Aviation BS and Photo Thread

I was working as a civilian contractor at Pease AFB, N.H. in 1981. One day a bunch of APs came into our hangar and lined up, splitting the hangar floor in half (the hangar could house 2 KC-135s, one was the KC we were working on) and surrounded the hangar. The hangar doors opened and they towed in AF1. Pres. Bush was visiting his ranch in Maine. The next morning there were a few APs around and the crew chief. We got to ratchet jawing with him and he invited us for a tour. The 8 of us got a tour of AF1 and we all took home napkins and matchbooks (remember those) with the presidential seal. I gave mine to my dad. He was pretty proud of those napkins.

 

The version I had.

 

On flight aware. Instead of the picture 737. It displays an X-wing if you didn't know.

 

This time of year ! The best !!

 

I started a new Instagram account being silly with some tiny hands @tinyhandedpilot

feel free to follow if you’re bored

 

Last summer at a campsite in the Inyo Mountains. A couple hours past sunset I hear some sort of rotors. Mind you this area is part of R-2508 and I've seen a lot of cool aircraft in and around the area. I move closer to the ridge to see if I can spot any ID lights. Nothing to see but the rotor sound was getting louder and closer. Then it happened. The aircraft flew right up and over me through the saddle I was camped at from west to east. Only when it passed could I see the green illuminated rotor tips of a MV-22. It was badass. Rah! Jarheads getting in some night vision training.

 

My, what a beautiful livery.

(unbiased opinion)

 

https://aviationweek.com/defense-sp...DNqqyGbch4XyGMabcQzpukjk5Jy2JG_1xTW7qwEXPjco8

Hmmmm, seems they’re up to something cool at Edwards AFB again!

Another article that’s a little better -

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zo...ne-really-photographed-over-the-mojave-desert

 

always seem to be up to something cool out there haha

 

Isn't that one of the main missions of the base? Testing all the coolest new stuff?

 

pretty sure. Was out there years ago and security came around and told us we couldn’t be outside our rooms after sundown. If caught...wouldn’t be pretty hahahaha

side note: DC’s air and space museum outside of Dulles is freaking cool.

 

Yeah the annex is amazing. I want to make it out to Dayton one of these days for the national AF museum.

 

I really want to go visit that museum

 

Absolutely true. I spent a lot of my student pilot time hopping between instructors and ended up logging a bunch more hours than expected to get ready for checkride. Of course I was a nervous mess on the practical test after smashing the oral. After a while(being almost certain I had failed) the DPE picked up on my nerves and said, "Do you love flying? Listen, you know your stuff, and you fly safely. So relax, stop overthinking and remember why you love to fly. Now, let's go back and fill out your certificate." My tiny little heart did backflips in my throat. The hour-long sunset flight back to home base will always be one of the most fulfilling moments of my life.

Made sure to fly as often as possible for leisure, especially once I started IR training. 60 hours under foggles is enough to burn anyone out without taking a break and enjoying the sky.

 

I sometimes think of what it would be like to have a “normal 9-5” job. But then when you have absolutely clear skies all day doing a transcon, I think of how utterly amazing this job is. That plus the fact that I don’t have to carry work home on days off makes it all worth it. We really do have an awesome job.
My view from 380 over Shiprock near Farmington.

 

Not bringing work home is one of the best parts of the job!

 

that would be an awesome set up though...landing strip in the backyard and taxi into the garage

 

So long as it's my airplane and not the boss' airplane that lives in my garage!

 

780 CI. Wow...