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Watch: This Top Gun Took Place Long Before Viper and Iceman

Bill Walton
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Watch: This Top Gun Took Place Long Before Viper and Iceman

The film “Operation Top Gun” is not about the Navy’s Fighter Weapons School, or at least not the version of it that the big screen film dramatized during the 1980s. This film details the 4th Annual United States Navy Aerial Weapons Meet. Produced by Ryan Aeronautical Company (makers of the Firebee series of drones), the film is a look at the naval fighters and attack aircraft of the Pacific Fleet (PACFLT) back in 1959. The Fleet Air Gunnery Unit Pacific (FAGUPAC) hosted the competition at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Yuma in Arizona. Other competition was centered on the Pacific Missile Test Range (PMTC) at NAS Point Mugu in California. Audio quality is lacking so turn it way up or off. Uploaded by San Diego Air and Space Museum. A link to a different version with better audio but blurry visuals is below.

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The film stars the Douglas F4D / F-6A Skyrays (all weather fighters), McDonnell F3H / F-3 Demons (all weather fighters), Douglas A4D / A-4B Skyhawks (light attack jets), Douglas A3D / A-3B Skywarriors (heavy attack), Vought F8U / F-8 Crusaders (day fighters) and Douglas AD-7 / A-1J Skyraiders (light attack props). Also appearing in the film are North American FJ-4 Fury target tugs, Ryan KDA-1 / BQM-34 Firebee drones, Lockheed DP-2H Neptune drone controllers, and Douglas DB-26B Invader drone controllers.

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Official US Navy Photograph

The A-4s appearing in the film are from VMA-224 Fighting Bengals, VA-46 Clansmen, VA-12 Flying Ubangis, and VA-56 Champions. The A-1s in the film are from VA-115 Arabs. A-3s appearing are from VAH-11 Checkertails, VAH-7 Peacemakers, and VAH-8 Fireballers. The F3Hs are from VF-121 Pacemakers. Skyrays in the film are from VFAW-3 Blue Nemesis, FAGU, and VMF(AW)-513 Flying Nightmares. The F-8 Crusaders are from FAGU, VF-84 Jolly Rogers, VF-121 Pacemakers, VMF(AW)-235 Death Angels, and VMFA-232 Red Devils. The FJ Furies are from VC-7 Tallyhoers and VA-126 Bandits. The DP-2H Neptune and DB-26B Invader drone controllers are from VC-3. And last but not least, Sikorsky SH-34 Sea Bat drone recovery helos make an appearance in the film.

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Official US Navy Photograph

Bonus video:  This is the same film with better audio quality but lower quality visuals. Unfortunately there isn’t a version that has both decent audio and visuals. Uploaded by Periscope Films.

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Marine Test Pilot, Russian and Italian Launch to International Space Station

Charles Atkeison
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Marine Test Pilot, Russian and Italian Launch to International Space Station

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — An American Marine Top Gun test pilot, a Russian biochemist, and an Italian Special Forces parachutist lifted off on Friday a top a Russian Soyuz rocket beginning a voyage to rendezvous and dock with International Space Station.

Nearly six hours later, the crew of three successfully docked to the Russian Rasvet module on the Earth facing side of the space station at 5:54 p.m. EDT — seven minutes earlier than planned.

NASA astronaut Randy J. Bresnik, Russian Soyuz commander Sergey Ryazanskiy, and Europe’s Paolo Nespoli, all three space veterans, will be busy with a multitude of science experiments; the arrival and undocking of several unmanned cargo crafts; and spacewalking as they prepare the orbital outpost for new hardware.

Launched from the historic launch site at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 11:41 a.m. EDT (9:41 p.m. local), Friday’s lift-off occurred from the same pad Russia’s Sputnik 1 launched from sixty years ago this October. That successful satellite launch in 1957 heralded the dawn of the space age.

