Red Flag 13-3: Week 3

[NickPeterman]

Hello All,

As I am sure you all know from Isaac's killer thread from a few weeks back, there was a Red Flag recently, and I managed to sneak out there for a few days during spring break. While I did not manage the awesome access that being on base can be, I was relatively pleased with some of my photos, and figured I could share a few...or a bunch...who knows!

The surprise performers of morning 1, the Thunderbirds.






My favorite Aggressor on a flex departure




the RAF's Eurofighter Typhoon, one of which had a minor mishap day 1, his braking parachute fell out on takeoff. For that fraction of a second where I saw the jet and a parachute, I was convinced he had ejected. Thankfully he circled a bit and then landed.




The EC-130 from Davis Monthan AFB, AZ





27th FS F-22 Raptor





An exercise highlight for me, my first F-5 Tiger II





Completing my set from last July with the Strike Eagle's from RAF Lakenheath





An F-16C Aggressor carrying a somewhat mysterious prototype IRST pod





My favorite jet in the USAF, the F-15C, looking as good as ever, and a new squadron for me





Oh yeah, the RAF brought their Tonka's along too





Local F-15





I will definitely miss this jet when it is gone in a few years





an MC-130





Just for you Moose...





A Local carrying some ordnance





And a nice coincidence that gives the impression of firing a missile





And then we got some gorgeous A-10 pattern work, many of them carrying live ordnance








The player from down under





And the Stealth Bomber

[NickPeterman]

Day two was spent out near the entrance to the target ranges, hoping to catch some low flying aircraft-sadly none came through. However, with a scanner that could cover military wavelengths, we did get to hear the fight develop overhead. From calls of "MiG Zero Seven, target at 230 is Hot, Heavy, and High" to JTAC's instructing the RAF Tornadoes to put their Brimstone missiles into the "first and last vehicles in a convoy traveling from east to west", it was a unique way to see the real side of Red Flag. We did get to see plenty of jets at medium to high altitude, including the B-2s, EA-18Gs, F-22s, F-16CJs, and F-15Cs. We also had the fringe benefit of being a mountain range over from Groom Lake (Google if you didn't catch the reference) and got to hear the Janet flights transiting from McCarran. I have included one example of what the action looked like from our vantage point.





Day 3 was much of the same, so I will not caption at great length.

















27th FS Flagship jet





53rd TEG Flagship Jet









VAQ-135 EA-18G












All in all this was my most disappointing trip to Nellis AFB yet, day 3 I got slammed with runway change after runway change and ended up missing most of what I wanted, and ultimately leaving for McCarran out of frustration. However, it was nice to get some jet noise in before the sequester gets too bad.
Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed. I shot a lot more than this, but I feel like this exercise's other players were well documented here on NYC Aviation already


Cheers!


Nick

[yankees368]

So much awesome!!!!

[cowens727]

Damn good set of photos, thanks for sharing 'em!

[NickPeterman]

Thank you both!

[backlash]

Great Set!!!

[Ychocky]

Awesome!

[Greg_NY]

Excellent shots Nick, great job!Nice work on catching the F-5. I was really trying to get a shot of the F-5s as well, but they only flew on one of the days I was there and I wasn't in position to catch any.

[NickPeterman]

Thanks all.


Isaac, I did a mad dash from gate 5 to gate 2 for that photo, and the section lead still turned inside me. I only caught 1 of the 4, sadly. They were a real treat however.

[Kris V]

Sick set, long live those Eagles...do you know if the wedgetail will be in the US for awhile?

[tlabranche]

A10's are amazing! I worked in them for 10 years. Great shots guys!

[NickPeterman]

Kris, I reckon the Wedgetail did not stick around for long. The word on the street was that the aircrew participating in the exercise was the RAAF's only mission qualified crew, so I imagine they would want them back in Oz ASAP.

Timothy, they are indeed! I had a family member who was a Warhog driver, and the jet is just amazing. Glad they will be around for a while yet!