Japan Trip
November 2015
The Planning, reality, helping me and helping others!
With the Year starting with a big trip to the USA, I had always thought about 2 large holidays instead of a few European breaks in 2015. It was hard to discount so many Air Shows and Days out but I REALLY wanted to save money and Holiday allowance for a 1st trip to Japan. The chance to photograph different Aircraft in a different Country was a big reason for deciding to go.
The cost, Language Barrier and Food options were why I had never contemplated a trip before I guess.
So around June 2015 flights were booked through Turkish Airlines with a stop over in Istanbul. I would always usually opt for direct flights but a saving of 50% to stop over really was worth the 2 flights.
Deciding on which bases to visit was fairly easy. Simply choosing the best bases to view at and allow enough time for the weather. In addition to this plan was to cover as much variety of Aircraft as possible.With the show at Iruma on the National Holiday to start, knowing this would bring several types to one base. Visiting in November the weather SHOULD be getting better after the rainy season...........
More text after the photo gallery.
A car was essential for our visit, visiting many locations around each airfield.
English speaking sat nav was a must along with a ETC Card to try and reduce toll fees on the highways.
Hiring a Wifi Router which we picked up at the 1st Hotel Night stay was also essential to allow Internet access on the road.This allowed me to use Google Maps on the phone, a real benefit when realising the car SAT NAV didn't seem to recognise many highways. Travelling on these Highways were OK but in the City limits , the pace got real slow and making progress was difficult.Many aviation enthusiast who have frequented Japan before told me the key to the Sat Nav was the phone numbers of bases and Hotels.
For anyone thinking of visiting Japan don't forget the 1949 International Driving licence which was needed from a post Office in the UK. You will need this for hiring a car.
This trip was aided by many enthusiasts stories and ideas from previous trips so thanks.
If these few words can help others than great.
Itenary 2nd to the 20th November 2015
Iruma Air show , Hyakuri, Hamamatsu, Tsuiki, Nyutubaru, Kanoya, Akeno, Gifu, Atsugi, Tokyo Heliport.