  | 6th Feb 2007 The half hour of violent clear air turbulence over Greenland which even had the stewardesses frightened was the only thing to note in an otherwise uneventful 10 ½ hour direct flight from London Gatwick to Las Vegas McCarran. "Nothing to worry about ladies and gentlemen" said the pilot over the tannoy "these old birds are built to withstand three times that amount of punishment". Let me tell you I have no wish to experience anything like it again. |
| 7th Feb 2007 After a few scoops at the bar and a good night's sleep at the Stratosphere Hotel we headed to Cheyenne to photograph the based aircraft and the visitors taking part in red flag 07/02. The visitors included F117a's, B2's, GR4's, EA6B's, F15's F22's and what I was eagerly awaiting to see F-111's, the Aardvarks from 1 squadron Royal Australian Air Force. The opportunity to see half a dozen swingers in the air was well worth the white knuckle ride over Greenland. We didn't have to wait long before based F15's, F16's F22's and A10's were overhead in the pattern waiting to recover after their mission. |
| At around 1100 hours local the Red Flag mission was due to launch, preceded by the obligatory AWACS and KC-135 tankers. All "live" aircraft take off over the desert so we watched and counted them out as they climbed away from us. Now comes the dilemma, which end will they return, we waited at Cheyenne then noticed the first of the aircraft recovering at the racetrack end, doh, in the car and quick as poss find a spot near the racetrack where the participating types hopefully bank round you as they line up for one of the two parallel runways. As the returning aircraft run back along the airfield they either break left or right, with those breaking right tormenting you by turning tight or turning long onto finals causing photographers to scamper up and down the road for that perfect shot. I have to confess here I was one of those running around like the proverbial headless chicken and the best shots I saw from that day were taken by someone who never moved. |
| The F-111's that launched that day unfortunately broke left and recovered to the far runway, too distant for my lens but looked incredible against the backdrop of mountains. As the light faded we bundled back into the hire car and headed once again for McCarran International for the short hop to Fresno. We eventually found our hotel after an hour or so scenic trip around the houses but sadly no bars were open within walking distance so after a route march to the bottle shop we retired to our room with our booty and discussed our impending base tour of Lemoore the following day. |
| Thursday 8th Feb 2007 The three car convoy left shortly after a hearty breakfast and headed for NAS Lemoore where we were to be afforded access to the base via their PAO Dennis McGrath, to whom we proffer our most sincere thanks for his time, devotion and wit. The sky remained steely grey for our visit but this could not detract from the access we were granted and thankfully the rain held off. Keeping close to the various squadron’s hangers, and obviously not photographing anything within, we were approved to photograph the aircraft on the flight line as they were being prepared for flight. The rapid deployment of another carrier air group meant there were fewer squadrons in residence on the day and some squadrons had aircraft deployed to other locations, even so there were still plenty of airframes there to photograph. The units in attendance were VFA-2 Bounty Hunters, VFA-14 Top Hatters, VFA-22 Fighting Redcocks, VFA-41 Black Aces, VFA-97 Warhawks, VFA-122 Flying Eagles, VFA-125 Rough Raiders, VFA-137 Kestrels, VFA-151 Vigilantes and VX-9 Vampires. After a fantastic few hours at Lemoore and having photographed the gate guardians on the way out, we set off for Castle Air Museum. |
| Situated on Santa Fe Drive, Atwater, CA. The museum opened in 1981 and currently has over 45 restored aircraft from the Kawasaki KAQ-1 unmanned miniature drone to the gargantuan Consolidated-Vultee (Convair) RB-36H Peacemaker situated on eleven acres of land. Too many to list but favorites of mine at the museum include the Douglas B-23 Dragon, North American B-45A Tornado, Avro-Canada CF-100 Mk V Canuck, Boeing B-47 Stratojet and the previously mentioned RB-36H. |
| Friday 9th Feb 2007 Damn, have no recollection of leaving the pub or walking the perilous journey back to the Good Nite Inn, well, it must have been a good night out. The rain that so kindly held off yesterday couldn’t contain itself any longer and thrashed down on our journey to the former McClellan AFB to visit the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Aviation Management Unit. It seemed ironic to be visiting the CDF on such a foul day but from the moment we were met by Bill Mason the Air Operations Officer we knew we were in for a treat, and what a treat. At McClellan, all major maintenance work for the CDF’s fleet of 23 S-2T air tankers, 11 UH-1H Super Hueys and 14 OV-10A’s is undertaken and the standards the aircraft are maintained to are second to none. |