As the Soyuz soared skyward into the darkening skies of sunset, a 400-foot golden flame pushed the rocket higher as it traveled eastward. Nearly nine minutes later, a strong jolt was felt by the crew as their Soyuz spacecraft separated from the rocket’s third stage upon reaching orbit 125 miles above.

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The two astronauts and one cosmonaut will join three current station crew members as they live and work aboard the orbiting laboratory until mid-December. Bresnik, Ryazanskiy, and Nespoli are scheduled to undock and land hours later in central Kazakhstan.

Bresnik, a veteran on one previous space flight to the station, is poised to become the first United States Marine to command the International Space Station in September. During his career in the Marines, Bresnik — whose pilot call sign was “Komrade” — learned to pilot the F/A-18 Hornet and Super Hornet jets. He even graduated from Naval Fighter Weapons School, also known as Top Gun. Today, he has logged over 6,050 hours in 81 types of both military and civilian aircraft.

“The ‘Komrade’ was my fighter pilot call sign from back in the early ’90’s when I started flying F-18’s,” Bresnik said during a training break from the Johnson Space Center. “Typically you get a call sign from something to do with your name or something you do that’s stupid. I didn’t do anything stupid enough when I got to the F-18’s, so they said ‘Bresnik, hmmm’, then some more experienced guy said, ‘Hmmm, Bresnik. Sounds like Brezhnev. OK, Komrade Brezhnev’.”

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Bresnik’s first voyage to the station gave the former Marine a new perspective of life in Earth orbit.

“Space is such a unique experience to where you’re seeing the curvature of the Earth everytime you look out the window, and you’re feeling things in your body you’ve never felt before in zero gravity,” Bresnik explained. “(Zero G) is an assault on the senses I think — we all agree — the first time you do it.”

As Bresnik and his crew work 255 miles above the planet, they will use the lack of gravity as the foundation for nearly 125 science and engineering experiments currently operating or will begin running soon in the space laboratories throughout the station. Even the crew members themselves will serve as a test platform as to how gravity effects the human body during long term spaceflight.

“The neat part about the science going on on the space station, we’ve been up there for sixteen years continuously manning the space station,” Bresnik added. “Over 2300 experiments that have gone on during that time frame and it doesn’t matter what crew is there, the science keeps going.”

(Charles A. Atkeison reports on aerospace and technology. Follow his updates on social media via @Military_Flight.)

Four-Ship Heritage Flight Over AirVenture 2017 Honors Vlado

Bill Walton
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Four-Ship Heritage Flight Over AirVenture 2017 Honors Vlado

On Thursday 7/27/2017, the United States Air Force (USAF) Heritage Flight took to the skies over EAA AirVenture 2017 at Oshkosh to honor our history, heritage, veterans and those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

In the lead was a Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II from the 61st Fighter Squadron (FS) of the 56th Fighter Wing (FW) based at Luke Air Force Base (AFB) in Arizona. On lead’s left wing was P-51D-25NA (44-73420 / N151AM) flown by Andrew McKenna. On lead’s right wing was P-51D-25NA Bald Eagle (44-73029 / N51JB) flown by Jim Beasley. In trail was a Fairchild Republic A-10C Thunderbolt II from the 74th FS of the famed 23rd Fighter Group (FG) Flying Tigers based at Moody AFB in Georgia.

The Heritage Flight also flew a missing man formation in honor of the late Vlado Lenoch, a regular Heritage Flight pilot, who died along with his passenger Bethany Root twelve days before the performance. Thanks to our good friends at AirshowStuffVideos for uploading this content.

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The late Vlado Lenoch warming up his P-51D Mustang engine prior to a Heritage Flight performance. Image courtesy Airshowstuff.com / Ryan Sundheimer

The Day F-4 Phantoms Departed Texas For The Final Time. Miss Them Yet?

Bill Walton
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The Day F-4 Phantoms Departed Texas For The Final Time. Miss Them Yet?

