A USN F/A-18E Super Hornet takes off from the USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77). Photo Credit: USNA U.S. Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet from the carrier air wing aboard the USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) shot down a Syrian SU-22 fighter jet this afternoon, after it dropped bombs on part of a U.S.-led coalition dedicated to defeating ISIS.
“At approximately 4:30 p.m. Syria time, Pro-Syrian regime forces attacked the Syrian Democratic Forces-held town of Ja’Din, South of Tabqah, wounding a number of SDF fighters and driving the SDF from the town,” says the NAVY in their press release.
“Coalition aircraft conducted a show of force and stopped the initial pro-regime advance toward the SDF-controlled town.
Following the Pro-Syrian forces attack, the Coalition contacted its Russian counterparts by telephone via an established ‘de-confliction line’ to de-escalate the situation and stop the firing.
At 6:43 p.m., a Syrian regime SU-22 dropped bombs near SDF fighters south of Tabqah and, in accordance with rules of engagement and in collective self-defense of Coalition partnered forces, was immediately shot down by a U.S. F/A-18E Super Hornet.
Ja’Din sits approximately two kilometers north of an established East-West SDF-Syrian Regime de-confliction area.”
It’s the first air-to-air kill for the F/A-18 since two shot down a pair of Iraqi MiG-21s in the Gulf War, and the first air-to-air kill between manned aircraft for the U.S. since 1999, when an Air Force F-16 shot down a Serbian MiG-29 over Kosovo.
The U.S.-led coalition stressed its focus is on fighting ISIS, not the Syrian regime or Russian forces, but also reminded them it will not hesitate to defend their forces coming under attack.
“The Coalition’s mission is to defeat ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The Coalition does not seek to fight Syrian regime, Russian, or pro-regime forces partnered with them, but will not hesitate to defend Coalition or partner forces from any threat.
The Coalition presence in Syria addresses the imminent threat ISIS in Syria poses globally. The demonstrated hostile intent and actions of pro-regime forces toward Coalition and partner forces in Syria conducting legitimate counter-ISIS operations will not be tolerated.
The Coalition calls on all parties to focus their efforts on the defeat of ISIS, which is our common enemy and the greatest threat to regional and worldwide peace and security.”
The film “Grumman at War” was produced by Grumman in 1944. The film is “narrated” by a F6F Hellcat fighter. More correctly it’s told in the first person by a F6F Hellcat fighter. Well, yes- it sounds strange but it works really well in this film. It was produced during World War II so it’s a little bit hokey and old-fashioned, but the film delves into how Grumman developed and built the F6F. When the film was released it was accompanied by a book to commemorate Grumman’s 15th anniversary. During the time the film was being made Grumman had already moved production of their F4F Wildcat fighters and TBF Avenger torpedo bombers to General Motors’ Eastern Aircraft Division so Grumman could concentrate on production of Hellcats.
The first flight of the first production F6F-3 on October 3rd 1942 is dramatized in the film. Directed by Robert Elwyn and produced by Leroy G Philips along with Gordon Cox at the Princeton Film Center, the film stars the Grumman F6F Hellcat and the thousands of Grumman employees who designed, developed, built, and tested the fighter that won the war in the Pacific. Lots of Avgeeks might disagree about that last point, and that’s OK, but it’s difficult to argue with 5,223 Allied victories and 305 aces made in the Hellcat in only two years. Kill ratio numbers vary widely so they’re not an accurate gauge. It’s still a great film. There’s even some bonus footage of the prototype Grumman XF7F-1 Tigercat at the end of it. We’ll do a full history on the F6F some other time but for now, enjoy the film that chronicles the making of one of America’s true success stories of World War II- The Grumman F6F Hellcat.
Sierra Nevada Corp’s Dream Chaser prototype at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center, Edwards AFB, CA recently. Photo Credit: SNC
To many avgeeks, NASA’s space shuttles will always hold a special place in their hearts. Now retired from service, they were – for a long time – the only reusable, winged “lifting body” vehicles ever employed for spaceflight.
SpaceX and Boeing, who both hold multi-billion dollar NASA contracts to fly astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS), are each developing reusable capsules (Dragon and CST-100 Starliner). And while the U.S. Air Force currently operates a hush-hush mini ‘spaceplane’ (X-37B / cargo only), its missions and whereabouts when in orbit are classified.
But there’s one company, Sierra Nevada Corporation, who is developing a reusable, rapid turnaround ‘mini shuttle’, and they currently hold a NASA contract to begin delivering cargo on at least six missions to the ISS beginning in 2019.
