Flyin' low and slow in the mountains

[Zzz]

Here's a little preview of what we'll be doing this year in Idaho: Hope you can afford the fuel.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7705039587536161508

Thanks to BRD for the link.

[Cubdude]

Hope you can afford the fuel.

I don't about the others but the F-18 burns about 200 GPM at full afterburner.









CD

[Supercubber]

I'd rather have a stick & rudder A10 Warthog for mountain flying...none of that pussy fly by wire crap.

[Strata Rocketeer]

I've always liked the looks of the F-5, that looks like a very fun jet to scoot around in.
__________

A buddy and I were backpacking in Mineral King years ago and just as we were cresting Sawtooth Pass a couple of F-15's came screaming up the valley and did a inverted ridge crossing right over us. YEEEEEEHAAAAW!! We could see the pilots clearly in the cockpits. A Memorex Moment tm.

Timing is everything.

A limited edition print by Dru Blair available from Chief Aircraft

[Strata Rocketeer]

Well, it is a painting. I guess we need to send Dru back to art class to study figure rendering some more. He does do pretty well with the aircraft and scenery though doesn't he? I like his work.

Wish I could afford to be a patron of the arts, I'd have James Dietz paintings hanging all over my house.

[a64pilot]

It's an ardvaark, F-111

[Strata Rocketeer]

I'm just kidding, it's a great picture.

Doh! Ya got me!
______

Got an interesting story about the subject of that painting.

One of the guys I work for is a retired Air Force captain who flew Aardvark's during his Air Force career. He had to use that fancy-schmancy crew compartment escape system once over the North Sea when he got in a engine flame-out induced spin. If he'd ejected from any other military jet under those circumstances he would have probably froze to death in the water before anyone got to him or he even got into his life raft. As it was he and his crewmate just ended up sick from the rolling seas and the smoke from escape system pyrotechnics that actuate the control system guillotine cutters and the escape motors. It was interesting hearing him describe how the ejection sequence went in that contraption.

_______

AH-64,

I haven't seen any illustrations of F-15's that convey the feeling of that moment very well so you had to settle for an Aardvark.

[Strata Rocketeer]

This kind of does it too.

Stan Vosburg illustration available from AviationArtCentral.com

[buzzlatka]

please let me know if you can't see the image. I am trying hosting from webshots








this time from photobucket

[Strata Rocketeer]

Can't see your pics from Webshots but the ones from Photobucket came through just fine. That's an interesting paint scheme on that one F/A-18. Where exactly were those pictures taken? The seventh picture down looks like Huntington Lake or maybe Thomas A. Edison Lake, but neither of those lakes are in the MOA. Maybe Courtright Reservoir or Wishon? Flying with VFA-125 out of Lemoore?

If only I'd been born with 20/20 vision...

[BRD]

Cool 18 run through the mountains Buzz!

You're right Strata, I really enjoy Dietz' work. I think it's because he blends human and machine interaction so flawlessly (plus all the subtle stuff that it's fun to discover). Some guys can do one or the other but Dietz has mastered both.
Do you know if he ever released the one of the Norseman in Sitka in an open edition? The one where the Indian girl is saying goodbye to her mother and grandmother while general dock life happens around them.

It all comes down to what I was taught in advertising, people like to see people.

Brad

[Strata Rocketeer]

I spent about half of the day looking at the Dietz exposition in 2003 at Oshkosh. The two guys who were with me couldn't figure out what I found so interesting about it. I was just looking at all the details, the lighting, the wonderful use of color, and the expressions on the faces - amazing work.

I think I remember seeing the piece that you're talking about at that showing but I don't recall seeing it offered anywhere in print. There's a whole bunch of his work that hasn't been released in litho as yet.

[buzzlatka]

VR-1355 up in WA. If that was edison courtwright or wishon I would be toast. Most of the sierra is off limits below 3k agl. Saline and death valley on the other hand, are open season.
The paint is just for fun, we did that with all the F-18b's in the squadron. Those are the old jets.

[BRD]

I just Googled it and my memory had popped a breaker. The airplane wasn't a Norseman, rather a Stinson Gullwing. "Alaskan Farewell" The print is available as an artist proof. I really like this one.

http://www.jamesdietz.com/gallery/merch ... =11&step=4

http://www.thehistorymart.com/Merchant2 ... e=1000acsp

[Strata Rocketeer]

VR-1355 up in WA...The paint is just for fun, we did that with all the F-18b's in the squadron. Those are the old jets.

Those aren't VFA-125 insignia on that pretty baby blue jet?

[buzzlatka]

vfa-125 insignia yes, but one has the blue cammo. I think we have 50 jets, 10 or so A's and B models. Since they are using old software we just use them for carrier practice and as Red Air, hence the funky paint job.

[Strata Rocketeer]

Ah, aggressors, kinda what I thought. The bad guys get to fly the old stuff. Is it really fair to make the bad guys stick out like a sore thumb?

Yes, I know the Russians do it...silly Reds.

[Strata Rocketeer]

BRD,

Yes I did see that one at Oshkosh.

This is also one of my favorites: Bonne Chance

[BRD]

And this is its companion piece: C'est la Guerre

http://www.jamesdietz.com/gallery/merch ... d=6&step=4

It shows the squadron returning after the mission. Same girl is in the picture too.

Hey Buzz, when did all the old A and B model Hornette's (sorry - relative flew the Turkey so we have to remain loyal to our brand and dis the 18 crowd whenever given the opportunity - Tomcats forever! ) get the vertical strakes on the chines like the C/D model? Was this a fleet-wide retrofit in the far distant past?

Brad

[Strata Rocketeer]

VR-1355 up in WA. If that was edison courtwright or wishon I would be toast. Most of the sierra is off limits below 3k agl. Saline and death valley on the other hand, are open season.
The paint is just for fun, we did that with all the F-18b's in the squadron. Those are the old jets.

Those aren't VFA-125 insignia on that pretty baby blue jet?

Buzz,

Pardon my density altitude. It took me a day to realize that you were talkin' about a low level training route and not a squadron number.

It's sometimes hard for a low and slow pilot to grasp that Washington is just a hop and a skip away for an F-18. Did you do an aerial refueling on that training sortie before you returned home, or was there enough fuel with that drop tank to do the mission and get back? And when did the DOD raise the hard deck in the Sierra MOA's? That sucks, for you guys and us too. I guess the tree huggers don't appreciate the beauty of a low level high speed pass in the wilderness anymore, eh?
____________________

I finally found V1355 on the Seattle sectional. I guess you guys stop at Whidbey Island and get lamp oil there. Must be Keechelus Lake in those pictures you posted.