| Just along the road to the north of the Department of Forestry and Fire is Coast Guard Air Station Sacramento which, although having been commissioned on 5th September 1978 and operating 5 HC-130’s took us all by surprise, also parked on the airfield was a gorgeous HU-16 Albatross. No access here I’m afraid but worth a question when we’re next pottering about in the area. Opposite the Coast Guard Station is the Aerospace Museum of California, where we spent a couple of hours dodging the rain and photographing their wonderful collection of airframes. Originally called the McClellan Aviation Museum and officially opening its doors to the public in 1986, the museum became private after the closure of McClellan AFB in 2001. In 2005 the museum changed its name to the Aerospace Museum of California and among the museums many highlights is the Douglas C-53. |
| News was filtering through of worsening conditions in the mountains we would be crossing the following night on our journey to Reno, no one would be allowed to cross the mountain pass without snow chains in their vehicle incase the weather deteriorated even further. So after an outstanding Mountain Mikes pizza, aptly named as we decided to take half away with us incase of hunger emergencies during our journey over the Sierras tomorrow, and just a couple of scoops in the bar - yes, we were allowed back in, and without any strange looks so we guessed our behaviour couldn’t have been all bad - it was off to the land of nod before yet another full and fun packed day which lay ahead of us. |
| Saturday 10th Feb 2007 After an earlyish start of yet another hearty breakfast, off we trundled towards the first of todays destinations, Travis Air Force Base Museum. As the museum is situated deep within the grounds of the base, permission to visit must be granted in advance. The base, formerly known as Fairfield-Suisun AFB, is named after General Robert F Travis who during a glittering career saw World War II action as commander of the 41st Combat Wing in England, personally leading his men on 35 combat missions over Nazi occupied Europe. Before his untimely death in a B-29 accident in 1950, General Travis had been awarded the DFC with three oak leaf clusters, the French Croix de Guerre with palm, the Legion d’honneur and the Purple Heart for these hazardous missions. Among the aircraft at the Travis Museum is a Boeing B-29 Superfortress, this particular aircraft was built at Glenn L. Martin Company’s Omaha, Nebraska assembly line in December 1944. After WWII, she flew with the 301st Bomb Group of the Strategic Air Command and during the Korean War she flew with the 373rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, Kindley Air Base, Bermuda. In 1956 the B-29 was transferred to the US Navy’s Naval Weapons Test Centre at China Lake, California, positioned in the desert as a stationary target. The B-29 was dismantled and loaded onto a C-5 for the flight to Travis in 1985 where work began to reassemble her. As the layers of paint were stripped away the last layer displayed the nose art ‘Miss America ‘62’, a combat veteran who flew from the island of Tinian during WWII with the 6th Bombardment Group, 24th Bombardment Squadron. The original crew members chose the name because all were married and 1962 would be the earliest that one of their daughters could enter the Miss America beauty contest. |
| Capable of carrying 200 passengers or 68,500lbs of cargo and a major objective for the museum to acquire one from it’s inception, the Douglas C-124C Globemaster II sits opposite the entrance to the indoor museum. Having been informed of a C-124, derelict at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland where it was used as a shed for storing engine parts and a home for local animals, Major George Anderson and SMSgt Dave Florek inspected the aircraft in 1982. The cost of shipping the giant aircraft was deemed too expensive so the decision was made to fly the C-124 or ‘Old Shakey’ as they were affectionately known, back to Travis. Members of the 116th Tactical Fighter Wing at Dobbins AFB assisted in the restoration and after getting Old Shakey into ferryable condition it was flown to Dobbins AFB where the final restoration work was completed. After a stop at Norton AFB and a photo session over the Golden Gate Bridge, the C124C landed at Travis at exactly 2:00pm on 10th June 1984. The museums C-141B Starlifter 63-8088 Golden Bear, arrived at Travis on 23rd April 1965 as a C-141A model and was assigned to the ‘Lead The Force’ accelerated ageing programme, requiring the aircraft to amass as many flying hours as fast as possible in order to assess aircraft structure and systems integrity. On 15th October 1990 the aircraft was stretched the 23 feet to become a B model. This particular aircraft was also part of Operation Home Coming, returning POW’s from Hanoi on 12th February 1973. Golden Bear was assigned to Travis museum after her final flight on 17th January 1996. |
