- Joined
- Dec 29, 2001
- Messages
- 3,190
Just returned from Nellis AFB where our organization participated in Red Flag 09-02. We are the first squadron of Air Force civilians to deploy and participate in a combat training exercise under HPO guidelines. We raised a lot of eyebrows among the military regulars at first but we proved we could hold our own.
For those unfamiliar with Red Flag, there is a hulu broadcast at Fighter Pilot - Operation Red Flag. It was produced as an I-Max feature and runs about 48 minutes but its worth watching for the insight, the flying videos, and weapons drops.
We brought 5 modified fully instrumented test F-16 aircraft (F-16CM) loaded in varying combat configurations and flew daily operations providing air interdiction and then A/G support with live weapon drops. The operations tempo was challenging with organizations from all over the US and Harriers from Great Britain flying over 100 missions a day. Night flying was fantastic - unfortunately I did not have a chance to grab any camera shots. (The B-1B puts out an impressive rooster tail at night in a full afterburner take-off.)
These are two of our aircraft at Red Flag:
90-835 is a two-seater also known as a bus or station wagon. Shes shown here flying toward LV with Sunrise Mountain in the background. Shes armed with 2 AIM-120s, 2 GBU-10 LGBs, 1 AIM-9M, and a telemetry shape on Station-8 for range tracking. She also carries an HTS (Harm Targeting System) Pod and a LANTIRN targeting pod on the inlet stations. The orange panels are instrumentation access panels and antennas.
91-0383 is configured similarly but in place of the LGBs, shes sporting a pair of AGM-88 High Speed Anti-radiation Missiles, and a centerline ECM Pod.
I liked Jims shot of 835 here - the back-seater looks happy to be airborne.
Richard and Kristopher Trajano run a web site called Nellis Spotters where they post pictures, videos, and information on Red Flag. Kristopher caught this shot of a B-2 with Vegas in the background:
(Kris is only 13 years old but he already has a good eye for aircraft photography. :thumbup
Had a good time. Just thought I'd share......
j
For those unfamiliar with Red Flag, there is a hulu broadcast at Fighter Pilot - Operation Red Flag. It was produced as an I-Max feature and runs about 48 minutes but its worth watching for the insight, the flying videos, and weapons drops.
We brought 5 modified fully instrumented test F-16 aircraft (F-16CM) loaded in varying combat configurations and flew daily operations providing air interdiction and then A/G support with live weapon drops. The operations tempo was challenging with organizations from all over the US and Harriers from Great Britain flying over 100 missions a day. Night flying was fantastic - unfortunately I did not have a chance to grab any camera shots. (The B-1B puts out an impressive rooster tail at night in a full afterburner take-off.)
These are two of our aircraft at Red Flag:
90-835 is a two-seater also known as a bus or station wagon. Shes shown here flying toward LV with Sunrise Mountain in the background. Shes armed with 2 AIM-120s, 2 GBU-10 LGBs, 1 AIM-9M, and a telemetry shape on Station-8 for range tracking. She also carries an HTS (Harm Targeting System) Pod and a LANTIRN targeting pod on the inlet stations. The orange panels are instrumentation access panels and antennas.
91-0383 is configured similarly but in place of the LGBs, shes sporting a pair of AGM-88 High Speed Anti-radiation Missiles, and a centerline ECM Pod.
I liked Jims shot of 835 here - the back-seater looks happy to be airborne.
Richard and Kristopher Trajano run a web site called Nellis Spotters where they post pictures, videos, and information on Red Flag. Kristopher caught this shot of a B-2 with Vegas in the background:
(Kris is only 13 years old but he already has a good eye for aircraft photography. :thumbup
Had a good time. Just thought I'd share......
j
