 April), but I am not aware of any US public holidays which could have an effect. JMSDF may not fly on the Japanese holiday on 29 April.

But without knowledge of any exercises that may take place, I don’t know of any reason why there would not be a normal level of US flight operations (I'm not sure I can put a number to how many movements that is, though).
Unless the weather is bad (April is pretty good in my experience), or if they just decide not to.

Unless someone who has been there in April in the last few years posts a reply, the best bet for more detail is http://tomura.lolipop.jp/, Although what I understand to be the link for April 2019:
http://tomura.lolipop.jp/large/02019/sl ... de.04.html
appears to be broken.

April 2018 looks reasonable:
http://tomura.lolipop.jp/18/large/02018 ... de.04.html
With a good proportion of Runway 20 operations.

Jonathan.

[Uni]

Thank you every time, Jonathan !

[Uni]

Hi all,
Because of the COVID-19, almost all the events of JSDF and US bases in Japan are cancelled or postponed until early April.
There is a possibility that the events of mid-Apr. to early May will be cancelled or postponed.
The situations are changing day by day, so please check the latest infos. by yourself.

Uni

[Stilwell]

To track the spread of the COVID-19 virus in Japan, I use:

https://www.coromap.info/

To give an idea of where it is. The individual patient write-ups can be copied into Google Translate.
The person running the site usually takes a day or two to transcribe the Health Ministry reports onto the map, and changes the flags from red to green when a patient is reported to have recovered.

https://covid19japan.com/

Gives an idea of the detection (and recovery) rate over time. While the detection rate remains an upward slope, expect event cancelations and disruption.

Jonathan.

[Le Addeur noir]

The Japanese government are mulling increased restrictions on movement by the local population, possibly including a lockdown.

Most non-Japanese citizens reading this are currently barred from entering Japan effective from today. This is expected to be in place until the end of April, and may well be extended.

[Stilwell]

For anyone looking for a ”fix” of Japanese Aviation at the moment:
As well as the live stream from on top of the Naha Airport domestic terminal here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWzx-v ... 3oXhWOK1FA

or here:

https://www.qab.co.jp/livenahacity/

There is a YouTube channel which is currently streaming daily from Senaga Island, off the southern end of the Naha runways:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-iKt6 ... _kXRfPY7Jw

Not too many military movements at the moment as it is Golden Week, and I’m not sure how long it will continue for, but in the absence of being able to go there myself, it is better than nothing.

Jonathan.

[orange]

Blue Impulse have announced there will be no more demonstration flights this year.

The airshows at Iruma (3 Nov) en Nyuta (6 Dec) have also been cancelled.