They Were Just Passin’ Through But They’re Still Fondly Remembered

During November of 2016, a pair of McDonnell Douglas QF-4E Phantom IIs flew into Alliance Airport in Fort Worth to perform a flyby at nearby Texas Motor Speedway. These two jets were the very last military Phabulous Phantoms to grace Texas skies. Over the years the United States Air Force (USAF) based F-4C, F-4D, F-4E, and RF-4C Phantom IIs at a few Air Force Bases (AFBs) in Texas including Bergstrom AFB near Austin. The Navy and Marines flew the F-4B, F-4J, F-4N, and F-4S variants of the Phab 4 out of Naval Air Station (NAS) Dallas near Mountain Creek Lake in Grand Prairie for many years. The Collings Foundation also bases the only privately owned F-4D out of Ellington Field near Houston. Enjoy these gorgeous HD videos posted by Gotyacovered Photography of the arrival, startup and taxi, and departure of these two QF-4Es.

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The two jets were both built as F-4E-60-MC model Phantom IIs. Except for a couple of differences their service lives were remarkably similar. 74-1043 (CN4825), the gray jet in the video, began service with the 57th Fighter Weapons Wings (FWW) at Nellis AFB in Nevada during the late 1970s. In 1979 the jet went to the 336th Tactical Fighter Squadron (TFS) Rocketeers of the 4th Tactical Fighter Wing (TFW) and remained there for a decade. The distinctive gray camouflage paint on 043 was applied by the 704th TFS Outlaws of the 924th Tactical Fighter Group (TFG) Air Force Reserve (AFRES) based at Bergstrom AFB. After only a couple of years she was retired to the boneyard where the jet languished for 17 years but was resurrected for conversion to QF-4E drone AF338.

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The second aircraft, 74-0643 (CN 4794) wearing the wraparound gray/green camouflage paint, served in the same squadrons as 74-1043 to begin with but flew with the 335th TFS Chiefs for the majority of its time with the 4th TFW. 643 also received that gorgeous gray on gray camouflage paint job at the 704th TFS while based at Bergstrom. But for a short time right before being retired to the same boneyard at AMARG (Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group) as 043, the jet returned to the 4th TFW. 643 also spent about 18 years in storage before being brought back to serve as QF-4E drone AF354 with the 82nd Aerial Targets Squadron (ATRS) out of Holloman AFB in New Mexico. This departure video was shot from the front cockpit looking over the nose of the Rhino.

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Iceland Is The New Cool Place To Go Thanks To Ultra Low Cost Airlines

Holly Riddle
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Iceland Is The New Cool Place To Go Thanks To Ultra Low Cost Airlines

Iceland blew up on the travel radar last year, becoming the new “it” place to travel, whether you’re looking for a great spot to climb some icebergs, or if you’d just like to laze around in the Blue Lagoon. Whatever your fancy, you can now afford it, thanks to a bevy of low cost airlines who jumped on the Iceland bandwagon, and began offering ultra-reduced fares to this hot spot.

So, who should you consider if you’re planning an Iceland getaway this year (or next)? There are two main airlines most seasoned travelers will name:

WOW Air

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Photo: WOW Air

This airline has more recently come onto the scene, founded in 2011. They first flew only within Europe, but then expanded their reach to travelers departing the United States. Now, they have more than 30 destinations over North America, Europe and Asia, and they’ve approximated they’ll carry 3 million passengers this year. As far as their fleet, its all Airbus, with three A320s, 11 A321s and three A330s. If you’re flying to or from North American destinations, you’ll be on the A321 (except for the routes to California, which monopolizes all three of the A330s). They boast that they have the youngest fleet in Iceland with the lowest emissions.

Their fares are low, low, low, like $100 from the United States to Iceland, if you can catch a special deal (something that’s almost unheard of on a domestic flight, let alone an international one). However, remember that, with low prices come little perks. While the cheap tickets are enough to please some passengers, others have been filling the forums with tales of dirty and damaged aircraft and poor service.

