Unbelievable Photo!!!!

[Marauderjack]

Hey Folks....

A friend of mine found this photo of an F-18 shadow on a troops transport plane!!;) They were making the trek to Iraq sometime during the last 6 months??:rolleyes:

I think it is amazing and am going to send it to some of my Marine buddies currently deployed to Iraq and surrounding areas!!:)

God Bless Our Troops!!!:D

Marauderjack:cool:

[SergntMac]

Wow...Neat!

[JET]

That is one awesome photo. Thanks for sharing.

[SHERIFF]

Is it just me or is the pilot of the transport plane mooning everybody? :)

Great shot!!!

[Marauder57]

Talk about a "Guardian Angel"...nice pic.....

[miamisilvermm]

Nice effect with the moon too.

[gonzo50]

That is a very "Strong Statement" picture of our military might in the skies, just runs chills up and down my spine. :up:

[Petrograde]

This is what happens when you don't tie down your aircraft before the sand storm!!! LOL... I took this pic in May or June.

[Bigdogjim]

Ouch! Thats gotta hurt! (above)

Thanks for the first picture Awesome:)

[uwsacf]

http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/gallery/photo/SR-71/Medium/EC94-42883-1.jpg

[uwsacf]

WOW!

http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/gallery/photo/SR-71/Medium/EC95-43075-2.jpg

[teamrope]

Originally posted by SHERIFF
Is it just me or is the pilot of the transport plane mooning everybody? :)

Great shot!!!

Now that you mention it, I think Sheriff's onto something there...Good eye!:D

And still a great shot.

[jabird56]

The F-18 was probably flying with others in it's squadron with the KC-10 (Flying Gas Station) giving them a "drink" every once in a while. That's the norm when they transit the Atlantic. Retired Navy....:-)

[jabird56]

Also, COOL shot of the Habu aka SR-71 as it taxis. Wish they were still flying, I've dealt with them in my past.

[Haggis]

Originally posted by jabird56
Also, COOL shot of the Habu aka SR-71 as it taxis. Wish they were still flying, I've dealt with them in my past.

Last I heard they were called back into service. The plane that was to take their place had some last minute glitches to work out.

[jfclancy]

From the bottom, I believe they (SR-71) are still flying for the CIA.
Way back when my camera was confiscated for taking a picture of one at Edwards Air Base.
Ouch that had to hurt ( chopper )
Great Picture of the F-18 "shadow" Makes me Feel Good!!

Joe Clancy
retired USAF

[MAD-3R]

I got a few pics of an SR-71 Yesterday. Also the space shuttle Enterprise, a concord, and the Enola Gay, as well as many other magnifecent aircraft.


BTW, the new Smithsonian Air and Space Museum Annex at Dulles Airport is a great place.

I'll post my digitals tonight, and film pics when they get developed

[MAD-3R]

Here are some of the digitals.

Enola Gay (http://www.mercurygallery.net/mmnet/showphoto.php?photo=1608&password=&sort=1&cat=500&page=1)

SR-71 Blackbird tail markings (http://www.mercurygallery.net/mmnet/showphoto.php?photo=1609&password=&sort=1&size=medium&cat=500&page=1)

Enterprise (http://www.mercurygallery.net/mmnet/showphoto.php?photo=1610&password=&sort=1&cat=500&page=1)

[SHERIFF]

Wonder how many people here know what the Enola Gay became famous for? :)

[Marauderjack]

"DA BIG BOOM" in Japan??:confused:

[teamrope]

I was hoping they'd bring her out of retirement after 9/11:D

[Donny Carlson]

Originally posted by SHERIFF
Wonder how many people here know what the Enola Gay became famous for? :)

Back when I was in high school (circa 1973) some friends and I made trek to the Air Force museum at Wright Pattterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio. This was before the AFM moved into its present facilities, and they had the planes jammed in to smaller display areas.

Anywho, the larger hanger had a huge B-36 .... and Bock's Car.

This was the B-29 that dropped the big badda-boom on Nagasaki, and the Air Force had it on display (in excellent condition) decades before the Enola Gay was restored.

Also, this was a time when the museum allowed you much closer access to displays... you could literally walk right up (and underneath) aircraft, poke your head up in the wheel wells and engine pods. The B-29 has a ladder in the nose wheel well that leads to the flight deck. I know this because my best friend Jerry and I climbed up the ladder in Bock's Car while another friend kept a look out for museum types that would take offense to our close up look see. We didn't go inside -- just opened the hatch and took a look. Cool!

Now, the aircraft is roped off and my guess if you even as far as we did you'd find the hatch sealed.

Anybody who has even a passing interest in aircraft should go to the museum. Last time I went they had a stealth fighter flight test aircraft on display so close you could touch it. That same year at an air show at the Birmingham ANG base a stealth fighter was on display.... roped off 25" perimeter with national guard types protecting it. I thought, sheesh, wtf. Go to Dayton and you can touch one.

[SHERIFF]

Originally posted by Marauderjack
"DA BIG BOOM" in Japan??:confused:

Yes. The entire airplane is not on display though.

"The Enola Gay, the B-29 bomber used in the atomic mission that destroyed Hiroshima, went on display June 28, 1995 at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. The display commemorates the end of World War II, as well as the role of the Enola Gay in securing Japanese surrender.

The Enola Gay is one of 15 B-29s modified specifically for the highly secret atomic bomb missions. These airplanes were outfitted with new engines and propellers and faster-acting pneumatic bomb bay doors. The Enola Gay is one of 536 B-29s manufactured at the Glenn L. Martin Aircraft Factory in Omaha, Neb.

Unfortunately, the fully assembled Enola Gay, with a wingspan of 141 feet and a gross weight of 137,500 pounds, is too large and too heavy to be displayed in the museum. But several major components, including two engines, the vertical stabilizer, an aileron, propellers and the forward fuselage which contains the bomb bay, are on display. The remainder of the aircraft is at the museum's Paul E. Garber Facility where restoration is nearing completion."

The bomb bay occupies most of the forward fuselage of the Enola Gay. Visitors can look inside and, just below the fuselage, see an atomic bomb casing very similar to the "Little Boy" weapon used on the Hiroshima mission. The bomb casing contains no nuclear material and presents no radiation hazard.

(Here's a tidbit of history most people don't know) Like most planes in the 509th, this one had a nickname. Tibbets named the plane in honor of his mother, Enola Gay, and had the words painted on the side of the plane just before takeoff.

The wall text about the mission reads: "Tibbets piloted the aircraft on its mission to drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945. That bomb and the one dropped on Nagasaki three days later destroyed much of the two cities and caused tens of thousands of deaths."

[MAD-3R]

It is all on display. From the nose to the tail.

[jabird56]

As a follow-up, only NASA currently flys the SR-71. They have three operational at Edwards AFB.

[martyo]

I know that this is a revival of an old thread, but I thought you all might enjoy this picture.

[Patrick]

That photo is just a reminder of what IS STILL GOING ON!! Enjoy the SuperBowll, I did!! But Our freinds are still doing a great job, AND THEY NEED OUR SUPPORT!

YOU HAVE MINE :bows: :bows: :bows: