Official Plane Spotting Thread II

[Omega23]

Ah..., that clearly explained the high pitch whistling noise that I had often heard from the Fighting Falcons during their final approach into RWY 36 of WSAT. Your remarkable knowledge of military aviation is indeed impressive. :thumbsup:

Just extremly curios, did you capture those photos of the F-15SG Strike Eagles from where I think you are. :think:

The angle of the F-15SG Strike Eagle relative to your position seems to indicate that we might have quite possibly been capturing the same birds at the same place and at the same time. :sweatsm:

I see, thanks for the clarification. It's been a while since I saw your guys popping biological FOD at WSSS. ;p

I am a resident of Boon Lay do we stay around the same area?

 

[9V-Orion Images]

I am a resident of Boon Lay do we stay around the same area?

Nope but I have family members living in the area and it is also where I get my shots from.


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Republic of Singapore Airforce (RSAF) G550-CAEW
RSAF 111 Squadron "Jaeger" @ Tengah Airbase (TAB)/WSAT

RSAF S/N. 010
Manufacturer S/N. <<< Unknown >>>​

Butt shot only, simply because the Rolls Royce BR710C4-11 are so, so, so quiet and the G550-CAEW didn't conduct a go around. Good thing my computer desk is facing the wall with a window at the side so I could just grab my camera and capture a photo of it as it flew past just in time without me having to even stand up from my seat. :lovegrin:

 

[9V-Orion Images]

Republic of Singapore Airforce (RSAF) G550-CAEW
112 Squadron @ Changi Air Base (CAB (West))/WSAC

RSAF S/N. 751
Manufacturer S/N. 18232​

A 49 years old (golden jubilee next year!) KC-135R Stratotanker decided to drop by at WSAT the other day for a number of touch-and-go landing practices in somewhat less than ideal environmental conditions for photography.

This particular airframe has an extremely long history behind her being originally constructed as a derivative of the prototype Boeing 367-80 “Dash (-) 80”, a legacy of the jet age. A majority of her life was spent serving with the Air Mobility Command (AMC), United States Air Force (USAF) and was last operated by one of the squadrons in the 22d Operations Group (22 OG), 22d Air Refuelling Wing (22 ARW) based at McConnell Air Force Base (AFB) as a KC-135A Stratotanker (61-0325).

61-0325 was then retired from active duty and kept in storage at the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) before being sold to the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) and upgraded under the Rockwell Collins Pacer CRAG (Compass, Radar and GPS) program, re-engined with CFM56-2B series high-bypass turbofans and equipped with Boeing Multi-Point Refuelling System (MPRS).

 

[beanokim]

9V, your knowledge of military planes is even better than mine! I know that our tankers were refurbished but had no idea which squadron operated them.

Thanks for sharing the pictures. Sometimes a gloomy day can be perfect for b&w photography. Especially for older airframes like the KC-135. Gives it that old nostalgic look and feel. I hope I am not offending the crews from 112 SQN. They are a fine group of aviators.

AMARG... that's a nice way of saying "boneyard". That's what everyone else calls it! It's really quite an impressive sight when you get to Davis Monthan AFB. Rows and rows of jets as far as the eye can see.

... and the MPRS is also an impressive system. Very clean and able to support both boom and probe and drogue operations at the same time. USAF tankers have to fit the basket to the end of the boom and it just dangles off the end which really looks odd to say the least... Go Twister!

A 49 years old (golden jubilee next year!) KC-135R Stratotanker decided to drop by at WSAT the other day for a number of touch-and-go landing practices in somewhat less than ideal environmental conditions for photography.

This particular airframe has an extremely long history behind her being originally constructed as a derivative of the prototype Boeing 367-80 &#8220;Dash (-) 80&#8221;, a legacy of the jet age. A majority of her life was spent serving with the Air Mobility Command (AMC), United States Air Force (USAF) and was last operated by one of the squadrons in the 22d Operations Group (22 OG), 22d Air Refuelling Wing (22 ARW) based at McConnell Air Force Base (AFB) as a KC-135A Stratotanker (61-0325).