WOW Air offers three different types of fares: basic, plus and biz.

Icelandair

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Icelandair is more of a staple, and they’re not as budget as WOW Air, but they still offer very lucrative deals. Their history stretches back to 1937, and the name Icelandair has absorbed several other Icelandic airlines during its long existence. Today, they currently have 40 destinations across North America and Europe.

 Almost the entire Icelandair fleet is made up of Boeing 757 jets, along with just a few 767s. Many of them have been recently renovated, for a better consumer experience. They’re also one of the many airlines signed up to receive a Boeing 737 MAX when the aircraft is available. If you’ve checked out their social media recently, you’ll also see that they just came out with some spiffy new livery, that they’ve named Hekla Aurora, and which is really just a giant image of the northern lights.
They offer three different types of fares: economy, economy comfort and Saga.

The Blue Angels Crush Their Arrival To AirVenture 2017

Bill Walton
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The Blue Angels Crush Their Arrival To AirVenture 2017

On 7/26/2017 just as the National Anthem was concluding, the United States Navy Precision Flight Demonstration Team, better known as the Blue Angels, arrived for their performances at EAA AirVenture 2017. Listen for the lead calling maneuvers and each pilot calling when he breaks for the landing. FYI the tail numbers are often changed week to week and sometimes day to day in order to keep the best birds in the air for performances. That’s why some of their Hornets are two seaters when the Blues arrive for a performance or conduct practices but are usually single seaters for performances. Thanks as always to our good friends at Airshowstuff for uploading both of these clips.

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Our second clip was captured during the twilight display put on by the Rockwell Boeing B-1B Lancer on 7/26/2017. The Bone makes three passes over the crowd at Oshkosh and all are flown with burners blazing and full vapor blooms. This jet is flown by the 28th Bomb Squadron of the 7th Operations Group, United States Air Force (USAF) out of Dyess Air Force Base (AFB) near Abilene in Texas. Be sure and turn those speakers up to get the full auditory effect!

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B 1B fast pass Fairford 16520987380 Rob Schleiffert
Photo Credit: Rob Schleiffert

Profiles In Aviation: Karl Richter Was An Unstoppable THUD Pilot Who Loved Flying And His Fellow Airmen

Bill Walton
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Profiles In Aviation: Karl Richter Was An Unstoppable THUD Pilot Who Loved Flying And His Fellow Airmen

Karl Wendell Richter was born on October 4th 1942 in Holly, Michigan. Karl was the youngest of Ludwig Richter’s three children. By all accounts Karl was an all-around standout at Holly High School. He lettered in football, ran track, and played varsity basketball. He was also class president for four years. But Karl was, by his own admission, not a scholarly student. Karl’s prospects for a college education seemed slim. One of things he enjoyed immensely was aviation. His older sister Betty May helped him pursue his interest in aviation and by the time Karl was getting ready to graduate from high school he was an experienced pilot.

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Official US Air Force Photograph

From High School to Colorado Springs

Because Karl wasn’t looking forward to more school at a regular college, Betty May talked him into applying for admission to the Air Force Academy. Although Karl figured he probably wouldn’t be accepted, he completed the admissions process anyway. To Karl’s great surprise two Michigan Congressmen made him their primary appointee to the Academy. Just nine days after graduating from Holly High School, Karl Richter became a cadet in Squadron 8. Karl didn’t magically become a better student at the Air Force Academy, but the word is he excelled at sports. He enjoyed intramurals such as rugby, football, soccer, and boxing. Karl graduated from the Air Force Academy and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant on June 3rd 1964.