The Dream Chaser has been in development for a long time, and a prototype test article recently completed “Phase One” ground testing at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center, located at Edwards AFB, CA, in preparation for its second free flight Approach and Landing test (ALT-2) on the base’s runway 22L.
NASA Langley did a lot of research on it in the 80′ and 90’s, based off a Russian heritage design called the Bor 4. They did thousands of hours of work, and created the control laws to be able to fly it. A lot of astronauts came in to try it and fly it too.
At the time, NASA was looking for a spacecraft to use as a return vehicle from the ISS, so the agency competed a couple of different designs for rescuing crews in case of an emergency. One design was the X-38, the other was the HL-20, which is now the Dream Chaser.
NASA eventually decided to choose the X-38, but after working on that for several years the X-38 was abandoned also, leaving astronauts to rely exclusively on the space shuttle and Russian Soyuz as the emergency vehicles for the ISS.
When SNC wanted a vehicle design, instead of starting from scratch, they built off what NASA had already done with the HL-20 and changed it slightly.
SNC put their test article through ALT-1 at Edwards AFB on October 26, 2013, the first such test since the space shuttle prototype Enterprise did so in the late 1970s. Using an Erickson Air-Crane helicopter, the prototype was dropped from 12,500 ft over Edwards, sending the vehicle into a steep 50-degree nose dive to exactly replicate the spacecraft’s orbital re-entry flight path to prove its design is truly air-worthy.
The test went about as good as SNC could have hoped for, until the command was given to deploy its landing gear. Only two of its three gear deployed, causing the vehicle to skid off the runway, sustaining minor structural damage.
The problem was traced to a mechanical issue with the specific landing gear, rather than something related to bad software (none of the primary systems that gave the commands that control the flight failed or had any problems).
“The 99% of the flight that we really wanted to get – which was does this vehicle fly, is it able to be controlled, does the software work, can we autonomously fly the vehicle in to approach and land on a runway – all that was 100% successful,” said Mark Sirangelo, corporate vice president, SNC’s Space Systems.
A year later, NASA awarded commercial crew contracts to SpaceX and Boeing, but not to SNC and Dream Chaser.
It wasn’t until January 2016, that NASA awarded a cargo contract to SNC’s Dream Chaser, and the company has made significant structural and systems improvements to the test article since. Engineers improved the composite wings and aeroshells, and invested heavily in maturing the vehicle’s orbital avionics, guidance navigation and control, flight software, and employed a number of new processes, all of which will be used on the orbital vehicle as well.
An advanced orbital Thermal Protection System (TPS) was installed on the vehicle’s skid too, in order to do advanced testing of the actual orbital TPS.
SNC’s Dream Chaser test article at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center, CA. Photo Credit: SNC
The test article will not only aid development of the orbital cargo vehicles, currently underway, but will aid the development of a crewed version as well. Both cargo and crew variants share an 85 percent commonality, and the cargo-version can actually be made crew ready if NASA or another customer needed it.
With the addition of orbital avionics to the test article, the same the actual orbital vehicle will use, SNC will earn direct certification credit out of the upcoming flight test series from NASA. All the testing and certifications will happen on the ground and within the atmosphere, eliminating the need for an orbital flight test.
The loss of two shuttle crews, Challenger STS-51-L in 1986 and Columbia STS-107 in 2003, surely weighed on NASA’s decision to skip another spaceplane design for flying astronauts, at least for now, but the Dream Chaser offers numerous benefits, unique to its design.
It’s capable of staying at the ISS for over 7 months, and can land on virtually any runway at least 8,000 feet long, anywhere around the world, without requiring specialized equipment. This translates to no abort blackout zones and the ability to de-orbit at any time in case of an emergency.
SNC technicians inspect the Dream Chaser engineering test article, ahead of its second flight test program, expected to begin at Edwards AFB soon. Photo Credit: SNC
With a propulsion system fueled by Nitrous Oxide and propane, ground crews will have immediate access to the spacecraft after landing, with only 10-20 minutes needed to exit the runway, keeping conflicts with other aircraft to a minimum.
An expected 1.5 G nominal reentry will provide ideal conditions for returning fragile cargo and science experiments too, in addition to making the return to gravity easier on the crew (SNC expects immediate access to crew and cargo upon landing).
And being as small as it is, it can be loaded on small cargo planes for shipment virtually anywhere.
No date has been given for ALT-2, but SNC expects to conduct it soon, and will fly more to validate the aerodynamic properties, flight software, and control system performance of the spacecraft if needed.
The Dream Chaser fleet will call Kennedy Space Center in Florida home, and SNC says it will be ready for its first launch atop a ULA Atlas-V rocket from neighboring Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral AFS in the first half of 2019.
