Greetings,
I know this is a bit long...
I made my way down to Norfolk NAS to get the Spanish Air Force (AME) 707-300. It was operating as a support aircraft for the F-18s that were returning from Red Flag 16-4. USAF KC-10s provided refueling for the F-18s. This aircraft has been the bane of my aviation photography existence for 13 years and I am glad to finally have gotten the opportunity to photograph it.The reality still has not sunk in yet. T.17-3 was supposed to be retired a few months ago but apparently its still flying. Since my initial Failure to shoot this aircraft in 2003 when it flew as "Aeromexico "AMX4505" for "Cinco de Mayo" ADW-JFK-ADW I had missed it and the change over from the 707 to straight A310s killed any chance to get it in NY during the UNGA. Any Further "Cinco de Mayo" celebrations in DC or JFK were Falcon 900 and or A310s after that- and yes I drove four hours hoping the 707 flew in but when shooting at ADW all I saw was the F900 on the ramp. The second time in MIA "Commercial Jet Aviation told me I had just missed the plane by two hours. I was then was given even more bad news by the owner. He stated that after a decade or so the SPAF cancelled the contract and will on longer be flying the 707 to MIA for Maintenance. And more recently with the imminent retirement of this 707 I had given up but all hope. The trip to Norfolk was was totally unplanned and I was not expecting to be in Norfolk for 5 days (Aug 25th-29th. I was hoping to get down to NGU shoot the plane and head back north. Unfortunately the 707 departed one hour before I got to NGU. After two days of waiting and under the cover of darkness) REALLY???) the AME 707 decides to fly back to NGU from Las Vegas. The disappointment was unbearable and asked myself how much longer must I bare this Cross that gets heavier with each passing day. Fortunately night shots are possible at NGU and I managed to get some daytime shots the following day.
As a side note the following morning the 707 departed from NGU to Spain it made a hard left turn and it flew directly over my house at 37,000FT and I managed to get a few overflight shots just before T.17-3 disappeared behind the clouds.
Shots below are mainly of the 707,F-18s and the P-3.
Senga
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