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Official US Air Force Photograph

Becoming a THUD Pilot

Karl’s pilot training wasn’t anything unusual for Air Force pilots in those days. He spent 53 weeks at Craig Air Force Base (AFB) in Alabama completing his Undergraduate Pilot Training. From there Karl went to Nellis AFB in Nevada for 26 weeks to complete the Combat Crew Replacement Training syllabus for the Republic F-105D Thunderchief. It was normal, even expected, for a pilot having just completed a little bit more than a year and half of intensive training to take some leave at that point, but Karl decided instead to ferry a replacement F-105D over to Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base (RTAFB) in Thailand. Karl then became the newest member of the 421st Tactical Fighter Squadron (TFS) of the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing (TFW).

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Official US Air Force Photograph

No Time for Ground Pounding

Four days after arriving in Thailand Karl flew his first mission over North Vietnam. Karl was one of those pilots who wanted to be in the air whenever possible. He quickly became an excellent Thud pilot despite his lack of previous experience in the cockpit. He would fly anything he could, anytime he could. He once turned down a trip to the exotic destinations of Hong Kong and Bangkok only to spend his leave flying combat forward air controller (FAC) missions in Cessna O-1E Bird Dogs instead.

O 1A Bird Dog in flight over Vietnam
Official US Air Force Photograph

MiG Killer

Karl bagged a MiG-17 on September 21st 1966. He was flying as an element leader designated Ford 03 near Haiphong in North Vietnam sniffing for surface-to-air missile (SAM) sites. When Karl found a SAM site he was getting ready to clobber it when he spied a section of MiG-17s making a firing pass on another Thud in the lead element. Karl maneuvered into firing position and employed his 20 millimeter M61A1 Vulcan cannon to saw a wing off of one of the MiGs forcing the pilot to eject from his stricken jet and the other to bolt for home. Karl was 23 years old when he shot down his MiG, making him the youngest American pilot ever to down a MiG. Richter went to Saigon to receive congratulations and decorations, but he wanted to fly.

Republic F 105 Thunderchief Vietnam War 1966
Official US Air Force Photograph

Racking Up the Missions

There was simply no stopping him. He quickly piled up his first 90 missions, which usually meant that he would fly another ten “soft” missions and rotate back to the world. But not Karl. Karl wanted another 100. He had to glad-hand a bit and do some politicking. Meanwhile, Karl was winning medals for his extraordinary bravery and initiative in the air. He led a Wild Weasel (defense suppression) mission on April 20th 1967 that resulted in the destruction or distraction of a large number of enemy SAM and anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) crews. This allowed the strike force with whom Richter was working to eliminate an important railroad target even though Richter’s group experienced  intense enemy fire and dealt with weather that hindered navigation. Because he had already received the Silver Star, was awarded the Air Force Cross for his skill and heroism that day. And those next 100 missions? He got them too.

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Official US Air Force Photograph

For the Rest of Karl Richter’s Incredible Story Bang NEXT PAGE Below

BREAKING: Marine Corps Grounds All KC-130T Hercules Tankers After Mississippi Crash

Bill Walton
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BREAKING: Marine Corps Grounds All KC-130T Hercules Tankers After Mississippi Crash

Fat Albert, the Blue Angels Lockheed Martin C-130T Hercules support airlifter and performer, has been grounded along with all 12 operational Marine Corps KC-130T tankers. The decision by the Marine Corps was reportedly made out of “an abundance of caution” during the investigation of the Marine Corps VMGR-452 KC-130T (BuNo 165000) that crashed earlier this month in Mississippi killing 16. The Blues decided to ground Fat Albert because the investigation is being conducted into the crash of the tanker model (KC-130T) of the same basic airframe as Fat Albert (C-130T). There have been no other C-130 Hercules groundings announced by Lockheed Martin or the military as of this time. Here’s short video of Fat Albert in action posted by DoD News & Videos

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The KC-130T is the oldest model of the Hercules still operational with the Marines, averaging nearly 25 years of service. Only the Marine Reserve squadron VMGR-452 still flies the KC-130T- the same squadron that was flying the KC-130T that crashed in Mississippi. Many of the Marine Corps and Navy Hercules tanker variants are the much newer KC-130J models. The groundings are, at least at this point, the result of caution resulting from no clear cause of the Mississippi KC-130T crash having been determined. The grounding of Fat Albert was initially announced by the Experimental Aircraft Association via Airshowstuff. The KC-130T groundings were reported by Defense News.

