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24-10 Misawa (Monday) After an early breakfast with fresh milk from the youth
hostel farm we were off to Misawa to be on the viewing promenade at 08:00 for the changing of the QRA. On arrival you could hear the J-79. The viewing promenade opens at 08:00 and not 07:55 according to the guard. So at 08:00 a made a dash
upstairs and yes there it was: our first blue F-4EJ and a little later we had 4 of them. Not a bad start: four F-4’s in fifteen minutes. We did not even have our morning coffee yet.
According to most guides the viewing promenade was not the best place for taking pictures, but the .6 extra you have with digital photography made it the best place to
be. During our stay here we had the first encounter with the police who wanted to interview us about what we where doing. It is amazing how polite they are. They even stop talking letting you take pictures of the passing aircraft. At this
point preparations where taking place for the arrival of a domestic flight of Japan Airlines. In preparation for arrival of the aircraft a group of about 10 men were busy for more than an hour to clean the platform by hand. We don’t have
unemployment: we have Japan Airlines. |
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After the F-4, F-2 and T-4 is was time for the E-2 to start flying so before 10:00 we had more than our share of the JSDAF present at the base. At that
moment the Americans started flying and there where lots of F-16 in the air in no time. A lucky break that morning was an RF-4EJ that was temporarily based at Misawa, giving a great photo opportunity in the landing. At that point it was
time to go to the museum, which turned out to be closed on Mondays as are most museums in Japan, so be aware not to go to a museum on Monday. We also had to let go the of the nice collection there. The next field that day was Hachinohe, a
Japanese Navy field. By now we had worked out the navigation system and by zooming in we pointed the map towards the spotters place and off we were. On arrival there were P-3’s doing the circuits, joined by some Army choppers. After
standing at the fence for a while, we noticed our first white Toyota with two men in black suits. Before they could ask their questions we were on our way back to Sendai, with them trailing behind. During our stay we would have more then
one encounter with the white Toyota’s.
This time the youth hostel in Sendai was easily found. We spend a very nice evening with a Japanese spotter living in Sendai, exchanging information and getting to know
life in Japan a little bit better. |
