A Few More From Charlotte

[Scooterman]

COBRA!!!

Nice J model, thanks for sharing.

[Captain Canada]

Another fine batch o' pics ! The Herc shots are awesome.....I think I could watch Hercs all day ! Why does the one have the orange markings ?

The Cobra looks super sexy. That style of Cobra are the best, in my view, Sleek enough to look fast, but lumpy enough to look menacing.

 

[Jschmus]

Okay, the library computers, combined with Photobucket, were giving me fits last night, trying to get the rest of these pics online.  I finally got them uploaded, then the computer shut down for the night.  Bummer!  Anyway, I'm back today, and everything should go smoothly.

Todd, I asked around about those orange markings, and it turns out they are temporary numbers assigned to planes that are detailed for firebomber duties.  The numbers are made to be easily visible from the ground.  It's been a little dry out here this year, so it's no surprise that our ANG have been lending a hand.

First up is one without the orange paint (though I suppose you couldn't see it from this angle.



Next up is the second of a two-ship set, this time with the fire markings.



Next up, a tandem takeoff.  The birds are tiny, but what do you expect from 3x magnification?  Sharp-eyed viewers will notice the Pan Am charter 727 in the left midground.



Here's another pair, about three weeks later.

[Jschmus]

Here's another photo of a photo, this time a group shot of USAF planes from Eglin AFB in 1957.


This next series are landing photos of the Lufthansa A330, composited from three different days.




This time passing over, left to right, a wrapped-up OH-58, an F-4S and the Regulus I cruise missile.



Coming in behind the YF-102.


This was supposed to be of the Airbus, but ended up being a decent study of the F-101B, with the A330 as backdrop.

[Jschmus]

The maintenance stand where I've been getting a lot of my photos has provided me with some neat photo ops, like this one of our AV-8B.



More civil stuff, this time the Allegheny Heritage jet.



For my Canadian friends, the Dash 8.



Wachovia Gulfstream GV-SP (G500) (Lucky bankers!)



HS.125 Series 700

[Jschmus]

Filed under "I didn't get my camera up fast enough" are a V-tail Bonanza, a Piaggio Avanti, and a Raytheon Texan II.

[Jschmus]

I suppose there's such a thing as getting too close to one's subject.  I put in a shift yesterday afternoon at the Museum, and I lamented to one of my coworkers that I hadn't seen any C-130s.  She then went on to tell me that there was a public area partway around the airport, where one could see the ANG C-130s sitting right on the ramp.  So after the Museum closed, I drove around to said location.  Sure enough, it's the closest you can get to the ANG ramp without actually being there, at a distance of maybe 50 yards or so.  I parked the truck, whipped out my camera, and proceeded to snap away.  I didn't take too many pictures, and I don't think I photographed anything sensitive, but I was spotted by a security officer.  As I drove out to the main road, I was stopped by another officer.  He informed me that the ramp was not a public area, and photographs were strictly prohibited, except as authorized through appropriate channels.  He didn't confiscate my camera, but he did insist that I erase the relevant photos, then he looked back through the camera to make sure I didn't have anything else that might get me into trouble.  He also took down my information and told me that they "might" do a background check to make sure I wasn't any sort of security threat.

Whew!  

[B777LR]

That AV-8B, is that the prototype AV-8B?

[nev]

Love that shot on the Eglin ramp, some right classics there    

[elmayerle]

That AV-8B, is that the prototype AV-8B?

If I remember correctly, he earlier said it was something like the #4 prototype AV-8B, the one that was in rather jazzy markings (USMC colors) for various trials.

[Jschmus]

That AV-8B, is that the prototype AV-8B?

Evan's right.  That's the 3rd Full Scale Development prototype.  The first was a static test article, and the second was damaged somehow, so this one did most of the flight testing for the AV-8B program, including the first weapons tests, in-flight refueling, etc.  There are special markings on the left side, behind the cockpit, showing that test pilot Jackie Jackson racked up 5530 hours flying that Harrier.

There are photos from the 80s showing the Harrier in a beautiful scheme, gloss white with black, red and gold trim.  It looked a lot prettier than the current low-vis scheme.