El Paso, TX

Found this one in the PX parking lot at Fort Bliss.

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FastEagle

Another Blue Angle

These pictures were taken of the aircraft on display at the Florida welcome center just off I-10 near Pensacola, FL - the current home of the famous demonstration team.

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FastEagle

Marine Corps Air Station, Yuma, AZ

Wherever a military base is found that has something to do with flying aircraft you're sure to find some of those aircraft on display.

These are on display at the MCAS, Yuma, AZ.

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FastEagle

NAF, El Centro, CA

The Naval Aviation Facility located at El Centro, CA is the winter home of the U.S. Navy flight demonstration team. Before the Blue Angles adopted the base for their winter operations the base was known as the National Parachute Test Range.

Here are some pictures of various aircraft used by the team from the smallest to the largest. These are on display at the base’s main gate.

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The F/A-18 Hornet.




The Grumman F-11. It had a wet tail - fuel cells in the vertical fin.




The big cumbersome F4 Phantom II.




This was the smallest aircraft the team ever used. It's an A4 light attack aircraft and not supersonic. Aboard ship it was called the "Scooter".




When the pictures were taken at the gate we were staying at the RV park and the team had arrived for their winter practice. This is a picture of the flight line.



FastEagle

P2V-7

Early in 1959 my tour of duty in Hawaii was completed. I was transferred to Patrol Squadron 9 located at Naval Air Station Alameda, CA. Before leaving Hawaii I quit packing parachutes and started working on gaseous oxygen systems. Liquid oxygen systems had not yet been introduced to large Naval aircraft. I was qualified and certified to remove, test and reinstall gaseous oxygen regulators. It was a very independent job that just required me to muster-in in the mornings, do my job and muster-out at the end of the day.

VP-9 had just transitioned from the P2V-5 series aircraft to the P2V-7. Each pilot and crew station had a gaseous oxygen regulator that required removal and testing at regularly scheduled intervals.

After my assignment in this squadron I attended six months of formal training where I became an Aviation Structural Mechanic, specializing in hydraulics/pneumatics and all the mechanical/electrical sources needed in support of those systems, which included all flight controls and utility/emergency systems. Landing gear and all associated equipment such as brake systems and wheels/tires. I worked in that field in some capacity for the rest of my Naval career.

This P2V-7 is on display at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, FL.

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FastEagle

F-35

An old “airdale” like me would just love to be involved in transitioning this aircraft into an operational fleet squadron.

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FastEagle

Davis–Monthan Air Force Base

At the Davis–Monthan Air Force Base near Tucson, AZ there is a very large aircraft graveyard. Most of the aircraft found there have met or exceeded their service life but are kept there because of their value as spare parts or even potential products for foreign sales. The atmospheric conditions in the area is ideal for long term storage of aircraft which are loaded with dissimilar metals and avionics/electronic equipment. Many of the old aircraft have been chosen for display around the base. The next series of pictures will be from the actual graveyard and those others found around the AFB.

Clicking on any of the pictures will make them larger.




Just a small section of the graveyard. All aircraft are stored in sections with other like designs.



The US Navy developed this aircraft but the USAF liked it and had their own version built. It’s the A7D built by LTV at their Grande Prairie, TX plant.



Here is another aircraft developed by the US Navy that also found double service in the USAF. It’s the McDonnell Douglas F4 Phantom II.



The Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II (Warthog).
The troops on the ground must love to see this ugly looking aircraft when ground support is needed.