A simple rope fence and all of about ten feet of grass is all that gets between the photographer and RAF Valley’s VAHS ramp, with the visiting aircraft parked maybe twenty feet or so from the grass. No metal barriers, no cones and no people in hi-viz jackets wandering aimlessly about – what more can a photographer ask for? Any base considering a photocall could learn a thing or two from the V.A.S and RAF Valley people. Although obviously beyond the control of the said people, the folk in charge of the weather decided to throw changeable conditions into the mix such that the blue sky and fluffy white clouds soon gave way to overcast greyness which gave way to blue sky and fluffy white clouds which… well, OK, you get the idea.

Even taking into account the brief walk from the car park and the short period of time required to clear ‘customs’ as all bags were, understandably, being searched, aircraft had already arrived and beaten the early starters. Already on the ramp and basking in the glorious early morning sunshine, was a single SAOEU-marked Tornado GR.4 which, quite simply, dwarfed the tiny Bulldog T.1 parked alongside it. Further up the ramp towards the control tower was a single Hawk T.1A, belonging to Valley’s own 19(R) Squadron, the unit tasked with providing tactical weapons training to new students before they move on to the various OCUs, and a single 100 Squadron Hawk T.1A from RAF Leeming.

This unit is perhaps the most specialized of the Hawk units, Red Arrows not withstanding, with roles that include electronic warfare training and providing target facilities – something, I think you’ll agree, that is a little more out of the ordinary compared to the basic fastjet or weapons training that normally involve the Hawk. These were swiftly joined by the 208(R) Squadron 90th anniversary jet, wheeled out of a nearby hangar and dragged to a parking spot. In keeping with the “trainer theme” thus far, the number of participants was almost doubled by the arrival of a 1FTS/207(R) Squadron Tucano T.1 from RAF Linton-on-Ouse, 3FTS/55(R) Squadron’s special liveried Dominie T.1 and a single Grob G115E Tutor operated by the UWAS at RAF St Athan.  Bar the later arrival of the 90th anniversary liveried 3FTS/45(R) Squadron King Air 200 and DHFS/705(R) Squadron Squirrel HT.1 a little later that was pretty much it as far as the trainers went – it was front liner time!

First to arrive was a jet I was pretty chuffed to be able to photograph after just plain bad luck at RAF Coningsby, the fact that one was tucked out of the way at the Waddington airshow and on static at RIAT – a 3(F) Squadron Block 2B Typhoon F.2. Until joined by XI(F) Squadron, 3(F) are the only front-line operational Typhoon squadron in the RAF (literally living up to their motto of Tertius primus erit; or, in English, the third shall be the first) and join the Luftwaffe’s JG73 Steinhoff at Laage and JG74 Mölders at Neuberg, the AMI’s 4º Stormo at Grosseto and the EdA’s Ala 11 at Moron in having ‘proper’ operational Typhoons. With perhaps the smartest looking markings of any of the three RAF Typhoon squadrons, the codes worn now hark back to the historic World War II days of the Hurricane IIs and Typhoon IBs.

You may have guessed by now that the photocall participants were arriving throughout the course of the day – well, they depart too and had there been a competition for best departure, the crew in the SAOEU GR.4 would have taken the award by some margin. It was nothing that special at first as they cleaned up and banked away from the photographers and just seemed to disappear into the cloud over the Irish Sea – as you would have expected them to. Disappear is not an entirely accurate term though as shortly afterwards, with wings swept back right to their 67º limit, the Tornado came steaming in at what was probably less than 150ft with the speedometer nudging what must have been 500 to 600kts. Banking round the tower, the turn was maintained right over our heads – it came as that much of a surprise that I don’t know of anyone that managed to get a shot! Unfortunately this didn’t set a precedent as everything following seemed to make fairly standard departures. It is one experience of the Tonka I won’t forget in a hurry and I can completely understand why, in Iraq and Afghanistan, the simple act of a low-level, high-speed pass can help out the guys and girls on the ground. If only one word could be used to describe it then, well, I’m stuck – it really was that good and something that remained the subject of many a conversation. Basically, we had front row seats for watching a Tornado do what they do best... magic!

