I mentioned in my last post how clear the air was that Saturday during the March ARB open house. This shot of a Whiteman AFB T-38A Talon proves it. The beautiful snow-capped San Bernardino Mountains loom in the distance behind Northrop's classically sleek and glossy-gray trainer.
Usually the smog from Los Angeles chokes the Inland Empire where March ARB sits and you can't see diddly but brown haze. But not that day. The angle is to the Northeast from the ramp at March, in Riverside, looking towards Big Bear and Mt. San Gorgonio.
I had a couple of adventures as a boy scout trying to climb San Gorgonio, which at 11,499 feet, is pretty tall if you're coming from near sea level in Redondo Beach, where I was living at the time. Unfortunately, both of them involved cramps and nausea, so I never actually made it to the top. The guys that did said it was pretty rugged. I'm just as glad I stopped at Dollar Lake.
That's one of the things I love about Southern California, though: you can surf in the ocean in the morning and two or three hours later ski at 8,000 feet or climb to 11,000 feet or more. Not that I ever surfed or skied, but you could if you wanted to. Regardless, that's a dramatic elevation change, equal to or greater than the one from Colorado Springs to the top of Pike's Peak. Of course, you're starting at about 6,500 feet at Colorado Springs, so that would make breathing at the top of Pike's Peak - at 14,115 feet - a bit interesting for us sea-level dwellers. Still, the elevation differential is greater here than in Colorado.
One of these days we'll have to go up to the top of Pike's Peak on the cog rail from Manitou Springs. It looks like fun.
We're slowly but surely getting the new computer up to speed. I finally managed to get the email contacts and folders transferred over, along with my Firefox favorites. Life is getting better.
I shot this T-38 in the (relatively) new sunshades at Edwards AFB during the recent ISAP convention. Normally I don't like sunshades because aircraft look better in sunlight. But I can certainly understand the desire of the maintenance crews to avoid working in the hot sun of the high desert.
So, like photographers the world over, you make do. Or as one person said, if life hands you a lemon, make lemonade.
There is an interesting quality to the light and reflections in the series of photos I did that day. Even the shades themselves produce interesting patterns and shapes that add texture to the images. But it seems to work better in tight shots like this. While not the best for documentary work, they do give the creative juices a stir. All in all, it was fun and worthwhile.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, The Northrop, now Northrop Grumman, T-38 Talon celebrated the 50th anniversary of its first flight earlier this year. Not only is it still in operational service training future fighter pilots for the U.S. Air Force, it is revisiting an old role of playing "Red Air."
The initial Navy Adversary and Air Force Aggressor units flew T-38s in Soviet-style tactics to give our pilots simulated air combat training, hence the appellation Red Air. Complimented by, then later replaced with Northrop F-5E Tiger II's and Douglas A-4 Skyhawks, the Talon performed well enough, but returned to it primary mission when it became clear more capable jets were needed to play the role.
However, with the F-22A Raptor replacing the F-117 Nighthawk at Holloman AFB, the T-38 has once again returned to the combat training aggressor role. This is mainly due to the fact that Aggressor units are stretched too thin and Holloman is a bit remote from the major Red Air operating sites (Nellis AFB foremost among them).
Usually, ACC (Air Combat Command) T-38s have the same paint scheme as their parent squadron. In other words, the T-38 companion trainers for the 509th Bomb Wing, which flies B-2s, are painted B-2 grey. The T-38s at Holloman were painted black to match the F-117s. They decided to leave them black when they took on the Red Air role against the F-22s because black was harder to detect in the air, or so our host told us when we visited the 7th CTS (Combat Training Squadron) during Phancon this year.
Incidentally, the tail band now has little F-22 silhouettes. When they were the companion trainers to the Nighthawk they had little F-117s.
One last note, the 7th CTS was called the Screamin' Demons when the F-117 was there. I assume they are still called that, but lately they have taken on a new, unofficial nickname. It is a play on the HO tail code on the jets. Believe it or not, they are affectionaly called the "Black HOs."
Politically correct it ain't. But it is descriptive and literally accurate.
This past April the Northrop (now Northrop Grumman) T-38 Talon celebrated the 50th anniversary of its first flight. The Talon was the world's first production supersonic trainer. Over 500 aircraft are still in service and the type is expected to serve in the U.S. Air Force for at least another 10 to 20 years or more. That is a remarkable achievement in any airplane but more so for a supersonic one. It is also a very sleek and beautiful looking machine.
The picture above was taken last October while waiting for the F-35 AA-1 to return from its test flight. The photo below was taken at the 2006 Edward AFB Open House. I enjoy seeing what tight shots and reflections produce in the way of interesting forms and abstractions. In some ways it makes you focus on the underlying beauty of the structure more than in overall shots. I like both, obviously, but I confess to having a lot of fun with the artsy side. I'll show what I mean on another day.
I mentioned in my last post how clear the air was that Saturday during the March ARB open house. This shot of a Whiteman AFB T-38A Talon proves it. The beautiful snow-capped San Bernardino Mountains loom in the distance behind Northrop's classically sleek and glossy-gray trainer. 