61-0325 was then retired from active duty and kept in storage at the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) before being sold to the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) and upgraded under the Rockwell Collins Pacer CRAG (Compass, Radar and GPS) program, re-engined with CFM56-2B series high-bypass turbofans and equipped with Boeing Multi-Point Refuelling System (MPRS).​

​

 

[HomeAtTemasek]

Republic of Singapore Airforce (RSAF) G550-CAEW
112 Squadron @ Changi Air Base (CAB (West))/WSAC

RSAF S/N. 751
Manufacturer S/N. 18232​

The aircrew will not be happy

 

[9V-Orion Images]

9V, your knowledge of military planes is even better than mine! I know that our tankers were refurbished but had no idea which squadron operated them.

Thanks for sharing the pictures. Sometimes a gloomy day can be perfect for b&w photography. Especially for older airframes like the KC-135. Gives it that old nostalgic look and feel. I hope I am not offending the crews from 112 SQN. They are a fine group of aviators.

AMARG... that's a nice way of saying "boneyard". That's what everyone else calls it! It's really quite an impressive sight when you get to Davis Monthan AFB. Rows and rows of jets as far as the eye can see.

... and the MPRS is also an impressive system. Very clean and able to support both boom and probe and drogue operations at the same time. USAF tankers have to fit the basket to the end of the boom and it just dangles off the end which really looks odd to say the least... Go Twister!

Well..., plenty of data and information can be obtained from the internet simply by googling and searching up both the registration number (or RSAF serial number (sn) in this case) and construction number (cn)/Manufacturer's Serial Number (MSN) together among the many online aviation databases available as a start.

The background information on 751/18232 though unverified as I had not yet been able to cross-referenced the multiple sources together due to a lack of time, should be accurate to a certain extent provided the RSAF had not happily swap the serial number with any of the other KC-135R Stratotankers.

Here's another one that I had posted previously...

KC-135A Stratotanker, USAF S/N. 63-8016 (C/N. 18633), operated by the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing (379 AEW) based at Wurtsmith Air Force Base (AFB), from 1963 to 1994...

Airliners.Net, Boeing KC-135R (USAF S/N. 63-8016 (C/N. 18633)).
Photo ID No. 0710121 By Boscombe Down.

... and transferred to RSAF between 1999 and 2000 as RSAF S/N. 753 (C/N. 18633) from Boeing Company, currently operated by the 112 Sqn based at Changi Air Base (West).

Airliners.Net, Boeing KC-135R (RSAF S/N. 753 (C/N. 18633)).
Photo ID No. 0952804 By Eduard Brantjes.

 

[9V-Orion Images]

The aircrew will not be happy

Opps..., silly me. That is what happened when I don't double check after copying and pasting the text from the previous posting. My bad. :sweat:

 

[KeeFy]

Some pictures i got from the RedBull air race. Had some gear in the car and decided to try and take a few. That was my first time taking planes. Any tips on composure?

 

[Canew]

​

9V-Orion Images, what is the orange strip running along the aircraft?

TIA for replies.
​

 

[9V-Orion Images]

Some pictures i got from the RedBull air race. Had some gear in the car and decided to try and take a few. That was my first time taking planes. Any tips on composure?

From what I had observed and in the case of most ground-to-air aviation photography, photographers often prefer to position their subject in the center of the frame rather than abide by the 1/3 rule as the blank spaces of empty sky adds absolutely nothing to the overall composition. Though for shots 1 and 2, I would have prefer if the aerobatics aircrafts was positioned somewhere along the top left of the frame instead to take advantage of the leading lines element provided by the smoke trails. Each to his own I guess.

