Thunderbird Tweaker

Nellis AFB is the home of the USAF Thunderbirds demonstration team. While I've always felt the Navy Blue Angels were more exciting and a tighter team, there is no denying the Thunderbirds are excellent at what they do, too.

As with any high performance machine, the real heroes are the tweakers, fixers and maintainers - the unsung members of the ground crew.

Modern military aircraft are complex, and while maintenance shots are not as sexy as flybys and aerobatics, there is a certain beauty in that quiet science. This shot, taken during the 2010 ISAP visit to Nellis, captures the essence of that quality for me: a sleek and shiny F-16 tucked into a hanger, looking out into the bright light while being opened up for routine work, as if anticipating its next performance before a packed ramp of excited enthusiasts.

Even a machine could feel the energy of a crowd like that and look forward to the next showtime.

I Have You Now!

Perhaps the most colorful aircraft certainly in today's U.S. military are the CAG birds of the Navy. CAG stands for Commander Air Group. He is the boss man of the Carrier Air Wing, composed of the various squadrons embarked aboard a typical American aircraft carrier.

Since the standard battle colors of contemporary military aircraft are various shades of gray (or as one friend puts it, "yuck gray"), colorful aircraft are a rarity. Fortunately Navy rules allow each squadron to paint up two aircraft in CAG markings - ostensibly because its the airplane (and the spare) that the CAG gets to fly should he choose to do so (or is qualified to do so).

Regardless, the squadrons usually try to out-do each other, hence the very colorful, sometimes gaudy markings that are sought after by slide and image collectors.

This EA-6B Prowler of VAQ-209 is heading down the taxiway to the runway at Nellis AFB during the recent ISAP event there. Activated, or "stood up," in 1977, VAQ-209 is a reserve squadron that calls itself the "Star Warriors." Yes, that is Darth Vader's head adorning the vertical tail of the Prowler.

I have to admit to some mixed feelings about these markings. While a wonderful piece of graphic art, and while Darth Vader is an iconic American image, he is, after all, a bad guy. At least he was in Star Wars (yes, I know it's called A New Hope" now, but to me it'll always be just Star Wars) and in The Empire Strikes Back. It wasn't until The Return of the Jedi that he redeemed himself - which I never really bought dramatically.

Regardless, in his incarnation as Darth Vader, Anakin Skywalker was the villain. Even more bluntly, he was evil personified! So why on Earth would clean-cut American aviators - the Good Guys - want to take as their squadron symbol something perceived as evil personified? On top of that he was the front man for the spread of an evil empire! Is that the message we want to spread?

I suppose in the business of war the psychological trumps questions like that. Various squadrons have the grim reaper as their mascot. Some have werewolves, some have Vikings and other fierce warriors while one famously has Felix the Cat. It's whatever makes your morale strong and melds you into a cohesive fighting unit. If Darth Vader's mask is too cool for words, then the symbolism behind it takes a back seat.

I just wonder what the other side thinks and if irony is lost in war?

Warthog Staredown

The A-10 Thunderbolt II, aka the Warthog, is not long on beauty, but it's a pistol-packin' mama the ground-pounders love. The business end of the beast is the GAU-8 30mm cannon in the chin of the airplane. Like the proverbial iceberg, the majority of the 7-barrel rotating cannon's bulk is hidden in the body of the airplane. In truth the whole package, including ammo drum, is the size of an old Volkswagen Beetle.

This A-10 was shot at the 2010 ISAP visit to Nellis AFB. The plane is ready to taxi out to the runway after being cleared at the Last Chance station where all systems are given a final check and all Remove Before Flight pins and flags are pulled. The nose gear is off-set to one side while the cannon is shifted slightly to the other. This is so the firing of each barrel can be at the 9:00 position relative to the barrel's face, but located on the centerline of the aircraft. Centerline firing is important as having asymmetric recoil of that magnitude would not be a good thing.

Two other factoids, the GAU-8 fires ammunition containing a core of depleted Uranium which allows it to penetrate tank armor with devastating effect, and the rate of fire is 3,900 rounds per minute. Since the drum only holds 1,075 rounds, short bursts are necessary.

There is a story of an A-10 shooting down an Iraqi helicopter with its gun during Operation Desert Storm. Since air-to-air kills are rare for most strike aircraft, especially an A-10, the pilot must have gotten excited and unloaded a longer than normal burst on the chopper. It literally shredded the vehicle into lots of little, tiny pieces of metal. Ouch.