| News on the radio suggesting the conditions on the Sierra Mountains was worsening meant our planned trip to San Francisco would have to wait till another trip - any excuse eh - but on the way back toward Sacramento we stumbled across the beautifully named Nut Tree Airport where a knock on the door to politely ask for permission to photograph the aircraft we could see paid dividends. Having photographed the Trackers, Harpoon and UH1H we had seen on our drive in, Duncan Miller an 86 years young WWII veteran introduced himself, offered us refreshments and asked us to sign his visitors book. He was only too pleased to open up the surrounding hangars housing not just beautifully maintained aircraft but cars, motorcycles and a plethora of other memorabilia. The photographs adorning the walls of the hangars enlightened us as to the esteem he was held, stories that he perhaps was too modest to tell himself, not too many people are visited by aviation legends such as Chuck Yeager and Bob Hoover among others. |
He then posed us the question, ‘what was the only aircraft Churchill gave back to the Americans?’ After much deliberation and guessing he asked, ‘would you like to see it?’ He took us to another hanger which even when opened we still needed his assistance in identifying it, a Stinson Gull-Wing in Royal Navy markings and in absolutely immaculate order, it was apparently used by Churchill as personal transport during WWII.
One of Duncans pals, a 76 years young gentleman who flew, or as he put it opened the throttles and hung on, F-100’s in the Korean conflict, and completed just shy of 10,000 hours flying the C-124 all over the world summed it up when he said ‘when I grow up, I want to be just like Duncan’. |
| We could have sat and listened to these guys and their stories for much longer, and I sincerely hope I have the opportunity to do so again, but time was pressing on and the light of the day was fading fast, so after our fond farewells we went in search of snow chains and then the long drive over the Sierras to Reno, Nevada. The rain was relentless along the freeway, making driving conditions tricky and tiring, but with the snow chains purchased along with more food and drinks we finally discovered why there were four cup holders in the front of our vehicle, one holder for water and the other holder for filling with peanut M&M’s, an accessory I shall insist upon with all future hire vehicles. |
| As we began the climb up the Sierras the rain was still cascading down but at least the traffic had thinned down considerably, we checked at frequent intervals on the radio for the latest bulletin on the road conditions, but it was the same looped message giving us the impression that the situation was ok over the top and the snow chains wouldn’t be required after all, phew. About 100 metres from the snow chain inspection point the traffic came to a standstill, the rain turned quickly to snow and didn’t take long to settle on the road, word spread back swiftly from the front of the queue, snow chains must be fitted to 2 wheel drive vehicles.
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 | Eventually managing to pull over to the side of the road, open the back and remove the chains from the box, one of the chains took what seemed like half an hour to untangle but that was just the start of the fun. Having never used snow chains before and standing in snow which was now falling much heavier trying to read the instructions and attach them to the wheel, progressing to lying in the snow, as the amount of snow chain has to be equal either side of the tyre. With the vehicle reversed onto the chain and with the chain around the tyre it was now the problem of how the tensioner works, so back to the instructions which I have to say were next to useless when dry but when covered in snow and absolutely soaked were a total waste of time. Should on the off chance anyone from Wal-mart read this, pop a note in your suggestion box, a, to make the instructions clear and concise, and b, to print them and laminate them. Like in all good Westerns, from out of the blue our saviour appeared, and for the princely sum of $30 he would fit our snow chains, we all agreed it was the best $30 we spent all holiday.
