Osan Air Base 2017

After getting my shopping out of the way (still trying to figure out what I bought for myself) I ended up leaving the way I came, on a Partriot Express contract aircraft going back to SEATAC, WA, with a stop at Yokota AB. Being a tactical airbase, Osan can be very difficult to get out of. I preferred to try my luck at Yokota AB, which is a military airlift hub and has much more cargo aircraft traffic to the US and Travis AFB.

Because of some distringuished visitors on base, unanticipated by me, I got to spend two separate nights in the comforable lobby of the Air Force Turumi lodge, Considering that as well, it was time to grab the first opportunity to get out of there..

Secretary of Defense, General Mattis (Ret. USMC) visitng with the ROK Minister of Defense, at the DMZ, and departing - these are DOD pictures

As I was sitting on the tarmac in the Patriot Express aircraft, I saw this Boeing 747 and thought that it might have been his. Of course it was.

A C-17, but it was not scheduled to leave yet, and may have even been part of the aircraft that accompanied the Secretary of Defense. My Space-A options were limited, but remember, we do fly free and with a little patience, opportunities always occur.

Considering where we are, just south of Seoul and the DMZ, the skys are always busy.

Above, the amazing A-10 and a Blackhawk at the bottom

A short time later we, too, were in the sky over South Korea for a two-hour flight to Yokota AB, Japan. On the way there, the pilot was kind enough to give us a heads-up and to dip his wing to provide an unobstructed view of Mount Fujiyama. It doesn't get any better than that.