You win some, you lose some.

Frustration can often be the unwelcome companion when spotting aircraft, especially those of the pointy-nosed zoom-zoom variety flown by the military. Given the post 9/11 society we're all part of, catching the latest and greatest military hardware can often be an exercise in futility or, at best, a collection of  so-so images.

Such was the case last week when I was up in Anchorage, Alaska where Elmendorf AFB has some of those sleek sexy F-22 Raptors. The main 06/24 runway is quite a distance from any good viewpoint and unfortunately they didn't utilize 16/34 at all during my time there. Red Flag 10-1 was going on but weather, family commitments and the plain lack of decent viewpoints made this the anti-climax of my week. Supper with some old friends confirmed what I had heard: the arrival of the Raptors had also brought lots of locked gates. But the time wasn't a total bust for the military birds. On two seperate days I caught movements into Elmendorf while photographing over at the Anchorage Airport: One a JSDF E-767 AWACS and the other a very marginal F-22.

 

Now the happy moment for the mil planes was when this lovely Coast Guard HC-130H pulled off the runway at Anchorage Int'l popping the tail strobe, throwing propwash around and leaving the tell-tale trail from the 4 turboprop engines. Big smiles all around when 1708 came past.

So while the military end of things was not exactly a screaming success I did get one nice Coastie image and have my work cut out for my next trip up yonder.