The Red Bull Air Race seems really exciting and I saw a participant crashing his plane into water just last week on the news. I wonder if whether the CAAS and STB will consider hosting them here in Singapore? :think:

 

[HomeAtTemasek]

Republic of Singapore Airforce (RSAF) G550-CAEW
112 Squadron @ Changi Air Base (CAB (West))/WSAC

RSAF S/N. 751
Manufacturer S/N. 18232​

A 49 years old (golden jubilee next year!) KC-135R Stratotanker decided to drop by at WSAT the other day for a number of touch-and-go landing practices in somewhat less than ideal environmental conditions for photography.

This particular airframe has an extremely long history behind her being originally constructed as a derivative of the prototype Boeing 367-80 “Dash (-) 80”, a legacy of the jet age. A majority of her life was spent serving with the Air Mobility Command (AMC), United States Air Force (USAF) and was last operated by one of the squadrons in the 22d Operations Group (22 OG), 22d Air Refuelling Wing (22 ARW) based at McConnell Air Force Base (AFB) as a KC-135A Stratotanker (61-0325).

61-0325 was then retired from active duty and kept in storage at the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) before being sold to the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) and upgraded under the Rockwell Collins Pacer CRAG (Compass, Radar and GPS) program, re-engined with CFM56-2B series high-bypass turbofans and equipped with Boeing Multi-Point Refuelling System (MPRS).

9V-Orion Images, what is the orange strip running along the aircraft?

TIA for replies.
​

[/CENTER]

It should be a row of lights.
I'm pretty sure that's it for the refueling pilot to line up his aircraft.

 

[9V-Orion Images]

9V-Orion Images, what is the orange strip running along the aircraft?

TIA for replies.

I can't really be 100% sure but I strongly suspect those are actually retroreflective stripes (another 2 more at the forward end of the main orange or yellow stripe) whose purposes are meant to guide a fuel receiving aircraft towards aligning and maintaining formation with the centerline telescoping refuelling boom.

The stripes should show up extremely well in the absolute darkness of the night sky through a Night Vision Device (NVD) and must be extremely useful considering all navigation lights and strobe lights of the aircraft are switched off during a combat operation so as to comply with light discipline measures.

 

[Canew]

It should be a row of lights.
I'm pretty sure that's it for the refueling pilot to line up his aircraft.

I can't really be 100% sure but I strongly suspect those are actually retroreflective stripes (another 2 more at the forward end of the main orange or yellow stripe) whose purposes are meant to guide a fuel receiving aircraft towards aligning and maintaining formation with the centerline telescoping refuelling boom.

The stripes should show up extremely well in the absolute darkness of the night sky through a Night Vision Device (NVD) and must be extremely useful considering all navigation lights and strobe lights of the aircraft are switched off during a combat operation so as to comply with light discipline measures.

HomeAtTemasek, 9V-Orion Images, thanks for the replies. I am sure that you guys are right.

 

[9V-Orion Images]

Some photos of a KC-135R Stratotanker that popped like a balloon, plenty of such goons walking around that "had always done it that way". :sweat:

 

[KeeFy]

From what I had observed and in the case of most ground-to-air aviation photography, photographers often prefer to position their subject in the center of the frame rather than abide by the 1/3 rule as the blank spaces of empty sky adds absolutely nothing to the overall composition. Though for shots 1 and 2, I would have prefer if the aerobatics aircrafts was positioned somewhere along the top left of the frame instead to take advantage of the leading lines element provided by the smoke trails. Each to his own I guess.

The Red Bull Air Race seems really exciting and I saw a participant crashing his plane into water just last week on the news. I wonder if whether the CAAS and STB will consider hosting them here in Singapore? :think:

The crash happened during the practice session. I read about it as well but was not there to witness it. Thanks for the tips! I'll try again at the next air race next time with my 7d and 70-200 with a x2 tc instead. Than ks!

 

[beanokim]

Actually that yellow line doesn't light up and is not reflective. It's meant to help the pilots line up with the tanker but nobody really looks at it. You just put the end of the boom right in front of you and go straight into it. The boomer will move it away from you and into position. That's the role of the boomer.

