Hyakuri: old school recce

On one of our last days in Japan we had scheduled a visit to Hyakuri air base. Some of the most interesting units and aircraft types are stationed here: two F-15 squadrons (204 and 305 Hikotai) and, even more interesting, the (R)F-4's of 501 Hikotai with their famous Woody Woodpecker badges. Greece, South Korea and Japan are the only countries left that still operate Phantoms with the old school recce noses.

When we arrived the ramps were already pretty full with even more aircraft being pulled onto the flightlines from their hangars. During the day we found some nice spots near the taxitrack and along the runway. The base was very active with lots of F-15's and a nice mix of F-4E's and RF-4's taking off and landing.

The next and final day of our trip turned out to be the third 'wet' day. We made some stops at Iruma, Yokota and Shimofusa. The first two offered great photo opportunities, but we preferred not to soak our camera's...