Once the cargo-version establishes itself as a dependable, reusable, and cost-effective space system, SNC expects demand for the crewed-version to increase, taking lessons learned from the cargo-version and applying them to the crew.
And should NASA offer up another round of Commercial Crew contracts in 2020, SNC will put in a bid for their crew-version Dream Chaser again.
– Follow Mike Killian on Instagram and Facebook, @MikeKillianPhotography
Aerial refueling. Tanking. In-flight refueling. Passing gas. Air-to-air refueling. Tanker tracks. Tanker Toads. Texaco. All terms associated with ensuring one aircraft has the fuel necessary to complete a mission planned to cover more distance than its un-refueled range.
The United States Air Force (USAF) has been refueling its aircraft in flight since 1949, initially employing modified British looped-hose aerial refueling equipment during the world circumnavigation by the Boeing B-50 Superfortress Lucky Lady II. The “flying boom” method was originally introduced on Boeing B-29s, designated KB-29Ps, during 1950 and 1951. Every Air Force tanker placed in operational service since then has been equipped with the flying boom. Many Air Force tankers can also refuel refueling probe-equipped aircraft using the retractable drogue or “basket.”
Official US Air Force Photograph
The video was shot during the pre-flight and actual refueling mission of a Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker from the 128th Air Refueling Wing (ARW) Badger Tankers of the Wisconsin Air National Guard (ANG) based at General Mitchell Air National Guard Base (ANGB) on Milwaukee’s General Mitchell International Airport. The unit, equipped with the Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker since 1992, is designated as the 340th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron on deployment as an Air Mobility Command (AMC) asset. Prior to flying the KC-135R, the 126th also operated Boeing KC-97L Stratotankers and Boeing KC-135E model Stratotankers. Yes…they shared the same name.
Official US Air Force Photograph
The Wisconsin ANG tanker in the video refuels several 555th Tactical Fighter Squadron (TFS) Triple Nickle General Dynamics Block 40 F-16C Vipers during its mission on the tanker track. The 555th, based at Aviano Air Base in Italy since April of 1994, became a part of the 31st Operations Group (OG) when they moved to Aviano. Evidence suggests that these particular Vipers were prosecuting targets. Enjoy the HD sights and sounds (including talk between tanking pilots and boom operators) in this video.
With Hawaiian Airlines’ brand and livery updates, as well as new services, new airplanes on the way, and stellar on-time stats, flyers may think the airline has nothing to worry about in terms of competition. However, could larger airlines sweep in unnoticed and take a large chunk of the niche provider’s profit?
Just this month, United Airlines announced increased service on 11 routes connecting the continental United States and Hawai’i, making it now the airline with the most flights between the mainland and Islands. Starting Dec. 20, United will increase service to Hawai’i from Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles and San Francisco. It also will maintain current nonstop service from other destinations, including Houston; Newark; Washington, D.C.; Guam; and Tokyo. In addition to increased service that allows travelers to access a new selection of Hawaiian cities other than the current United destination of Honolulu, the airline is also offering new in-flight amenities, including 180-degree flat-bed seats on flights originating in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Newark and D.C.
It’s only expected that United’s loyal following will keep on booking the airline all the way to Hawai’i, but other travelers, particularly those within the budget-travel realm, may be looking to another new airline to fulfill their needs. Southwest Airlines has been looking at the Hawaiian market for a while now, but just recently announced the market as higher priority. It’s expected the budget airline will send its latest Boeing 737-800s and the 737 MAX 8 to Hawai’i, as it simultaneously begins retiring some of its older aircraft. However, while United is more of a pressing threat to Hawaiian Airlines, the Southwest threat is more longterm in nature, as the airline may not even launch flights to the Islands until later this decade.
Despite all this, Hawaiian Holdings, the parent name for Hawaiian Airlines, has seen market jumps thanks to airfare pricing and cheaper fuel, something investors should be pleased with. According to Cowen analyst Helane Becker, “Hawaiian continues to benefit from modest competitive capacity growth in their most important market, which is the U.S. West Coast to Hawai’i.” Additionally, rumors have been spreading of a potential Hawaiian-JetBlue merger, though the benefits for JetBlue seem to be small. Other aviation experts speculate an upcoming transaction similar to the Virgin American/Alaska deal.
Only time will tell if Hawaiian Airlines will feel significant pain from the United service expansion and Southwest’s impending market entrance. One thing, however, is for sure — with increased competition between airlines comes increased benefits for travelers in a leisure oriented marketing, as they can take advantage of better airfare deals and more amenities from airlines fighting for a much-coveted consumer base.
