29 May 2009

Military Movement

Whether it corresponds with North Korea's sabre-rattling or not is up for debate but Hickam has been a very busy place recently. A number of KC-135R tankers have arrived and departed from numerous bases on the mainland and 6 F-22 Raptors from Langley AFB, VA (tail code FF) were accompanied by another half dozen yesterday afternoon. 5 of the first 6 departed today around noon, with one left behind likely due to maintenance. 

The sight of a pair of C-2 Grayhounds coming and going over the past few days meant that a carrier was near. Yesterday, the 28th did indeed see an aircraft carrier steam into Pearl Harbor late in the morning with a deck full of F-18 E/F Super Hornets.

Also of note was a US Marine Corps C-130 that departed yesterday and returned not long after on the LDA approach, landing on runway 26 right with the #1 propeller feathered and crash-rescue trucks following them back to Hickam as a precaution. 

Sorry, no photos due to the poor weather conditions.

4 comments:

Blue Wave 707 said...

Saw those F-22As depart HNL's Rwy 8R with a KC-10A and KC-135R following the fighters.

Safe to assume we'll be seeing more fighters pass through HIK in the coming weeks.

naugusta said...

Great recap. There have also been eastbound movements of F-22's followed by a KC-10's.

Moku Pics said...

according to the air force times, the F-22s are on a planned deployment to Kadena AFB, Okinawa and North Korea isn't pleased.
Also, i was in error on the counts. 6 departed yesterday but one remained from the first group and was replaced by one from the second group. So, now there are 5 in one row and a single jet in the other row.

Moku Pics said...

UPDATE: monday 1 June saw 4 F-22s depart the reef runway at approximately 1015. They actually seemed noisier than F-15s.