FighterControl

hi all im on holiday to orlando all july, we are taking a trip up to the pensacola naval aviation musuem which looks amazing!! also noticed that eglin AFB wernt to far from this, on their site it looks like they have F35's! so i was just wondering if anyone had been spotting there and where abouts to go etc? thanks in advance.

Bond I have been past Eglin before and although you can see the aircraft in their sun shelter's from certain places around the perimeter they are located away from the road and fairly difficult to read or photo unless taxing or taking off and that depends on the direction they are heading. I was limited on time and therefore could not explore for better viewing area's. Most of the airfield is surrounded by trees. There is also the USAF Armament Museum located very near to the base and an F-15 preserved at the terminal of the Regional Airport which shares the site.
Also if you are going to be down that way on July 10th/11th the Pensacola Beach Airshow is on ( http://www.visitpensacolabeach.com/what/airshow.asp ). I thoroughly recommend the museum at Pensacola , the museum is located on the base so be sure to take your passports as I don't think they will accept UK driving licence's . Be sure to register for the bus tour of the flightline when you first arrive , spaces are limited. If you can't make it for the airshow then there is always the chance that if the Blue Angels are in town you can catch one of their practice sessions. Hope this help's you out.

They haven't got any F-35s yet and the last of the F-15C/Ds departed in September.

Guess its just the test aircraft.

Neil

Blue Angels practice schedules -

2010 Blue Angel practice schedule released:
March 23, 24*, 30, 31*
April 1, 2, 6, 7*, 13, 14*, 20, 21*, 27, 28*
May 4, 5*, 11, 12*, 18, 19*
June 1, 2*, 8, 9*, 15, 16*, 22, 23*
July 13, 14*, 20
August 10, 11*, 18*, 19, 24, 25*
September 7, 8*, 14, 15*
October 12, 13*, 19, 20*, 26, 27*
November 2, 3*
November 12-13 - Blue Angels Homecoming Air Show, NAS Pensacola

http://www.navalaviationmuseum.org/Plan ... ctivities-(1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)/BlueAngelsPractices.aspx need to cut and paste into your browser bar.

Eglin AFB is due to gain 12 x F-35A's in 2011 according to the USAF Base re-organisation programme.
So i expect the F-35 is as Neil said, a test example ready to receive the 12 next year.

thanks for the replies, yeah we were going to go to that airshow but the only thing in interest there is the blue angels, the hotels are very expensive working up about £200 a night on the show dates plus theres warning of very heavy traffic so we decided not to go. i really cant wait to get to that museum though, and to see my some tomcats (life long dream) i had no idea that the museum is located on a base is it just the blue angels based there?

Bond you will find T-39's , T-6A's , T-1A's , T-45A's and T-44's there as well as the Blue Angels. There are usually some Marine / Navy F/A-18's buzzing around as well. There are a couple of Preserved aircraft around the base which you will pass , ask at the main gate ( where one located ) if it's okay to pull over and stop to photograph these. There are a couple of aircraft on display nearby and on the route you would take from Orlando to Pensacola , Here is a link to a website that some Gate Guardians and displayed aircraft in Florida , check it out you might find a couple of other places to stop at on the way.

http://www.warbirdsandairshows.com/flor ... guards.htm

brilliant thanks for all the tips!!! im buzzin for this trip now