Thanks, bought some new glass with a 1.4 f stop, so still learnin' how to run it. I prolly went up to the flight deck adjustin' the lighting of the nacelles and cargo about 5 times.

Adrianspeeder

 

Great pictures!

 

123 – Time for another trip to the land of sand. This jet is a recent addition to the Dover fleet as a used hand me down from McChord. Got 7 more hard years of use than even our oldest factory delivered jet. Let’s go!







124/125 – First stop in Spain.











126 - All was good until until, "Chief, I think you have a fuel leak." You think? That is one of those things in life there is or isn't.







127 - The main tanks hold gas until 178k lbs, then that’s when the two extended range tanks start filling up to a possible 249k lbs. Hadn't been leaking before on any of the stops, but we weren't using the ER up to that point. Took a few tries at removing underwing panels, but got it narrowed down to a vent line tank connection. Gonna take a day to get that part in, so let’s hit the town.







128/129/130 - At which point we saw one of the stranger events I've ever witnessed. Didn't have a clue what was going on, but got filled in that before Easter, the Spanish celebrate a whole Holy Week with parades and such.















Video!

[youtube]KgjnkWG2i40[/youtube]




131/132 - Next day part patched in, so we topped off on the gas.











133/134 – Because of timing, the next stop ended up being an overnight in everyone’s favorite German town.











135 - Pointy end of the stick.







136 - The pilots and maintainers of this heavy hardware were pretty cool wanting pictures back and forth, and all parties had big smiles about each other’s aircraft. The gunship pilots thought our big bird was the most amazing thing around, when I had to stop and ask, "Wait, you fly a gunship with a 30mm point by turning your head chain gun, and this C-17 is cooler?"


"Yup. It can fly us home."

Fair enough.







137/142 – Night line in the desert.




























(post break 20)



143 – Night line in the desert.







144/149 - Gets boring crossing the ocean with no inflight movies, so ya find things to entertain ya. Like airliners that fly higher and faster. Spot 'em on the fish finder, then find 'em in the sky.

 

150 – Pilot hero shot.







151 – Oh Canada…







152 - Tough to watch Lt's try to read maps upside down.







153 – Quick splash of gas to make it across the country.







154 – Our fearless copilot’s father flew out of Bangor Maine back in the day. Like father like son takin' off from the same runway the ole man ran on.







155 – Positive rate from Bangor ME!

 

I have to defend the 1stLt, having been one once myself. Is it possible he has the map oriented according to the direction the aircraft is flying?

Great pictures as always Adrian. I especially liked the night ones of the formation lights on the bird.

- Jack

 

Well, good to see the Lt mafia stickin' together. It was a staged photo for his ole man who also was a pilot..

Thanks!

Adrianspeeder

 

That's a much better explanation, Adrian! I've never found it helpful to rotate an airway map either, but a Tactical Pilotage Chart (TPC) that shows terrain is almost always rotated so that the flight path is "up".

Anyway, since EVERYONE makes fun of Lieutenants, although usually they're the "butter bar" variety, I had to try.

From everything you've posted, it looks like you have an outstanding crew, that knows how to get things done right.

- Jack

 

Yup yup, I've yet to fly with anything other than great pilots. Loadmasters sometimes I wonder about, but they are usually good too. What is your airframe?

Adrianspeeder

 

It was a long time ago, Adrian. A-37Bs in Vietnam. After that, I was mostly a Forward Air Controller.

- Jack

 

Just read the Wiki on that. Looks like a bad lil mammer jammer!

Adrianspeeder

 

Yup - we called ourselves "The Closest Air Support". A flight of two could keep the target area hot without any break at all as long as we had ordnance remaining.

- Jack

 

A Tweet jockey!

Were you airborne or ground FAC?

 

Both. If you're an Air Force pilot, you control airstrikes from an aerial platform and then, you also get to go out with the Army as an ALO (Air Liaison Officer), who's job is to advise an Army Commander on effective use of air power and coordinate airstrikes when they are warranted.

I learned a lot about the Army during deployments with them (thankfully not in active battles - just in exercises). It gave me a whole new appreciation for the shock power of tanks and, the terror that artillery can inflict on a battlefield. And, I had some good discussions with Commanders and their S3s.

It's much easier to direct an airstrike from the air. You can see much of what the strike pilot sees and move his hits quickly and accurately if necessary. (I'm talking Close Air Support here, with friendlies in contact with enemy forces). Directing a strike from the ground is "challenging", due to your limited sight lines.

And, it was actually a "Super Tweet". Twice the gross weight of the T-37 with 3 times the thrust.

- Jack

 

God - LOVE those pics. Thank you for your service, brother.

 

Your old clunker is better then the old shaky clunker's I use to fly in!!