Military Aircraft at Williams-Gateway Airport

[Jan-Arie]

from this week

[JWAir]

A few from the first couple of weeks in March...

1. T-38C 65-10386 14th FTW, 50th FTS - March 2nd
Nice to see these guys coming all of the way from Columbus AFB out here in Arizona! Quite rare to see much of anything from the 14th FTW out this far west. Their flight of 5 was here for nearly a week, and they flew probably 10 sorties for each aircraft while they were here. They said it was a real treat flying in the Arizona mountains when compared to the low, rolling hills back home.

2. T-28C N746SH (ex-US Navy BuNo. 140492) Privately owned - March 6th
Always a treat to see a well restored T-28! This one was even better than most since it was wearing this color scheme. It stayed for about 5 or 6 days flying when the weather was cooperative. The owner liked the airport and loved the service, so he should be back again some day...

3. AV-8B 164148 3rd MAW, MAG-13, VMA-211 - March 12th
On this day, Gateway hosted at least one Harrier from each unit based at Yuma. We had 4 from VMA-211, 2 from VMA-214, 1 from VMA-311, and 3 from VMA-513. In addition to the fleet of Harriers, we also saw 4 T-45s from NAS Kingsville and 8 T-38Cs from Laughlin AFB. Another busy weekend...at least I managed to get this shot of the only Harrier that was parked decent enough for a clear 50mm ramp shot!

[Rob W.]

I like that T-28 shot. 

[maineairphoto]

I like the T28 as well 

[JWAir]

I wish we saw more T-28s out here at Gateway, but this is one of only 2 I have seen since I have been there. Too bad, they are probably my favorite warbird. I always thought they did not look too big when I saw them in photos, but once you are standing next to one, only then do you realize that it really is a huge bird! Heck, I had to get out the 10-foot ladder just to fuel this thing that day!

[Code20Photog]

I got to spend an afternoon out there last week:

VMFAT-101 F/A-18C


VMFAT-101 FA/-18D


VMFA-323 F/A-18C


1st Recon Squadron T-38A

[joe_stremph]

Ken, I'm really digging that first Hornet shot.

Here's a Copperheads -135 on approach for a 30R touch-and-go last night.  Shot from my car on my way home.  Yes, I pulled over.

[phantomphan1974]

Great shot Joe 

[JWAir]

A few from the last week or so in March...

1. AV-8B 165566 3rd MAW, MAG-13, VMA-214 - March 26th
It has been more than a whole year since I have been able to get any nice shots of the Black Sheep, but now they are back in force. We had two Black Sheep, four Wake Island Avengers, and six Tigers on our ramp that evening!

2. T-38N N908NA (ex-USAF serial 65-10328) NASA Johnson Space Center - March 27th
The last time we had a NASA Talon sitting all alone on our ramp was back in September and the skies were a stagnant brownish-grey color! Today, on the other hand, we could not have asked for a better day. A clean ramp and perfectly clear skies made this shot worth it...

3. KC-130J 167111 3rd MAW, MAG-11, VMGR-352 - March 30th
It was a fairly slow day until this beauty showed up. Our ramp was nearly empty, and that allowed us to place this Hercules on our main ramp instead of on the sound side of the terminal ramp. The crew spent a couple hours resting and having a nice dinner and were nice enough to allow me to get some shots. Hard to get a Hercules this clean without open doors and intake covers on the engines! Let's hope they bring the bird with the black tail next time they decide to drop in...

[JWAir]

A few from the first half of April...

1. KC-130T 162310 4th MAW, MAG-41, VMGR-234 - April 6th
Exactly one week after the KC-130J from the "Raiders" out of Miramar showed up, we had the "Rangers" out of NAS Fort Worth come to spend the majority of the week with us. They flew sorties nearly every day, leaving around midday and not returning until well after dark.

2. AV-8B 165389 3rd MAW, MAG-13, VMA-214 - April 9th
Once again, the "Black Sheep" are back in town working the local ranges hard. They stopped only to refuel and get a bite to eat this past weekend. I am going to keep my fingers crossed that they bring their newly painted CAG bird to town one of these days quite soon. Would be nice to see some color like that on our ramp again!

3. AV-8B 164117 3rd MAW, MAG-13, VMA-513 - April 12th
Having recently returned from a deployment in Japan, the "Flying Nightmares" are once again starting to make regular weekend appearances at Gateway. For some reason, the paint shop forgot to apply the Bureau Number of the port side of the tail on this bird, making it appear completely anonymous from this angle!

[joe_stremph]

Great lighting on that Herk, J.  Actually, there have been several well-lit surprises in the evening lately. 

164117 has lacked a BuNo on the port side for a while, even when it was a VMA-311 bird a few months back.  I think it's been pinged-ponged around MAG-13 quite a bit over the past 12-18 months.

[joe_stremph]

C-17 touching down at Willie:

[joe_stremph]

Holloman test bird skedaddling out of Willie yesterday:

[joe_stremph]

Tucson-based RC-26B arriving at Willie for some gas.

[thuderbird7]

Great shots Joe!