The two strips to the left and right of the long yellow line are called the director lights. They light up automatically after contact. One side has the letters A and F, the other has U and D on each end. You just add the words "GO" to each and viola! i.e. GO Aft, GO Forward, GO Up or GO Down. If you're in the sweet spot then you will see two green lights telling you you're golden. Otherwise a series of red arrows and the corresponding A or F and U or D will light up. One other light that is very important is the breakaway light. It's a red strobe that will flash at you if you scare the boomer by jamming the boom and he wants you to get away from him. If the lights fail at night then good luck, one would wish for a full moon as all you have left is the silhouette of the tanker and comms with the boomer to stay in position.

The lights are also not NVG compatible as you can't use NVGs for tanking due to the lack of depth perception and narrow field of view. In any case, if you're operating in an area where there's a chance you might get shot at you'd better go somewhere else to tank!

I can't really be 100% sure but I strongly suspect those are actually retroreflective stripes (another 2 more at the forward end of the main orange or yellow stripe) whose purposes are meant to guide a fuel receiving aircraft towards aligning and maintaining formation with the centerline telescoping refuelling boom.

The stripes should show up extremely well in the absolute darkness of the night sky through a Night Vision Device (NVD) and must be extremely useful considering all navigation lights and strobe lights of the aircraft are switched off during a combat operation so as to comply with light discipline measures.

 

[Canew]

Actually that yellow line doesn't light up and is not reflective. It's meant to help the pilots line up with the tanker but nobody really looks at it. You just put the end of the boom right in front of you and go straight into it. The boomer will move it away from you and into position. That's the role of the boomer.

The two strips to the left and right of the long yellow line are called the director lights. They light up automatically after contact. One side has the letters A and F, the other has U and D on each end. You just add the words "GO" to each and viola! i.e. GO Aft, GO Forward, GO Up or GO Down. If you're in the sweet spot then you will see two green lights telling you you're golden. Otherwise a series of red arrows and the corresponding A or F and U or D will light up. One other light that is very important is the breakaway light. It's a red strobe that will flash at you if you scare the boomer by jamming the boom and he wants you to get away from him. If the lights fail at night then good luck, one would wish for a full moon as all you have left is the silhouette of the tanker and comms with the boomer to stay in position.

The lights are also not NVG compatible as you can't use NVGs for tanking due to the lack of depth perception and narrow field of view. In any case, if you're operating in an area where there's a chance you might get shot at you'd better go somewhere else to tank!

Wah! A in depth reply from beanokim. Thanks Bro.

 

[gilcrest]

Caught this F5 during lunch break with one hand

 

[harper]

Caught this F5 during lunch break with one hand

nice...

 

[9V-Orion Images]

Actually that yellow line doesn't light up and is not reflective. It's meant to help the pilots line up with the tanker but nobody really looks at it. You just put the end of the boom right in front of you and go straight into it. The boomer will move it away from you and into position. That's the role of the boomer.

The two strips to the left and right of the long yellow line are called the director lights. They light up automatically after contact. One side has the letters A and F, the other has U and D on each end. You just add the words "GO" to each and viola! i.e. GO Aft, GO Forward, GO Up or GO Down. If you're in the sweet spot then you will see two green lights telling you you're golden. Otherwise a series of red arrows and the corresponding A or F and U or D will light up. One other light that is very important is the breakaway light. It's a red strobe that will flash at you if you scare the boomer by jamming the boom and he wants you to get away from him. If the lights fail at night then good luck, one would wish for a full moon as all you have left is the silhouette of the tanker and comms with the boomer to stay in position.

The lights are also not NVG compatible as you can't use NVGs for tanking due to the lack of depth perception and narrow field of view. In any case, if you're operating in an area where there's a chance you might get shot at you'd better go somewhere else to tank!

Thank you Beanokim for taking the effort to correct the misunderstanding in my previous posting regarding the yellow stripe on the belly of the KC-135R Stratotanker. That was an extremely informative post and I had learned something new from it.

Caught this F5 during lunch break with one hand

The squadron could really complete the RSAF F-5 Tiger II 30th anniversary paint scheme with yellow stripes instead. ;p