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 | So with the rear wheels adorning their new protuberance, and us all thoroughly soaked through and much quieter than we had been, we continued to go boldly on up the mountain. Cars that perhaps passed the last chance post before chain fitting became compulsory and even 4X4’s were littered along the side of the road at various angles, their inhabitants busying themselves outside their vehicles. The view through the windscreen was exactly like the visual effect seen on Star Trek when Kirk asks for warp factor 9, the snow was mesmerizing to the point where you had no idea where you were on the road, even the posts marking the side of the road didn’t help and there was one more slight problem that I had neglected to tell the others about till now, we were incredibly low on fuel.
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 | These mountain passes aren’t like the movies where there’s a gas station every few miles oh no, they keep you on the edge of your seat until you have just about resigned to the fact that body warmth will be required to get you through the night when it’s very welcome light appears. After filling up, clearing the snow from the windscreen allowing the wipers to rotate their full arc and removing the snow from the headlights, no wonder I couldn’t see, it seemed a good idea as we were all but dried out, to have a 10 minute snowball fight. Having re-found the road we continued the downhill journey to Reno, I think everyone breathed a sigh of relief when we reached the remove snow chain sign, from then on the conditions steadily improved until finally reaching our destination, the Circus Circus Hotel. Earlier in the day Duncan refused to accept a donation we wanted to make to his museum and upon discovering we were driving to Reno gave us strict instructions, and I quote, "don’t waste that money gambling, spend it on pussy", for the record, although tired and still wet we spent it on beer and toasted our new friend and our safe crossing of the Sierras.
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| Sunday 11th February A bright morning welcomed us in Reno and todays agenda was reasonably leisurely. Our first stop was at Reno-Stead Airfield, home of the air races. As we approached the perimeter fence a bare metal Ilushin IL-14 glinted in the sun. Another knock on another door and we were invited airside to photograph not only the IL-14 but the Mig 15’s, Delphins, Iskra and Super Sabre on the ramp. The gentleman at Stead also opened up one of his hangers and allowed us to photograph his Mig 15 and L-39 which were being brought up to flying condition. His storage area housed yet more Mig 15’s and L-39’s awaiting the same fate as the immaculate examples we had just seen. He pointed us further along the airfield and told us of some more jets that had arrived recently. |
| Back on the road and the next stop was Minden where we discovered two Air Tanker Neptunes. Heading back toward Reno our next point of call was Carson City, where having gained permission we photographed 3 HU-16 Albatrosses, one B and two C’s, all in various states of decay, unfortunately the museum Yesterdays Fliers collection was closed so there’s another excuse to pop back as if I really needed one. Finally we popped back to Reno-Tahoe and watched the High Rollers C-130’s taking off in the twilight. A splendid meal at the hotel and a few scoops to aid sleep were just what the doctor ordered before setting of for Fallon in the morning. |
| Back on the road and the next stop was Minden where we discovered two Air Tanker Neptunes. Heading back toward Reno our next point of call was Carson City, where having gained permission we photographed 3 HU-16 Albatrosses, one B and two C’s, all in various states of decay, unfortunately the museum Yesterdays Fliers collection was closed so there’s another excuse to pop back as if I really needed one. Finally we popped back to Reno-Tahoe and watched the High Rollers C-130’s taking off in the twilight. A splendid meal at the hotel and a few scoops to aid sleep were just what the doctor ordered before setting of for Fallon in the morning. |