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Official US Marine Corps Photograph

WATCH: This F-15 Eagle Footage Proves Fighter Pilot is the Coolest Job in the World

Bill Walton
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WATCH: This F-15 Eagle Footage Proves Fighter Pilot is the Coolest Job in the World

The “Fighting Cocks” Have a Half Dozen Raytheon Awards in Their Trophy Case

The United States Air Force USAF) 18th Operations Group is based at Kadena Air Base on Okinawa in Japan. One of the commands in the Group is the 67th Fighter Squadron (FS) Fighting Cocks. The Fighting Cocks fly the McDonnell Douglas (Boeing) F-15C and F-15D Eagle air superiority fighter. The 67th FS won the Raytheon Trophy for air-to-air excellence for the sixth time in their storied history in 2013, making them the only squadron in the Air Force to be so awarded six times. Thanks go to YouTuber Snizzler for uploading this awesomely entertaining HD video of the Fighting Cocks in action while winning their sixth Raytheon Trophy.

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Warfighters All

The 67th has been an active squadron since January of 1941. They first flew Seversky P-35A fighters. When in 1941 war broke out in the Pacific the 67th flew Curtiss P-36 Hawks and then Bell P-400 and P-39 Airacobras before becoming a Lockheed P-38 Lightning outfit. When the war ended they flew North American P-51D Mustangs and Republic P-47N Thunderbolts until equipping with Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star jets. The 67th traded their P-80s for P-51Ds when the Korean War began and flew them until they received their North American F-86 Sabre Jets in early 1953.

P-51D on the tarmac, way before the F-15D Eagle.
Official US Air Force Photograph

Went to WestPac and Liked It So Much They Stayed

The Fighting Cocks began flying the North American F-100 Super Sabre in 1957, followed by the Republic F-105 Thunderchief in 1962 and the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II in 1968. After flying Phabulous Phantoms for 11 years, they were one of the first squadrons to fly the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle in 1979. The 67th has been based out of Kadena for 35 years. One of their most influential commanders was Brigadier General Robinson “Robbie” Risner, who was an ace during the Korean War and commanded them when flying F-105s during Operation Rolling Thunder in Vietnam. Risner retired in 1976 and passed away in October of 2013. There is a tribute to Risner in the video.

F-4 Phantom in flight, long before the use of the F-15D Eagle.
Official US Air Force Photograph

Pristine Mustangs And Current Military Jets Wow In Their Arrival At Oshkosh

Bill Walton
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Pristine Mustangs And Current Military Jets Wow In Their Arrival At Oshkosh

A dual Heritage Flight arrival took place at AirVenture 2017 on July 25th 2017. The fist Heritage Flight was a section of Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning IIs from the 61st Fighter Squadron (FS) of the 56th Fighter Wing (FW) based at Luke Air Force Base (AFB) in Arizona were escorted to the landing break by the P-51D-25NA Bald Eagle (44-73029 / N51JB) owned by Jim Beasley. The second Heritage Flight was composed of a section of Fairchild Republic A-10C Thunderbolt IIs from the 74th FS of the famed 23rd Fighter Group (FG) Flying Tigers based at Moody AFB in Georgia was escorted to the landing break by a second P-51D-25NA (44-73420 / N151AM) owned by Andrew McKenna. Thanks as always to our good friends at Airshowstuff for uploading the video.

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Lightning over UK USAF F 35 makes historic overseas flight 160630 F GX122 133
Official US Air Force Photograph

FYI the F-35As and A-10Cs were all adorned with tributes to the recently departed Vlado Lenoch on their nosegear doors (F-35As) or boarding ladder doors (A-10Cs). The pilots were wearing tribute patches as well. Vlado often flew the Heritage Flight displays with these Air Force pilots. Classy move!

