Day 11, Tsuiki - Ozuki, 09/11
  We
only woke up not very far from the sunny and warm Nyutabaru,
but once again it seemed that we would have no luck at Tsuiki.
It was cold again with around 10°C and cloudy. As we already
knew the location of the airfield the spot was quickly found
in the morning, after the usual stop at a coffee vendor machine
of course. The spot at the quay turned out to be very nice
for taxi and take-off photos of the local F-15s, F-2s and
of course the few remaining Mitsubishi F-1s. But in the morning
it was still quiet and we spend our timelooking around, freezing
and dreaming of the warm morning the last two days at Nyutabaru.
With the blue Phantoms at Misawa and the Aggressors only the
F-1 was missing on our list of the important jets to be nicely
photographed.
Finally the first round ofseven F-15s took off at 08h45 and
was followed by some F-2s, only two F-1s and also a T-4. All
of these types had even some sunny spells of the sun that
was trying to fight against the clouds, but unfortunately
lost on the long run during that day…
F-15s & F-2s
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 Of
course we we re
controlled there as well, this time from the inside of the
base andfrom the outside as well. After the second round on
midday we left this position when the first F-1s took-off
and were looking for a new spot at the other end of the runway.
We found one, but unfortunately we had to look over a very
high fence with our ladders, and the aircraft were still very
far away when the dropped of their landing brakes. The combination
of the cloudy weather and very long lenses reulted unfortunately
in very poor photos. At least it made our farewell to the
F-1 not too hard and we got our car ready to leave Kyushu,
heading to Iwakuni.
F-1s
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Tsuiki visitors
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  Driving
along the coastline on the highway was really fast compared
to the route we took some days ago from Fukuoka. This even
allowed ous to make a short photo stop at the bridge that
is connecting the two Japanese islands that we visited during
our trip.
On the way to Iwakuni we planned a stop at Hofu and Ozuki,
but did not have enough time anymore to do both. We decided
theefore to give Ozuki a go, as this would bring us
a new aircraft type. The JMSDF airbase with its local Fuji
T-5 (the official designation is Fuji KM-2A) is responsible
for the training of young Japanese Navy pilots. With a lot
of arcraft circling above the airfield it was found in nearly
no time and a good photo spot was also available. The fence
with its height of around 1,50m around the airfield was no
obstacle for us, a lot less then the tree line which gave
only some small gaps for good photos. Obviously the soldiers
were not very used to spotters there, because a ot of joggers
stared at us with open eyes, and one was even afraid that
we might try to jump over the fence. But a short conversation
resulted in "Photography, OK!". We only took some
photos there and left before the security arrived, because
we were not in the mood to answer the same questions as that
day in the morning once again.
Ozuki
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At the local 7/11 I got  some
nice noodles to prepare for the rest of the drive to Iwakuni.
Unfortunately the highway was still blocked due to a landslide
and we got stuck in a traffic jam that did cost us a lot of
time. The search for the youth hostel was once again very
difficult as the indication in the guide was once more a spot
that could be everywhere in the next few kilometers, additionally
surrounded by many one-way streets. But finally we found it,
of course…, and once more and were warmly welcomed.
As the hostel was nicely located highabove the city on the
edge of a forrest and near a temple it was obvious that it
was very hard to find. To get something to eat that evening
we had to go back to the city, where we also found a supermarket
and got something for our next day's breakfasts, and some
fruits for a change. At a Hokka-Hokka-Tai nearby we bought
some take-away dishes that we enjoyed back in the youth hostel
together with a good beer because of the success on the southern
island! Before going to bed we did not take a bath that time
because it did not look to confident. Furthermore the room
was not very warm and with our colds that might have not been
a good idea as well. Once more we said "Good night"
on the rice mat…
-> Iwakuni
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