In the shadowy world of the Lockheed U-2 spy plane operations, it’s not exactly commonplace to observe these aircraft in flight. What’s even more uncommon is to have a nice clear shot of the approach, flare and landing of a U-2S configured with “super-pods” and to have the audio from the chase car, control tower, and pilot in the soundtrack. Very cool!
Official US Air Force Photograph
The U-2S in the video (call sign Dragon 21) is USAF serial 80-1090- the prototype U-2S, and is based at Beale Air Force Base (AFB) in California with the 9th Reconnaissance Wing. She was originally built as a TR-1 by the Lockheed Skunkworks in 1988.
A few things of which to take note:
First, the pilot is really working the throttles and has some nice yaw action going as he battles what was a considerable crosswind component on his approach to RAF Fairford in cloudy Gloucestershire, England.
Second, the Air Force chase car looks like it’s doing some flying of its own as it catches up to the U-2S and reads off the altitudes to the pilot before touchdown.
Third, the pilot really greases the landing- in a crosswind in a jet he can’t see out of very well to begin with.
And last, the jet, like every U-2, drops a wing when stopped due to the landing gear configuration, but this pilot just kisses the ground when he drops his wingtip. Welcome to England indeed. Nicely done Air Force!
Draken International, sometimes referred to as “The World’s Largest Private Air Force”, is a defense contractor formed in 2011 offering flight training, threat simulation, airborne adversary support, electronic warfare support, aerial refueling, research, and testing services to military and civilian aerospace firms. Draken provides air-to-air and air-to-ground tactical training and support, air-to-air refueling, and fleet missile defense training. They own a fleet of more than 80 tactical aircraft, including 30 Mig-21 Fishbeds, 21 Aero L-159E Advanced Light Combat Aircraft (LACA)s, 14 Douglas A-4 Skyhawks, 9 Aermacchi MB-339CBs, and five Aero L-39 Albatroses. Many of these aircraft have unique 4th generation threat simulation capabilities including fire-control radars, radar warning receivers, training missiles, and electronic attack equipment.
Photo Credit: Draken International
Draken acquired several A-4Ks from New Zealand. These Kiwi Skyhawks had already been upgraded under Project Kahu with the APG-66v7 fire control radar along with Radar Warning Receiver (RWR), Heads-up Display (HUD), Hands On Throttle and Stick (HOTAS), and Multi-Function Displays (MFD). This all means that the Draken A-4Ks emit an electronic signature similar to the Air Force’s Mid-Life Upgrade (MLU) F-16 Vipers. Equipped with the latest data bus technology, they can also employ the current generation of laser targeting and electronic attack and warfare pods and deliver them on target. The Draken Skyhawks can also pass and take gas from “buddy store” aerial refueling equipment.
Draken A-4s with F-35 and F-16 via US Air Force
Retired, reserve, or Air National Guard US Air Force (USAF), US Navy (USN), and US Marine Corps (USMC) tactical jet pilots fly Draken’s tactical jets. These guys and gals all have patches from the USAF Fighter Weapons School or TOPGUN or USAF Aggressor Squadrons or USN/USMC Adversary Squadrons or, well…you get it. They’re qualified. Many of them have even commanded USAF or USN or USMC Squadrons, Groups, or Wings.
Draken has worked with each of the US military branches as well as several foreign air forces. The video was produced by the US Air Force in 2015 and talks about Draken’s unique capabilities and qualifications during an evaluation performed at Nellis Air Force Base.
When Lockheed engineers began work on the massive C-5AGalaxy during the mid-1960s they faced a myriad of aerospace design challenges:
The weight of the aircraft itself- even when empty.
Flex in the wings, the fuselage itself, and the extended T-tail.
How to utilize the space above the cargo hold.
Pressurization of thousands of cubic feet of space in that cargo hold.
Access to the cargo hold itself.
Internal dimensions of the cargo hold required to haul specific pieces of equipment.
Engines with enough thrust to make the entire aircraft worth building in the first place.
Answers to these and hundreds of additional challenges were found during both development and use of the Galaxy over the last 47 years. New wings, new engines, and new cockpit avionics have all been or are being fitted to the C-5 fleet. Of the 131 C-5s originally built by Lockheed about 100 of them are still in service.
Photo Credit: Rob Schleiffert
One of the most interesting facets of the C-5’s design is its landing gear. Built to support a maximum takeoff weight of 840,000 pounds (that’s 420 tons to you and me), it consists of a single steerable nosegear strut and four main gear bogeys mounting a total of 28 wheels. The complex system can be a maintenance challenge but it allows for use on rough or unpaved surfaces, castoring to improve ground handling and maneuvering, and originally had the ability to “crab” for crosswind landings that has now been eliminated.
