My other ride

[2007GTCS]

Hey!
I figured I'd post a few pictures of the other way I get around (right now, the ONLY way I get around). Nice day today...still not hot (yet). Take care!
Chris

 

[Mustanger]

Coool ... nice set of wheels, or should I say wings?? ...

 

[Perkchiro]

Sub-Hunter? Looks a lot like the planes that flew out of Moffit Field Naval air base in Sunnyvale, CA when I was a kid. I remember the drone of those engines everyday when I was a kid growing up there. Is that still their main purpose, submarine monitoring off the Pacific coast? Cool pics by the way.

 

[Midnight Special]

Hey!
I figured I'd post a few pictures of the other way I get around (right now, the ONLY way I get around). Nice day today...still not hot (yet). Take care!
Chris

HEY - The P-3 Orion!!! My brother commanded one for eight years (VP-50 NAS Moffet) operating over Indian Ocean and Sea of Japan. I flew the P3 simulator at Moffet (crashed on landing every time) back in 1977! Converted P3s are a common sight during the summer months here as air tankers...

 

[68gt390]

Those are some great photo's guy's. You almost make me want to pull out my photo albums from when I was SEA. I'll have to dig but, I think I can find some pretty good photo's of some F-111's loaded with a full load of Mark 82's from Thailand. I'll look for them and post them when I find them. Heck it'll give me a good reason to clean the basement. I need to find my military medical records and my DD Form 214. I know all that stuff is in the basement some where.

Tim; I'm looking forward to the BBQ in August. Can't wait.



Don

 

[Midnight Special]

Those are some great photo's guy's. You almost make me want to pull out my photo albums from when I was SEA. I'll have to dig but, I think I can find some pretty good photo's of some F-111's loaded with a full load of Mark 84's from Thailand. I'll look for them and post them when I find them. Heck it'll give me a good reason to clean the basement. I need to find my military medical records and my DD Form 214. I know all that stuff is in the basement some where.

Tim; I'm looking forward to the BBQ in August. Can't wait.



Don

Me too Don

Alot of F-111s cycled through McClellan AFB near here where they underwent major repairs & upgrades. There are dozens of them in storage at Davis Monthan AFB in Tuscon - some going to foreign countries, others for spare parts...

 

[2007GTCS]

Our "primary" mission is still to hunt subs, but there's not much of that going on these days. About 7-8 years ago they modified the aircraft with a pretty robust reconnaissance package. We first used it with great success during the Kosovo crisis back in 1999-2000 and we've been pretty busy since then with the various crises and of course Iraq/Afghanistan.

 

[PFSlim]

Way cool pictures.

Military aircraft I have worked in my military career:

F-4E - Seymour-Johnson AFB, NC (Ejection Seats)
F-4D - McConnell AFB, KS (Ejection Seats)
F-16 A/B/C/D - McConnell AFB, KS (Ejection Seats and Canopy's)
B-1B - McConnell AFB, KS (Ejection Seats and Aircraft Maintenance Officer)

Paul

 

[Midnight Special]

Way cool pictures.

Military aircraft I have worked in my military career:

F-4E - Seymour-Johnson AFB, NC (Ejection Seats)
F-4D - McConnell AFB, KS (Ejection Seats)
F-16 A/B/C/D - McConnell AFB, KS (Ejection Seats and Canopy's)
B-1B - McConnell AFB, KS (Ejection Seats and Aircraft Maintenance Officer)

Paul

...Well I was hoping to get a ride in that Cobra of yours one day Paul, but given your specialty... I'm not so sure now ;-O
;-))

 

[PFSlim]

I remember getting assigned "Ejection Seats" when I went into boot camp for the Air Force. I was thinking to myself, "it has to be one big spring under those seats, how hard can that be"? Little did I know.

The Martin Baker seat used in the F-4 were scary seats to work on. It seems like someone was getting killed by one per year. Glad that is behind me now.

Cobra project is going well. Keep in mind it is not mine, but my brother-in-laws. My duty is the wire the entire car. We continue to move forward, wait for parts, move forward, and wait for more parts.

Paul

 

[Perkchiro]

Our "primary" mission is still to hunt subs, but there's not much of that going on these days. About 7-8 years ago they modified the aircraft with a pretty robust reconnaissance package. We first used it with great success during the Kosovo crisis back in 1999-2000 and we've been pretty busy since then with the various crises and of course Iraq/Afghanistan.

Have you heard the story of the P3 that collided with a private plane over the golf course near Moffet Field? I was in high school and a friend of mine was on the crew of that plane. He survived but was paralyzed. The time frame was somewhere around 1972 to 1974 I think. It was quite the story for a long time in the bay area. Created a lot of talk about having the airbase so close to a heavily populated area. Could have been much worse if it wasn't over the golf course I guess. Oh well, just a bit of trivia.

 

[2007GTCS]

I did not hear about that one. That was before my time (I may or may not have even been born yet...I'm 33). The big population area is one of the major reasons they moved from Moffet and is also why they're looking at moving everyone from NAS Oceana in VA Beach to NE Florida. Here's 2 pictures of me in my current oh-so-interesting surroundings.

 

[2007GTCS]

By the way Paul, those B-1's are LOUD!!!

 

[Midnight Special]

Curious...

...about how many P3s are still active?

I've noticed an increasing number of them showing up at Davis Monthan for storage and alot of them getting scrapped...

Paul, Don, HC Bob; Check out the unique collection at the top of the photo!
Among them are F-111, P2V, P3, RB57 & B57 Canberras, F-100, F-105, F-101 and F-14...

 

[PFSlim]

Coming from working on fighters to bombers, most of us did not like the fact that we were switching airframes. However, the B-1B was a great airplane that we flew very well. I enjoyed hearing them take off.

However, my all time favorite was the F-4. I got to ride in one from Las Vegas to Wichita. It was a great ride.

Paul

 

[Midnight Special]

...Sounds like alot of fun

 

[2007GTCS]

Midnight, there's still about 80-100ish P-3's that are still active. We have to wait until 2013 until our new plane starts showing up.

 

[p51]

Sub-Hunter? Looks a lot like the planes that flew out of Moffit Field Naval air base in Sunnyvale, CA when I was a kid. I remember the drone of those engines everyday when I was a kid growing up there. Is that still their main purpose, submarine monitoring off the Pacific coast? Cool pics by the way.

First day I was in the San Jose area (a few years before they stopped flying the P3's) one of those puppies passed *right* over me as I was driving on 101 right at the end of the runway. Scared the cr*p out of me. Almost wrecked my car.

BTW: There's been a back-and-forth about them tearing down Hanger One (the pre-WWII blimp hanger @Moffett). To me it would be like tearing down the statue of liberty...