We’ve Waited For At Least 60 Years To See These Videos. That’s Long Enough!

Bill Walton
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We’ve Waited For At Least 60 Years To See These Videos. That’s Long Enough!

Well this is the big one warbird fans! We’ve been waiting to see this for decades, and here it is! The world’s only two operational Boeing B-29 Superfortresses flew together over AirVenture 2017 in Oshkosh on July 25th 2017. These two aircraft, the Commemorative Air Force’s B-29A-60-BN Fifi (CN 11547, AF serial number 44-62070) and the recently restored B-29A-70-BW Doc (CN 10804, AF serial number 44-69972) took to the Wisconsin skies simultaneously for the first time. Both of these aircraft were recovered from Naval Air Weapons Stations China Lake in California and restored, but they returned to flight almost 40 years apart. Thanks to our good friends at Airshowstuff for uploading this awesome video of the two B-29s flying together.

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Thanks to Airailimages for uploading this momentous video clip!

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Doc
Official US Air Force Photograph

BROKEN: Blue Air Training BAC 167 Strikemaster Jet Crashes in Henderson Nevada

Bill Walton
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0
BROKEN: Blue Air Training BAC 167 Strikemaster Jet Crashes in Henderson Nevada

On Monday July 24th 2017 a 1970s-vintage BAC-167 Mark 80A Strikemaster jet, serial number G-27-225 and US registration number N605GV, crashed after attempting to take off from runway 17R at Henderson Executive Airport (KHND) in Henderson, Nevada. The aircraft came to rest about half a mile south of Volunteer Boulevard near Via Inspirada south of the airport. The single pilot, whose name has not yet been released, evidently rode the aircraft all the way to a stop because the ejection seats in his aircraft were “cold.” He then exited the wreck with minor injuries which were treated at the site. The forward half of the aircraft was consumed by fire after the crash. There were no passengers in the jet or injuries on the ground and no other damage. Authorities are investigating the cause of the crash. Here is some raw footage of the crash scene posted by the Associated Press.

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The Strikemaster was operated by Blue Air Training and was departing Blue Air’s facility at KHND bound for a United States Air Force (USAF) training exercise for Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTACs) taking place at Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma in Washington state. These highly-trained JTACs require certification before being able to deploy with their units overseas. Blue Air Training’s role in this training is to simulate close air support aircraft dropping BDU-33 practice bombs and shooting 2.75” live-fire rockets tasked by the JTACs from the ground. Blue Air operates BAC 167 Strikemaster jets, IAR-823 Brasov trainers, AH-6 Little Bird assault helicopters, and a variety of single engine light aircraft used to simulate various US and foreign combat aircraft for training of these JTACs as well as other American military personnel.

The Strikemaster that crashed on Monday was built by British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) for the Saudi Arabian Air Force in 1972. After serving with the Saudis until 2001 under serial number 1114, the aircraft made its way onto the civilian market initially as G-BZYH and was later registered as N605GV. The jet was one of four Strikemasters operated out of Nevada by Blue Air Training. This was the first accident involving any of the company’s Strikemaster jets. The Strikemaster is a development of BAC’s Jet Provost intermediate trainer. In addition to Saudi Arabia, the total of 146 Strikemasters built by BAC were operated by Botswana, Ecuador, Kenya, Kuwait, New Zealand, Oman, Singapore, South Yemen, and Sudan. Blue Air is the only military contractor currently utilizing Strikemasters as simulation aircraft.

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Photo credit: Chrisk48

Bonus Video:  Here’s a video of a Strikemaster flying around the air patch uploaded by blizzardthewatcher

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Bonus Video #2:  Another video of a Strikemaster in action uploaded by Historical Aviation Film Unit

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