Klamath Falls/Kingsley Field

[david14]

In southern Oregon, this is the home of the 173rd FW, the other Oregon ANG F15 unit, which is primarily a training unit for the Eagles. Not a unit that I've seen many aircraft elsewhere and somewhere that I had wanted to visit for a number of years, and haven't seen many reports or photos from here. The older Eagles are now being retired and at some point the unit is supposed to switch to the F15EX, as are all the F15 ANG units.

The big problem is this place is a long way from anywhere sensible that we can easily fly in to directly (SFO or SEA), and my recent visits to ANG bases had mostly been disappointing. So there was a chance that a very long drive wouldn't yield much, fortunately it was great.

Klamath Falls is a moderate sized city in southern Oregon, close to Crater Lake (well worth a visIt too). The airport no longer has any scheduled services, but the small terminal is open during the day and there are various civil aircraft based here (including two smart-looking Jetstars). The ANG ramp is next to the terminal, the airport is pretty open and there's a nice relaxed atmosphere. There were five TacAir F15s flying with the ANG, these are ex Jordanian and came through St Augustine FL a few years ago.

I arrived at 1315 on a Tuesday, the first thing I saw was a very smart T28 outside a large hangar, the Beale T38 and C12 were nice visitors. And I could hear the Eagles running, six taxied out shortly afterwards and were joined by two TacAir F5s. They returned between 1500 and 1530, with a few overshoots and touch & goes, and that was it for the day.

The next morning, the Eagles started up around 0915 and over the following 45 minutes I watched the departures of eight F15s and four F5s, these had all returned by about 1145. Most of the Eagles that were visible flew, including the colour bird on the Wednesday morning. Everything took off to the south and landed from the north, which meant that my landing shots were better than my takeoffs, because you are much closer to the action.

P1030004 by david santhouse, on Flickr

IMG_6584 by david santhouse, on Flickr

IMG_6583 by david santhouse, on Flickr

IMG_6586 by david santhouse, on Flickr

IMG_6623 by david santhouse, on Flickr

IMG_6661 by david santhouse, on Flickr

IMG_6663 by david santhouse, on Flickr

IMG_6681 by david santhouse, on Flickr

IMG_6686 by david santhouse, on Flickr

IMG_6709 by david santhouse, on Flickr

IMG_6796 by david santhouse, on Flickr

IMG_6803 by david santhouse, on Flickr

IMG_6808 by david santhouse, on Flickr

IMG_6816 by david santhouse, on Flickr

IMG_6819 by david santhouse, on Flickr

IMG_6823 by david santhouse, on Flickr

IMG_6846 by david santhouse, on Flickr

[Stug298]

that is a spectacular set of pictures thank you...

[Mustang531]

An excellent set of shots, thanks for sharing these with us. It's worth trekking to some of these out of the way places, as you can find some interesting aircraft there.

[Stratocruiser]

Wow, they are superb and we all know someone who will really appreciate those lovely sleek Northrops!
Thanks for sharing your super captures

[paddyboy]

Hi David

Great to see some different F15s

As for those gorgeous little Northrops

Thanks for posting

Paddyboy

[bvdbogaert]

Superb report and well worth the travelling effort made (imho). Thanks and regards.

[matt e]

nice set especially the F5s and Beale T38

[SW Sky Blue]

Excellent

[Amp]

Another great Oregon set. Neptune hiding in the background too.

[Seahawk 11]

Wow, just fantastic, what a great set of photos,

Rob

[slogen51]

Nice shots

The home of eagle training

Not a place I have ever been to. I think some former 493FS Eagles ended up at Klamath?

[RS2]

Love photos from different locations, great set thank you.

[DanBeeden]

Nice shots from an interesting location. Southern Oregon is certainly a beautiful part of the world. Great that you got to see the special scheme ‘Sandman’ Eagle - fantastic looking jet. Am I right in saying there is a fairly major exercise held here each summer - ‘Century Falcon’ is it?

[bigcrow]

Excellent post of as you say a place that is not often visited & the special is lovely.

[PeteF]

Great set of pics from an out of the way location.

Sentry Eagle is a biennial ANG exercise held at Klamath Falls and was scheduled for earlier this year but cancelled. Was planning to visit until cancellation which I guess is a result of international tensions.

[teeonefixer]

I concur with the above comments as well as the excellent report

[B58Hustler]

Enjoyed looking at these.
A lovely set of photos from a beautiful part of the world.

[david14]

Thanks for the comments guys. To answer the questions/points raised:

Yes, there's a preserved Neptune to the north of the field, it's a former tanker and is preserved next to the tanker base.

Sentry Eagle gets other units based there and they usually have an open day too, would be nice to visit when that's on.

And I was expecting someone to advise/spot some ex LN Eagles

[Pune]

Superb set, well worth the drive, thanks for sharing..
Cheers
Pune

[Worldnis]

Super autumn colors from a unit that never travels anywhere with these birds... and the C/D are a dying breed as per recent USAF news. Thanks for the operational info.