Previous years had lacked Harrier participation – 1(F) Squadron put that right this year by sending a pair along. Of the pair, one was a run of the mill GR.7 whereas the other was a GR.9, upgraded to the new standard by the BAe Joint Upgrade Maintenance Program (JUMP) at Warton. The GR.9 is basically a GR.7 with increased capabilities – new avionics such as the MIL-STD-1760 databus allows communication with the new “smart weapons” plus the new inertial navigation and global positioning system and associated electronics mean the GR.9 can employ Brimstone anti-armour (effectively a British AGM-114L Hellfire) and Storm Shadow missiles. There was also talk of ASRAAM integration but that idea would appear to have been nipped in the bud… given the fact that the ASRAAM doesn’t need a radar on the launch aircraft due to it being IR guided, adding a credible self-defence ability to the Harrier would seem logical. It would also bring back at least some degree of airborne self-defence to a Royal Navy carrier group and the ships and personnel therein prior to the arrival of HMS Queen Elizabeth, HMS Prince of Wales and the F-35 Lightning II (or “Plan B” if the UK involvement in the JSF project comes to an end). If you were wondering what makes a GR.9A different from the already upgraded GR.9 it’s the engine – a Pegasus 11-61 Mk 107 sits in the GR.9A where a Pegasus 11-21 Mk 105 would sit in the GR.9. With an additional 2,000lb of thrust, the Mk 107-equipped Harriers are more capable machines when operating from the deck of a carrier or in hot and high regions such as Afghanistan.

Valley’s normal day-to-day operations don’t change one little bit (well, they do after a Tornado has a bit of a “moment” but I’ll get on to that later) and all flight ops continue as normal which means, even if there’s a slack moment in the photocall proceedings, there is some action to watch all day long. In addition to being home to the seventy-odd Hawk T.1(A)s of 19(R) and 208(R) Squadrons, Valley hosts a detachment of two Sea King HAR.3As for SAR duties in the region (Irish Sea, Snowdonia, etc) together with the four Griffin HT.1s of the Defence Helicopter Flying School’s Search And Rescue Training Unit (SARTU). The Griffin is the name given to what is basically a Bell 412EP, which is, to all intents and purposes, a UH-1N mated to a four-blade main rotor with other, somewhat less obvious, enhancements and used, funnily enough, to train aircrews in the whys and wherefores of advanced helicopter flying. Ideally located to provide experience of pretty much all geographic features, every student at the DHFS goes on a short detachment at the SARTU. In addition to this provision of basic SAR training to all in the rotary winged community, SARTU provides additional training to those in the SAR community. Timings and clear airspace came together to allow one of SARTU’s Griffins to do an impromptu flypast of the assembled photographers which was certainly more than welcome.

It was hoped by many that 33 Squadron down at RAF Benson would send their specially marked 90th anniversary Puma HC.1 but, alas, ‘twas not to be. On a diet of what is probably the maintenance equivalent of Benylin and Lemsip, the said special Puma was replaced by a 230 Squadron machine from Aldergrove over in Northern Ireland. After shutting down, a fair number of guys in bright red immersion suits, literally looking like red versions of the Michelin Man, disembarked so just quite what they’d been up to on the way across is anyone’s guess! However, considering the 120 miles or so of Irish Sea between Ireland and Wales, such suits are probably a requirement before you so much as look at a Puma, let alone get in one to go feet wet. Based alongside 5 Regiment AAC Lynx AH.7s (655 Squadron), Gazelle AH.1s (665 Squadron) and Islanders (1 Flight), the main role of 230 Squadron’s Pumas is that of tactical transport; a role which sees them put more time on the airframes than their counterparts on 33 Squadron. The newest support helicopter in Joint Helicopter Command, a 28(AC) Squadron Merlin HC.3, was also in attendance – even with a commitment to supporting the Joint Helicopter Force (Iraq) 1419 Flight in Basrah, Southern Iraq which leaves ‘just’ eighteen Merlins at Benson, I’m surprised (in a good, impressed kind of way) we got a Merlin at all.

What came next was a very pleasant surprise – not just one but two normally quite elusive and usually quite camera-shy beasties dropped in for the afternoon... I hadn’t normally been very lucky with Apaches yet 2 Regiment / 673 Squadron thankfully came to my rescue. The WAH-64D Apache AH.1 is built under license by Westland (although the first eight of the 67 ordered were built by Boeing) and is quite a different kind of animal when compared to the US-spec AH-64D Apache Longbow. The biggest differences lie in the powerplant and rotor assembly – the WAH-64D has more powerful engines (the Rolls-Royce RTM322s in the WAH-64D are up to 40% more powerful than the GE T700s in AH-64Ds), anti-ice rotor protection and the ability to fold the rotor blades for embarkation on a ship such as HMS Ocean or HMS Ark Royal. The WAH-64D is also the first Apache type to be trialed at sea – not even the US have tried it. Of the AH-64 operators, you would have put good money on the Americans taking the Apache to sea first. Maybe it’s because the Marines use Cobras in place of Apaches but, whatever the reason, the UK did it first. Whilst 656 Squadron/9 Regiment are away giving the Taliban and their supporters a bit of a seeing to in the hilly bit between Russia and Pakistan, 673 Squadron are tasked with training personnel to fly and fight in the Apache. In a somewhat interesting turn of events, the first missile kill chalked up by the Apaches in Afghanistan was French! No, not friendly fire... the French vehicle in question had become disabled by enemy fire yet to recover it was deemed a bad idea.

If it can’t be recovered then there’s no way it’d be allowed to fall under Taliban control. Solution? Hellfire! It’s also probably the first use of a Longbow against the French since Agincourt. The Apaches have also been noted to have supported Paras, pinned down by Kalashnikov-wielding lunatics, with the impressive punch provided by the chain gun.  Swinging freely beneath the snout, the M230 gun can chuck out 625 rounds of hard-hitting 30mm ammunition per minute to really make a mess of somebody’s day. To say they’re proving their worth in the high, hot and dusty arena that is Afghanistan is perhaps an understatement.  A quick point of note is that both had a different weapons fit – one was tooled up with two Hellfire racks (each with four drill missiles) on the inboard stations and two rocket pods (each with 38 rockets) on the outboard stations; the other had four Hellfire racks but two were completely empty. 

Just like the show at Waddington, Valley didn’t see any static Tornado F.3s but there was a very good reason for this – they were patrolling UK airspace, alongside RAF E-3Ds, after the massive increase in security following that morning’s thwarting of the potential terrorist attack on numerous transatlantic flights. This is something else that Valley must be commended on as it would have been quite easy for the RAF just to simply padlock the gates shut, turf everyone out of the carpark and release the hounds; obviously they didn’t go down this particular avenue otherwise I wouldn’t be writing this. Based on the activity round the guardroom and compared to previous years, the increased security was quite noticeable yet they appeared to just let V.A.S get on with things - thankfully. However, F.3 wise, all was not completely lost as two 111(F) Squadron F.3s from Leuchars made single fly-throughs – complete with live munitions. That, bar a QRA scramble and recovery at Coningsby or Leuchars, is in itself a rare sight. The Sentry fly-past very nearly didn’t make it and only occurred thanks to a shift change between two of the Waddington based machines... one E-3D had been up and about for the best part of six hours before being relieved by another Sentry on its way home to Lincolnshire and  dropped in for a flypast or two.