Raptor Heat

It was very interesting watching the F-22s take-off from Nellis AFB during the recent ISAP visit to the base. This, of course, was in the midst of the recent Red Flag exercises. To begin with, we had no restrictions from shooting the airplanes on the ramp, taxi way, last chance or End of Runway (EOR). That meant we could take pictures from the rear quarter, which is unusual. They get very twitchy about that at Edwards AFB.

Secondly, the Edwards take-offs we've seen involves the use of afterburner. This is because it's usually during an Open House and they want to do a maximum performance routine to wow the crowd. Plus, it's a lot more spectacular than a standard, non-afterburner take-off. The two Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100 turbofan engines put out 35,000 lbs thrust each in afterburner, but only 23,500 each without, so there is a big difference.

In any event, the Nellis launches were without afterburner. The result was predictably not as impressive (no flame out the nozzles) nor as loud, but it was impressive and loud enough. The angle above did provide a nice visual with the hot exhaust gases blurring the Nellis tower in shimmering ripples of heat. Note also the narrowing of the nozzle lips to constrict the opening to create more thrust. Ah, physics; 'ya gotta love it!

Raptor Eye

The Head's Up Display (HUD) is a staple of modern fighter aircraft. Designed so a pilot can monitor instruments, flight conditions and targeting solutions while keeping his eyes outside of the cockpit is a major element in maintaining what is called "situational awareness," e.g. knowing what's going on around you and your wingman.

The HUD projects all the important data onto a flat pane of glass with a ghostly green light. Seen on the F-22 above, it is quite visible in daylight. What I like about this shot is that it reminds me of a Cylon from the original "Battlestar Galactica" tv series, except the eye beam is green instead of red. I can almost hear the plane say, "by your command!"

The mood is enhanced by the tight shot on the canopy. The plane really looks otherworldly at this point.

The shot was taken during the recent ISAP convention outing to Nellis AFB and the Red Flag exercise in operation at the time.

Down Unna Hornet Burn

So much for increased regularity. The computers are still temperamental and not talking to each other well. We'll need to call the geek out again. Oh, well....

At least I have my airplanes. The neat thing about a Red Flag is the opportunity to shoot foreign air forces on U.S. soil. Not just the occasional one or two that may pop up at a local open house, but a squadron's strength worth of airplanes. In this case airplanes from three RAAF squadrons were mixed together to form the travel unit. This one has just lit his afterburner (reheat in British parlance) and is starting his take-off roll. It was another "Aaaaahhh!" moment at the Nellis EOR.

I love the smell of JP-5 in the morning...it smells like - airplanes!

Chong's Law and Hierarchy - Part Deux - Red Flag

Several people have responded to my last post with interesting comments of their own. Indeed, Lin's Corollary is a good example ("the more abstract the image, the less visceral the response but the more cerebral"). I would agree with that.

At the same time, another friend wondered if I should have added a tenth point to the Hierarchy: The feel of the power of an aircraft in flight. I believe the ninth point covers that, as the above example shows.

I have been fortunate enough to stand at the Last Chance / End of Runway (EOR) spot at various airbases and airports many times. By far the most memorable was the International Society of Aviation Photographers (ISAP) convention event at Nellis Air Force Base in 2004. The convention coincided with one of the base's Red Flag exercises. Red Flag, for those who do not know, is a six-week long advanced aerial combat training program that involves many different aircraft from representative squadrons from all branches of the U.S. military and selected foreign allies. Daily exercises involve several dozen aircraft from the "blue" team (good guys) facing off against the "red" team (bad guys) in a variety of tactical scenarios. When a Flag is up, the aircraft launch and recover in a simulated operational wartime tempo. What that means is lots of powerful, noisy military aircraft taking off and landing almost continuously throughout the course of the day. It is an aviation photographer's heaven.

The ultimate expression of the ninth point is an extremely complex and tactile presentation. That comes for the viewer (e.g. photographer) at the EOR. There, most, if not all, of the five senses are forcefully engaged by some of the most complex pieces of machinery ever created. Not only can you see and hear the aircraft (indeed, "mouse ears" hearing protection is a must), but you can feel the whine of their engines in your gut and the blasting heat from the exhaust plume on your skin. The smell of combusting jet fuel is ever-present and, at times, strong enough to taste. When the pilot lights his afterburners for take off, like the British Panavia Tornado above, the concussion waves push you back and the roar vibrates in your chest with pure, unadulterated power. It is simply glorious. The only thing better is to get a ride in a fighter, and that, I am told, is off the chart.