| Monday 12th February Another gorgeous morning greeted us along with the excitement of a base visit to NAS Fallon, a brief stop to photograph an A-7 on a pole by a car lot then we were back on our way to the current home of the Fighting Saints of VFC-13, the Desert Outlaws of Strike Fighter Weapons Det. and Naval Strike Air Warfare Centre, NSAWC. we were treated to magnificent access whilst on base, photographing the aggressor ramp while ground crews prepared the F-5’s, F-16’s and F-18’s and SH-60F helicopters for launch. On the viewing gallery of the control tower which commands stunning views of the airfield and aircraft as they break for their downwind leg before turning onto finals. |
| Finally after a visit to their souvenir store we were permitted to photograph the fantastic selection of aircraft in the preserved park, a Vigilante by the PAO’s office and the gate guardians. What a visit we were on base from 09:30 till 15:30 which just gave us time to head back to Reno-Tahoe for our flight back to Las Vegas McCarran. Our sincere thanks to Zip Upham and his PAO team at NAS Fallon for a truly memorable visit, oh and as I lost some of my CF cards containing images from the day, can I come back again please, very soon. The Southwest flight was uneventful, well it was for me anyway, I slept from push back till the jolt of the wheels signaled we were back in Vegas with the prospect of media access at Red Flag to whet our appetites. The customary scoops before turning in were particularly welcome and with Guinness at $3 per glass or $3.50 per pitcher, this no-brainer kept us away from our beds a tad longer. |
| Tuesday 13th February As our motel was directly opposite the main gate for Nellis AFB we didn’t have far to travel, it was great to see some familiar faces, renew friendships and make new ones in the car park before being escorted onto the base for Red Flag media day one. Once our vehicles were parked near the Red Flag offices we were bussed to the rotation point between the runways, wow, what a location and with both runways being used we were kept on our toes for the day. We were not blessed with the greatest weather and the low level bombing missions for the day were cancelled because of icing below 10, 000 feet which meant no F-111’s but with all the other activity around us it was an absolute delight and it stayed dry which is always the main thing. The access was jaw droppingly good. |
| Wednesday 14th February Stunning blue skies greeted us for our second media day on base at Nellis, this time at the EOR with its backdrop of snow topped mountains, I had to stand quietly on my own for a while to take in the location and remind myself exactly where I was. On one side F-15’s, F-16’s and F22’s undergoing their final checks before launching for their mission, on the other side recovering aircraft trimmed and set for landing thundering past. The action was relentless and the worry of not having enough CF cards entered my mind early after my earlier mishap. Fortunately friends were there as usual to lend me some of their kit so all was well. F-111C Aardvarks, F-117 Nighthawks, Tornado GR4’s, EA6-B Prowlers taxiing past and even the Thunderbirds found time to practice their slick, choreographed routine amongst all this activity. Again words fail me but these stunning images from Nellis tell a lot more than a thousand words. Very special thanks to Captain Justin McVay, 1st Lt Randi Norton and the rest of the team for providing us all with two days of the finest access ever likely to be experienced. An evening meal at the outstanding Memphis BBQ with the obligatory few scoops set us up for our final nights sleep. |
| Thursday 15th February Virgin flight VS044 was not due to leave Las Vegas McCarran International until 16:05 so the plan from the previous evening was to visit the approaches at both Cheyenne and the race track ends of the runway, but our plan was soon altered when one of our group received a phone call from Flt Lt Lauretta Webster of the Royal Australian Air Force inviting us back on base to photograph the stunning F-111C’s on their ramp. I’ve run out of superlatives but what an opportunity, photographing and watching as four of the six aircraft were prepared for their mission, staying on the ramp until all four taxied past us to the end of the runway and climbed into the azure blue skies. I may not have taken a shot of an F-111 taking off as I’d hoped but this came a very close second and how we thank Lauretta and Justin enough for allowing us this special privilege I have no idea, other than showing our photographs and writing accounts such as this of our experiences pottering around the world of aviation. |
| | words by
Brian Clark
images by
Matt Critchley
Mike Broad |
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