After a busy start to his Japanese trip, Paul Filmer has a quieter day shooting training aircraft and much more serene scenes.
T-5 © Paul Filmer – www.globalaviationresource.com
Our first visit was to Ozuki Air Base next to the town of Shimonoseki, which is located by the sea on the Tsushima Strait. The base is operated by the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF) and here they fly the Fuji T-5 side-by-side primary trainer. The town is known for the puffer fish they harvest and eat, but unfortunately we didn’t have time to sample the wares.
T-5 © Paul Filmer – www.globalaviationresource.com
As the airfield in next to the sea, there are very few spots to get photos, but after driving around lots of roads next to fields and irrigation ditches, we found a spot where we shot the departures from. The weather was grey, but we eventually got some pockets of sun peeking out.
T-5 © Paul Filmer – www.globalaviationresource.com
One T-5 took-off with what looked like its rear tie-down still attached, but at least another two aircraft were flying with the same attachment, so I can’t be sure if these really were tie-downs or not.
T-5 © Paul Filmer – www.globalaviationresource.com
Our second airfield this morning, and not a very long drive from Ozuki, was Hofu-kita Air Base operated by the Japan Air Self-Defence Force (JASDF), and is again a primary trainer base.
T-7 © Paul Filmer – www.globalaviationresource.com
Here they operate the Fuji T-7 tandem trainer.
T-7 © Paul Filmer – www.globalaviationresource.com
Again we drove around lots of really tiny roads next to fields and houses, and found a couple of spots to shoot from.
T-7 © Paul Filmer – www.globalaviationresource.com
Both airfields are really close to homes and farming, and it was nice to see the day to day agricultural activities happening around us.