The photocall could equally have been fairly called the “Tornado Owners Club Meet 2006” considering the number that turned up – not long after the F.3s had gone ‘elsewhere’ for tasks that don’t really need to be discussed here, two GR.4As and two GR.4s turned up! The two GR.4As were wearing II(AC) Squadron marks (which doesn’t necessarily mean Shiny Two were actually operating them) although one was sporting the new, and somewhat controversial, three-digit coding atop the fin (in addition to its squadron marks that is). It’s controversial because squadron marks, bar the specially commissioned schemes, will be a thing of history in the mud-moving Tornado community – all that will identify them is the three digit code (plus, of course, the usual serial number). As the Tornado GR.4/4A fleet is operated in a pooled fashion, that is to say a crew scheduled to fly would simply take an appropriate and serviceable jet rather than one of their own squadron-marked jets, it does make sense but three white digits at the top the fin don’t look quite as good as squadron markings do. Of the GR.4s, both had identifying markings to denote 12(B) and 14 Squadrons yet, like the GR.4As, one was also sporting the new coding system. Three of the four jets were, further to the normal loadout of tanks and ECM pods, carrying a pair of CBLS practice bomb dispensers beneath the fuselage whereas the fourth, the 14 Squadron jet, was equipped with a TIALD (Thermal Imaging Airborne Laser Designator) pod.

In what is a first for me at a Valley photocall, we were also treated to a display by Flt Lt Martin Pert in one of 208(R) Squadron’s black, red, white and blue “90th anniversary of 4FTS, 1,000,000 hours” Hawks. Having, for one reason or another, managed to miss most of the display more than once now, it made a refreshing change to actually sit down and be able to watch - and I’m glad I did. The spirited, yet tight, routine shows off the Hawk well and Valley is an ideal location for it as the Welsh base is pretty much the home of the Hawk, with about 70 of them calling Valley home! The closer proximity to the display line also made quite a difference – I don’t know of any where else that would get you that close to the center axis of a fast jet display. Sadly though, a fair percentage of the sky had gone a horrible shade of grey so the full effect of the hi-viz scheme was a little lost. There’s not a great deal anyone can do about that though – short of moving Valley to the Azores.

Another star was that of the Irish Air Corps EC-135P2. Iffy weather meant it was touch and go as to whether or not they’d get in but, like last year when they got the AS.365 in through the fog, these Irish guys are not ones to let a little bit of bad weather (or even a lot of it for that matter) get in their way. From what I’ve seen, both the PC-9 and rotary winged communities of the IAC simply laugh in the face of fog, wind, rain and probably any other form of poor weather you could possibly imagine too. A relatively new addition to the IAC, the Baldonnel-based EC-135s will primarily be used for pilot training yet can also be tasked with supporting the Irish Army Rangers, personnel transport, SAR and medevac roles – basically it’s a light utility helicopter able to turn its hand to quite a few varied roles. In order to achieve this, the Irish machines are fitted with an NVG compatible cockpit, provisions for FLIR equipment, a rescue winch and a cargo hook. The smart little helicopter is obviously good at what it does as Eurocopter have built and delivered more than 500 of the things to various operators around the world, including the German Army who have racked up more than 30,000 hours on their fleet of fourteen EC-135s assigned to Lehrgruppe A at Bückeburg.

By some margin, the unarguable star of the event was the 99 Squadron C-17A Globemaster III. Now, it didn’t actually land and take up the rest of the space on the ramp, oh no, what we had here was an almost aerobatic display from the mighty airlifter. Ever seen a C-17 make its own clouds? No? Well, this one did… on numerous occasions. Awesome, just truly awesome. Feel free to insert your own superlatives here as I could quite easily run out of them. Should 99 Squadron ever get the chance to show off the RAF’s largest jet at some point in the future, here’s hoping the displays are just as awe inspiring to watch and that the crew of ZZ173 get the job. It was patently obvious that the jet wasn’t heavily loaded but even so, there’s just something about seeing £150M worth of strategic airlifter doing what this one did. I don’t think the USAF demos of years gone-by could hope to hold a candle to this little showing, much less match it. Even the rapidly changing lighting and weather conditions did little to dent such a great spectacle. Whether or not V.A.S knew what 99 Squadron would be doing, I don’t know but I do know it must rank as one of the UK aviation spectacles of the year, in my humblest opinion of course. Anyone for the RAF’s latest display team – the Grey Barrows?? What with Boeing trying to secure extra sales for their pride and joy in order to keep the lines open, maybe they ought to get 99 Squadron on the phone and ask if they’d like to help Boeing’s sales out.

When it came to home time for the Tonkas, the old chestnut of RB199 reliability reared its ugly head again as the 14 Squadron jet decided it wanted to spend the night in Anglesey – whilst a GR.4A departed just fine and dandy, the GR.4 in question was obviously poorly-sick and the crew had the ignominy of being dragged back to the VAHS ramp behind a yellow tractor. This slight problem meant that the main 7,500ft runway (14/32) went black due to the stranded Tonka and ATC switched the traffic onto the 2,100ft-shorter cross runway (01/19). Should there be somewhat of a bigger problem than a Tornado blocking the runway and neither the main or cross runways could be used, the 5,400ft runway at nearby RAF Mona could be used instead. Using the shorter runway didn’t seem to cause any problems to the Hawks and Tucano as it was pretty much business as usual for them, the main advantage to us photographer types being the users of this said runway had to taxi past us. Bonus! Whilst not exactly a problem for the attending fast jets, as both the Typhoon and Tornado can get airborne using less than 3,000ft of tarmac, I would suspect that a departure from a 5,400ft runway wouldn’t be at the top of the crew’s list of things to do. It’d certainly be something to watch though!

The last jet to leave was the mighty Typhoon F.2 and you could have been forgiven that whilst it was parked up, someone ran out and slapped NASA stickers all over it. Why I hear you ask… well, the departure wasn’t so much as a typical aircraft-leaving-terra-firma type affair where things are done relatively gently – in this instance the nose was brought steeply up, thus pointing the impressively noisy EJ200 turbojets downwards; the next stop being fifty odd thousand feet (it is also rumoured that a BAE Systems Typhoon has been “substantially” higher). The cameras had already been tucked up snugly in the bag so it was a case of simply watching & listening, awestruck. It must be something Typhoon drivers like doing to show off their new toy to whoever will watch as this is certainly not the first time I’ve seen (well, OK, heard!) a Typhoon impersonating a Saturn V rocket. NASA want to get back to the moon and save some money… strap a few Typhoons to a big orange tank and voila, job done. Remember I mentioned using 3,000ft of tarmac, well, a Typhoon can be airborne in less than 8 seconds after brakes-off and that’s less than 1,000ft down the runway from where it started and is in roughly the same ball-park as the truly awe-inspiring Lightning. Consider that’s with a pair of current generation EJ200s; now, briefly try to picture how quickly a Typhoon can get off the ground with the EJ200s of the future that will bring anything up to 30% more power to the party. So much for the F-35 being called the Lightning II…

I can safely say, with a massive degree of certainty and without even the smallest of doubts that the 2006 photocall at Valley was, by far, the best event of recent years. A tent erected at the back of the crowd provided burgers and the like for perfectly agreeable prices; it’s something that V.A.S and the RAF do appear to have got absolutely spot-on. About the only possible thing that could improve it would be a supply of some of that most fabled of foodstuffs – the Mildenhall barbecue sauce. I can’t say I noticed any massive upheaval of the 2005 organisation other than the fact that use of mobiles was restricted to a defined area – this may have been the case back in 2005, but V.A.S were enforcing it this year. In terms of views of the actual day, everything just seemed to run like clockwork, things just came together as if it’d been rehearsed and all in all, it was quite simply, a cracking day out. It just goes to show you don’t need the lure of international superstars (last year for instance, the poor weather almost prevented the B-1B from making even a fleeting appearance and Kadena-based Eagles were rumoured to be attending as they were on TDY at Keflavik) to make a good event great – it just needs to be like the 2006 photocall. It’s all systems go for the 2007 event and you can be absolutely sure I’ll do my absolute best [and then some] to be there come rain or shine. Yes, Valley is out of the way but if you can get there and get tickets, then I strongly recommend you do exactly that. Without thinking about it.

For further information and how to get tickets for the 2007 photocall, have a look at V.A.S’s website - http://www.valleyaviationsociety.net/