More pics my friends...



I love the H-34 “Chocktaw” for the simple reason that my father logged many an hour in this beauty (and I was lucky enough as a young man to sit in the her cockpit many, many times).

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For the “-60 boys”...Not in the correct colors, but cool nonetheless!

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Look at all those funny clocks! What the hell is that big-assed handle with the red knob? When you pull that does the stewardess bring you coffee?

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Funny how some of these big bastards will fly! Three engines....how cool is that? Doesn't this baby just LOOK like it should be hauling around a platoon of bad-assed Marines?

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The “front office” of the -53....

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As I continued to wander around, I eventually made it to the aft part of the hangar where the real work is being done. Here, they’re restoring an AH-1S to look like an AH-1G circa “Vietnam era”. I befriended one of the workers, and he said they can’t find any noses from a “G”, so they have all the foam, etc. set aside to fashion one themselves! Crafty these boys are.... (more about my new buddy in a bit)

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Outside working my way back toward Hangar 37...



This is new from my last visit. A line up of “Who’s Who” from the Cold War.

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An F-104 Starfighter...a friggin bullet with wings!!! I must’ve built this model about a dozen times as a kid! It looks like it’s doing Mach 2 just sitting on the ramp! With that funky little landing gear, I WOULD NOT want to try landing this thing in a gusty crosswind during a downpour!

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Mig 21. Me thinks he needs to hit: “Backspace, F8, F3” and ask for “Re-arm/Repair” to get that nose tire fixed!

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Hard to believe this big bastard was launching and trapping all day and night on the carries a few years ago, right? Good friend of mine (retired A320 Captain for the airline) flew this bugger, and even did most of the Tomcat flying in the movie “Top Gun”. He’s a TRUE character to be sure, and his stories of those night traps (and the time he had to punch out coming off the CAT on a cold CAT shot) will make your hair stand on end...

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F-102. The dude I’m working this trip with, flew the F-106 for many years (and the F-16 before he retired from the USAF). Did you know (on the -106) we had air launched “AIR TO AIR NUKES” that these things carried? (He was telling me all about them) Me neither! Fairly sure you’d have a pretty high PK factor when you let loose something that would end with a REALLY BIG BANG!

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And finally....



The Eagle. Standing there taking in all her beauty, really made me want to fire the F-15C module in DCS (with the new FM) and take it for a spin. I haven’t logged any time in her since Griff and I did some Eagle flying last Spring (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqZfSE8tKKM ). May have to do just that after I get home!

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Huey pics coming soon (in another thread)!!!

BBall

Your a lucky fellow being able to check out the "good gear", thanks for the happy snaps.

Thanks for the tour BBall...I'm certainly living vicariously through you so keep posting.

Strange cockpit on the 102! Is it the plane they called the bath tub? And I never get enough of that tomcat, those lines..

Great shots B.

Just got my June roster...I've got a NRT on the 4th.
Don't 'spose you'd be in town?

Cheers,
Samri.

Just got my June schedule.

I'm in NRT on Monday 16th, Thursday 19th, Sunday 22nd and Tuesday the 1st of July. Let me know if any of those work, and I'll buy you a beer at the Jet Lag!

BBall

Looks like I'll miss you next month.
Looking forward to a couple of beers with ya one day soon.

I bet the other guys (crew) will wonder what on earth we are talking about!

Cheers,
Samri

NRT = Narita (Tokyo), the place where most international routes intersect ? Japan Stop over ? (Nice place full of LBFMPBR's ) ?

Nice post.

(C/229) Strut wrote:NRT = Narita (Tokyo), the place where most international routes intersect ?  Japan Stop over ? (Nice place full of LBFMPBR's ) ?

Exactly. (except for the LBFMPBR reference...lol)

It's essentially, my home away from home. On a typical month (one 12 or 13 day trip), I'm there three or four nights....so much that I know the names of the laundry ladies, and the bartender runs when she sees me coming.

Actually, it's a nice little town, full of very nice folks. The airport is huge, handles tons of traffic quite well (99% of the time), and I've been going there for so long (my first layover there was waaay back in '85), it really does feel like "home" to many of us.

Oh, and Samri, no matter the topic, the rest of the crew is ALWAYS wondering what the fkk I'm talking about....lol.