Northern Edge Alaska air-to-air

Post by **sovietjet** » Fri 10 Nov 2017, 7:33 am

Back in May, I had the chance to attend the Northern Edge exercise in Alaska. It is a very big US only exercise which also attracts interesting test and experimental aircraft. The focus of this post is on the air-to-air shots but I will make a separate post with the ground stuff later as otherwise it will become too big.

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F-16CM 98-0004 OT 85th TES by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-16CM 98-0004 OT 85th TES by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-16CM 98-0004 OT 85th TES by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-16CM 98-0005 OT 85th TES by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-16CM 98-0005 OT 85th TES by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-16CM 98-0005 OT 85th TES by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-16CM 98-0005 OT 85th TES by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-16CM 98-0005 OT 85th TES by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-16CM 97-0107 OT 85th TES by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-16CM 97-0107 OT 85th TES by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-16DM 90-0841 OT 85th TES by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-16DM 90-0841 OT 85th TES by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-15C 82-0036 67th FS by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-15C 82-0036 67th FS by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-15C 83-0010 67th FS by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-15C 83-0010 67th FS by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-15C 83-0023 67th FS by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-15C 80-0012 67th FS by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-15C 81-0050 67th FS by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-22A 07-4138 90th FS by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-22A 07-4138 90th FS by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-22A 05-4087 90th FS by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-22A 05-4087 90th FS by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-22A 05-4087 90th FS by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-22A 05-4087 90th FS by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-22A 05-4105 90th FS AK by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-22A 07-4135 90th FS by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-22A 07-4138 90th FS by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-22A 07-4145 90th FS by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-22A 07-4145 90th FS by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-22A 07-4136 90th FS by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-22A 07-4136 90th FS by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-22s 90th FS by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-22A 07-4142 90th FS by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-22A 07-4142 90th FS by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-22A 07-4143 90th FS by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-22A 07-4143 90th FS by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-22A 07-4143 90th FS by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-22A 90th FS by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-22A 90th FS by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-16DM 91-0477 13th FS by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-16CM 92-3894 13th FS by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-16C 86-0286 18th AGRS by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-16C 86-0286 18th AGRS by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-16C 86-0286 18th AGRS by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-16C 86-0282 18th AGRS by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-16C 18th AGRS by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-16C 18th AGRS by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-16C 86-0298 18th AGRS by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-16C 86-0310 18th AGRS by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-16C 18th AGRS by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-16C 86-0305 18th AGRS by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-16C 86-0263 18th AGRS by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-16C 18th AGRS by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-16C 86-0298 18th AGRS by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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F-16C 18th AGRS by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

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KC-135R 63-8022 314 ARS by Ivan Voukadinov, on Flickr

Post by **Domvickery** » Fri 10 Nov 2017, 7:36 am

Man alive, one of the best posts I’ve seen all year!

Post by **farnboroughrob** » Fri 10 Nov 2017, 8:29 am

I started noting my favourites, but there were too many, brilliant work :worship:

.

Post by **dconnery1966** » Fri 10 Nov 2017, 8:30 am

Domvickery wrote:Man alive, one of the best posts I’ve seen all year!

Have to agree, wow I'm speechless time for me to give up now me thinks :lol:

Dougie

Post by **capercaillie** » Fri 10 Nov 2017, 10:32 am

Fabulous opportunity and shots.

Aggressor schemes always a highlight and wow those Eagles look great, such a great looking jet. :clap:

Post by **BigClick67** » Fri 10 Nov 2017, 10:59 am

OUT-STAND-ING! :clap:

Post by **Airwolfhound** » Fri 10 Nov 2017, 12:50 pm

Forget pic of the week, more like pic of the decade for number 21 in my eyes.

Outstanding work :clap:

Post by **Peter345** » Fri 10 Nov 2017, 1:35 pm

Oh my word.
Stunning.

Post by **Wissam24** » Fri 10 Nov 2017, 1:37 pm

Number 49 is the winner for me, but all are stunning with that breathtaking background!

Post by **Spiny Norman** » Fri 10 Nov 2017, 1:51 pm

Plenty contenders for Picture of the Week there. Great stuff.

Post by **jalfrezi** » Fri 10 Nov 2017, 2:21 pm

Wow, not jealous at all.... :clap:

Post by **Talldan76** » Fri 10 Nov 2017, 2:54 pm

Outstanding set of images, and for me, impossible to pick a favourite...

:clap:

Dan

Post by **Agg** » Fri 10 Nov 2017, 5:53 pm

Fantastic, love the black and white camo Vipers :rock:

Post by **reheat module** » Fri 10 Nov 2017, 6:12 pm

Now, THAT'S airborne photography at its very best.
Simply stunning
:clap:

Post by **Leeflyer** » Fri 10 Nov 2017, 6:27 pm

WOW WOW and did I say WOW

Post by **boff180** » Fri 10 Nov 2017, 7:15 pm

Superb set! I love the F-35 paint on the F-16's it looks so good.

Andy

Post by **M.M.I.2006** » Fri 10 Nov 2017, 7:16 pm

Previous post's say it all,stunning,amazing,brilliant.Got to say THANKS for sharing them,the best post I,ve seen all year.

Post by **ErikNZ** » Sat 11 Nov 2017, 12:20 am

Well done! I assume these were multiple sorties and not a single tanker sortie? (If it is, it would have been the haul of a life time!)

Very well done, I think I like the stacked shot of the aggressor F-16s the most. Looks like they took time to pose behind the tanker for you? That's very nice. Most KC-135R sorties I've been on always saw the receivers being in a hurry with very little "photo time" at all. Looks like the crew also cooperated, with the boomer giving you ample space to put the camera at the center of the window.

Post by **sovietjet** » Sat 11 Nov 2017, 5:50 am

Thank you everyone for the nice comments!

ErikNZ wrote:Well done! I assume these were multiple sorties and not a single tanker sortie? (If it is, it would have been the haul of a life time!)

Very well done, I think I like the stacked shot of the aggressor F-16s the most. Looks like they took time to pose behind the tanker for you? That's very nice. Most KC-135R sorties I've been on always saw the receivers being in a hurry with very little "photo time" at all. Looks like the crew also cooperated, with the boomer giving you ample space to put the camera at the center of the window.

Hi ErikNZ, yes it was a total of 3 flights. The first flight was OT F-16s, F-15s and F-22. The second flight was all F-22s. The third was aggressors and Misawa F-16s. So it was a lot of receivers total. You're correct, the boomers were all super nice and lifted the boom out of the way after each disconnect, and told the receivers that a photographer was onboard. I asked the boomer to ask the F-22s to regroup behind the tanker for a photo after they were done refueling and they agreed, so that's how that happened. Doesn't hurt to ask!

Post by **check01** » Mon 13 Nov 2017, 8:59 pm

Fantastic set Ivan! Great job!

Post by **timuss** » Mon 13 Nov 2017, 9:04 pm

Awesome post stunning shots :clap:

Post by **lynothehammer** » Mon 13 Nov 2017, 10:41 pm

One word, WOW ! :rock:

Post by **Big_Gareth** » Mon 13 Nov 2017, 10:55 pm

Pornographic!!! :drool:

Post by **Carlito** » Tue 14 Nov 2017, 8:42 am

I would kill for such opportunity and photos!

Post by **Grunt087** » Tue 14 Nov 2017, 10:58 am

Beautiful pictures. What Camera/Lens set up did you use ?

Northern Edge Alaska air-to-air

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