82-0803 F-117A Unexpected Guest by Jason Grant, on FlickrWe left the museum and drove to Palmdale in readiness for two days at Edwards AFB (AeroResource report to follow).
414292 NL44727 QP-A Man O'War P-51D by Jason Grant, on FlickrFollowing the airshow on the Saturday evening, we drove to Santa Maria for the Planes of Fame show being hosted at Santa Maria airport. It was a fantastic show, plenty of warbirds flying around the crowd as well as a good mixture of current types on display. The cloud that had rolled in a few days earlier made for better photographic conditions due to shooting towards the sun, however, the cloud broke during the Super Hornet demo so we headed out the show to find a place far side of the airport for the F-35A display. We are glad we did.
NL7715C 122-39504 P-51D by Jason Grant, on Flickr
NX670AM SBD-5 Dauntless by Jason Grant, on Flickr
165926 NJ-122 F/A-18F VFA-122 by Jason Grant, on Flickr
165926 NJ-122 F/A-18F VFA-122 by Jason Grant, on FlickrThe USAF F-35A display is the best military display I have seen for many years and I am not a fan of the type. Take a bow Major Kristin "Beo" Wolfe
18-5453 HL F-35A 4th FS by Jason Grant, on Flickr
18-5453 HL F-35A 4th FS by Jason Grant, on Flickr
18-5453 HL F-35A 4th FS by Jason Grant, on Flickr
USAF Heritage Flight by Jason Grant, on FlickrA change of plan on the Sunday night. We originally planned to drive to Blythe to continue to Luke AFB on the Monday, but news that approximately 50 jets had deployed to Nellis AFB was too good an opportunity to miss. We booked a motel at Barstow and headed to Nevada. Monday, we spent the day at Nellis AFB, unfortunately most of the deployed jets did not fly but the locals did. Apart from some guy trying to mug me at the 7/11 garage on the corner between Cheyenne Ave and Nellis main gate, we were glad we diverted to Nellis.
79-0169 OT A-10C 422nd TES by Jason Grant, on FlickrTwo interesting F-22A schemes, a shame they didn't flex upon departure.
04-4070 F-22A 433rd WPS by Jason Grant, on Flickr
04-4065 F-22A 422nd TES by Jason Grant, on Flickr
04-4069 OT F-22A 422nd TES by Jason Grant, on Flickr
97-0217 OT F-15E 422nd TES by Jason Grant, on Flickr
90-0262 WA F-15E 17th WPS by Jason Grant, on Flickr
17-5892 FL HC-130J 39th RQS by Jason Grant, on Flickr
84-1220 WA F-16C 57 OG by Jason Grant, on Flickr
83-1159 WA F-16C 64th AGRS by Jason Grant, on Flickr
87-0321 WA F-16C 64th AGRS by Jason Grant, on FlickrAs the sun set on Nellis, we drove through the desert to pick up our trip at Yuma. We stopped half way to look at the sky, no light, the best sky I have ever seen, beautiful. I didn't have a wide angle lens so you will have to take my word for it lol. We passed the two preserve Phantoms at Quartszite before getting to our motel in Yuma. Tuesday, we spent the day outside MCAS Yuma and what a day it was. 7 different F-35 squadrons flying, 3 different hercs, legacy hornets, Growlers, F-5s, Ospreys, T-34s, Ch-53s, C-12, UH-1Ys, AH-1Zs and ex Swiss Hunters made for one hell of a day in the desert heat. Still, Texas Roadhouse do great steaks and cold beers, we toasted the USMC that night.
169915 MV-56 F-35B VMX-1 by Jason Grant, on Flickr
168250 NL-522 E/A-18G VAQ-135 by Jason Grant, on Flickr
168653 YS-15 MV-22B VMM-162 by Jason Grant, on Flickr
160472 SH-472 T-34C VMFAT-101 by Jason Grant, on FlickrThe best aircraft I photographed on the trip
169447 SB-50 CMV-22B VRM-50 by Jason Grant, on Flickr
169447 SB-50 CMV-22B VRM-50 by Jason Grant, on Flickr
CF-02 CF-07 F-35B VMFA-211 by Jason Grant, on Flickr
VE-01 VE-06 F/A-18C VMFA-115 by Jason Grant, on Flickr
165201 VE-01 F/A-18C VMFA-115 by Jason Grant, on Flickr
169295 WF-553 F-35B VMFAT-502 by Jason Grant, on Flickr
169414 WF-559 F-35B VMFAT-502 by Jason Grant, on Flickr
N331AX Hunter Mk.58 ATAC by Jason Grant, on Flickr
N345AX Hunter Mk.58 ATAC by Jason Grant, on FlickrThe sun began to set and the shadows got longer, but the flying just increased with more and more departures into the night.
