Day 3, Misawa - Hachinohe, 01/11
Misawa was the reason for our detour up high in the
north of the main island because of the famous blue Phantoms
that are based there with the 8 Hikotai.
 After
the dull day at Matshusima we have been greeted by a sunny,
and very cold, morning on the northest point of our trip.
Driving through the city centre of Misawa we all quickly realized
the connection of Misawa with aviation as we saw the silhouette
of a red plane throughout the city, but more on that later.
We arrived a bit too early at the airport because the visitor's
deck was still closed. "Open 8, open 8" we were
informed by an employee and while waiting for the opening
I enjoyed my first can of hot coffee(!) out of an distributor
and tried to recover from my cold. Standing there we already
heard jet sound and spotted a blue single-seater F-2A. Of
course our arrival at the airport was not unnoticed because
after some minutes on the visitor deck, that finally opened
after the F-2 has been towed away…, some "guards"
already arrived and were followed shortly afterwards by two
officials. The control was very friendly once again and we
were also once more allowed to continue photography while
they were checking our passports. But on the same time that
was also very demanding because the traffic became really
busy: 2 squadrons of American F-16s with the WW tail code
and the 8 Hikotai of the JASDF were already very busy with
flying and during the interview we heard the familiar sound
of the J79 and some grey F-4EJs appeared from behind some
trees. In between an E-2C Hawkeye of 601 Hikotai also took
off and during the day we should also see an EP-3E! From others
we have learned that the blue Phantoms are very rare to see,
but suddenly 1 … 2 … 3 phabulous blue Phantoms appeared
on the last chance and we fired away. Photographs of course.
One single F-4, all three of them, two with some other grey
Phantom taking off in the background. I do not know how many
photos we have taken there, but that sight and feeling is
unforgettable!
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When they all took off we went back to our car and were looking
for the spot in the approach, which is the only other possibility
to take photos there, though the jets are still quite high.
With a changing cloudiness it was a lot of gambling to get
a sunny Phantom, and did not have a lot of luck. Besides an
RF-4E and the unique EC-1 that we could photograph with light
:)
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Around midday we furthermore had a look at the Misawa Aviation
& Science Museum that is also located at the airport and
discovered the red bulky plane, "Miss Veedol". We
learned that it was the first aircraft to cross the Pacific
Ocean and started here at Misawa in 1931. We hurried taking
photos of the exhibition and also encountered our first T-1
there. While we spent our time there the second (or third?)
wave let we airfield and we tried once again tried our luck
at the beginning of the afternoon. After finally one well
lit Phantom and even two Hawkeyes we left to Hachinohe.
Misawa Aviation & Science Museum
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 Hachinohe
is a base of the Japanese Maritme Self-Defence Force (JMSDF)
and home of the 2 Kokugun, that mainly operates P-3C Orions
within the 2 and 3 Kokutai. Around one and a half hour before
sunset we arrived at the base and were able to take some nice
photos from the fence. Of course we were not fast enough there
with our ladders and had another security check. But no problem
once again and some nice Orions were on film/chip. We decided
to also have a look at the spot in the approach, which was
in the middle of industrial plants. After waiting for a long
time we saw a smoky trail on the horizon right as we wanted
to leave and were able to photograph a flying Orion at the
end of the day.
 What
a wonderful time we had in the north!!
We made our way back to the highway and started driving back
south again to Hyakuri. I was very silent in the car, besides
the radio that was playing a Dire Straits CD. We were blessed
with a marvellous landscape, wooded hills with no houses in
sight and the sun was about to set. Even if we did not know
what would still await us, that prelude was perfect.
After some hours on the road (11.800Y toll) we arrived at
Hyakuri at half past ten and were not able to find a hotel,
not even a love hotel. No wonder as we were nearly in the
middle of nowhere. As it was nearly midnight it did not make
a lot of sense to continue our search and pay for a room for
some hours. So we decided to drive to the airfield and look
there for a quiet place that we soon found along a small farm
track in between some trees. Time to get some sleep in our
sleeping bags that we badly needed because of the low outside
temperatures.
-> Hyakuri
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