168068 QH-068 KC-130J VMGR-234 by Jason Grant, on Flickr
165197 VE-11 F/A-18C VMFA-115 by Jason Grant, on Flickr
169921 CE-03 F-35B VMFA-225 by Jason Grant, on Flickr
164679 VE-22 F/A-18D VMFA-115 by Jason Grant, on Flickr
168612 YP-00 MV-22B VMM-163 by Jason Grant, on Flickr
170051 WE-00 F-35B VMFA-214 by Jason Grant, on Flickr
164895 VE-02 F/A-18C VMFA-511 by Jason Grant, on Flickr
166942 NL-520 E/A-18G VAQ-135 by Jason Grant, on FlickrWe had planned two days at Yuma but after such a good day, we decided to head to Luke AFB instead on the Wednesday. An early start again. After three hours at Luke and nothing happened, we decided to abort and head to Williams Gateway for the ex Israeli Vipers that were now owned by Top Aces and based there. We found out later that a Hill F-35A had crashed on the Tuesday evening, so all F-35A flying was suspended, hence no flying at Luke AFB.
N858TA N857TA N847TA F-16A Top Aces by Jason Grant, on Flickr
N862TA F-16A Top Aces by Jason Grant, on Flickr
N865TA N854TA F-16A Top Aces by Jason Grant, on FlickrWe left Phoenix and drove to Imperial Regional airport near El Centro for some refuelling action at night. Having experience it back in 2020, we were eager to get some pictures, however, the refuelling trucks no longer use their headlights, making photography even tougher in the near pitch black conditions. This is the best I got.
168698 YL-33 MV-22B VMM-362 by Jason Grant, on Flickr
168698 YL-33 MV-22B VMM-362 by Jason Grant, on Flickr
166331 WC-46 167849 WC-52 MH-60S HSC-23 by Jason Grant, on Flickr
164786 YH-786 HMH-463 by Jason Grant, on Flickr
167993 YL-37 UH-1Y VMM-362 by Jason Grant, on Flickr
169251 YL-40 AH-1Z VMM-362 by Jason Grant, on Flickr
168631 YL-04 MV-22B VMM-362 by Jason Grant, on FlickrThursday was NAF El Centro. We we aware that the T-45's that had deployed were grounded and didn't know what to expect. We were pleased to find VFA-106 had deployed from Oceana and I also photographed my first F-35s there.
Yes I know its not VFA-106 but this jet has recently moved across to them and was waiting for a repaint.
166638 AJ-232 F/A-18F VFA-213 by Jason Grant, on Flickr
166638 AJ-232 F/A-18F VFA-213 by Jason Grant, on Flickr
166681 AD-223 F/A-18F VFA-106 by Jason Grant, on Flickr
166454 AD-255 F/A-18F VFA-106 by Jason Grant, on Flickr
169794 DC-07 169795 DC-08 F-35B VMFA-122 by Jason Grant, on Flickr
169796 DC-09 F-35B VMFA-122 by Jason Grant, on Flickr
169616 DC-03 F-35B VMFA-122 by Jason Grant, on Flickr
166678 AD-263 F/A-18F VFA-106 by Jason Grant, on FlickrWith the same jets flying their third training mission in the afternoon, we headed back to Imperial for the last hour to see what would turn up.
168695 PF-00 MV-22B VMM-364 by Jason Grant, on Flickr
168394 NH-611 MH-60S HSC-8 by Jason Grant, on FlickrThese next two pictures were taken from Imperial, looking towards NAF El Centro.
NAF El Centro Sunset by Jason Grant, on Flickr
NAF El Centro Super Hornet by Jason Grant, on FlickrWe went to Famous Daves for food and returned to Imperial in the dark. It was so dark, we couldn't see a blackhawk right infront of us, it was only 30 seconds exposure time on the back of the camera that we could see the Red Cross on a medivac army blackhawk, that's how dark it was. These are a few of the other visitors that night.
168394 NH-611 MH-60S HSC-8 by Jason Grant, on Flickr
168949 SM-02 168043 SM-07 UH-1Y HMLA-369 by Jason Grant, on Flickr
164363 YN-36 CH-53E HMH-361 by Jason Grant, on Flickr
167869 307 MH-60S HSC-85 by Jason Grant, on FlickrFriday and we headed back towards LAX for out flight home, but not before calling in to see the F-117A at Palm Springs Air Museum. I visited in 2019 when the announced it was coming, I new I would have to visit again. I was surprised to see it in the restoration yard.
85-0833 F-117A Black Devil by Jason Grant, on FlickrIt was a fun 8 days with plenty of miles covered and types seen. All these images and many more from this trip and others can be seen on my Flickr site if interested.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jasonintamworth/albums
Thanks Paul for the company and the driving, it was also great to see a few old friends out there as well as making a few new ones. Thanks for looking.