In order to simplify tire changes or brake maintenance, each set of wheels can be retracted individually. The C-5’s landing gear assembly also has a three-position “kneeling” system, which can be utilized to lower the aircraft’s cargo floor down to truck-bed height and reduce the angle of entry to the forward or aft ramps.
Falcon-9 production floor at SpaceX HQ in Hawthorne, CA. Photo Credit: SpaceX
SpaceX is blazing a trail forward for sustainable and reusable commercial spaceflight at an impressive pace. They’ve launched several missions this year, once on a reused booster even, and also employed a used Dragon spacecraft on their most recent cargo mission to the ISS for NASA earlier this month (CRS-11).
But the company is now landing their rockets too, like clockwork almost, and they are aiming to do it again next Monday afternoon, June 19, after they use another reused booster to launch the BulgariaSat-1 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The company is also preparing to fly their highly anticipated Falcon Heavy for the first time later this year, a mammoth triple-barrelled version of their Falcon 9, and company owner Elon Musk released a new video via his Instagram page today (June 16) showing off the company’s “Falcon Factory” at their headquarters in Hawthorne, CA.
First used to launch the initial wave of ‘Iridium NEXT’ satellites last January from Vandenberg AFB, CA, the rocket launching next Monday will also become the first booster to launch missions on both coasts.
Landing on the company’s offshore drone ship “Of Course I Still Love You” should occur shortly after, but previous attempts have been met with mixed success. With the exception of three drone ship landing failures in January, March and June 2016, six returning rockets have landed successfully on the drone ship; the most recent instance being March 30th for the SES-10 mission.
Drone ships are used when the mission being launched requires so much fuel there isn’t enough left for a landing attempt back near the launch site.
Liftoff of BulgariaSat-1 is scheduled for Monday, June 19 at 2:01pm EDT, you can watch it live HERE.
– Follow Mike Killian on Instagram and Facebook, @MikeKillianPhotography
Ok, so it’s not REALLY near vertical…but it is some damn impressive and aggressive flying by professional pilots flying Boeing’s newest jetliners.
For the past few years, Boeing has put together amazing summer air show routines. In preparation for each year’s performance, Boeing also has put together incredible videos documenting the practice with cinematic flair. It started with the Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 videos. Then last year, Boeing added an impressive 737 MAX performance. This year, the new stretched 787-10 and 737 MAX have teamed up to wow audiences again at the Paris Air Show.
The Boeing 787-10 is the longest and largest of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet. The first flight of the -10 took place on March 31, 2017. The 787-10 has 95% commonality with the 787-9. It is designed to replace earlier versions of the 777 and A330 along with the A340. Singapore Airlines will take delivery of their first -10 in early 2018.
Also featured in the video is the Boeing 737 MAX. The latest version of the venerable 737 fleet includes new engines and winglets that combine to give operators 13% more efficiency than the earlier ‘Next Gen” models. The 737 MAX featured in this video is the -9 version. The -9 first flew earlier this year. It’s shorter sibling, the -8MAX was recently delivered to its first airline customer last month.
United States Marines with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 251 (VMFA-251) Thunderbolts conduct pre-flight checks and start-up of a Boeing Martin F/A-18C Hornet during exercise Red Flag-Alaska (17-2) at Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson in Alaska. VMFA-251 is a part of Marine Aircraft Group 31 (MAG-31) based at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Beaufort in South Carolina. VMFA-251’s heritage goes all the way back to commissioning as Marine Observation Squadron 251 (VMO-251) on December 1st 1941 at Naval Air Station (NAS) North Island at San Diego in California. VMO-251 flew Grumman F4F Wildcats during the first couple of years of World War II in the Pacific. They transitioned to the Vought F4U Corsair in 1944 and were re-designated VMF-251 in 1945.
For the Korean War the Thunderbolts flew Douglas A-1 Skyraiders. When the squadron transitioned to North American FJ-4 Furies in 1956 they were re-designated again, this time to VMF-251. They began flying the Vought F-8 Crusader from MCAS El Toro in California in 1958. Then in 1961 they moved to MCAS Beaufort in South Carolina and deployed to NAS Guantanamo Bay in Cuba after the Bay of Pigs invasion.
When the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II went into Marine Corps service the re-designated VMFA-251 was one of the first squadrons to transition to the new jet. For the next 21 years VMFA-251 flew the F-4 until transitioning to the McDonnell Douglas (Boeing) F/A-18A Hornet in 1985. The Hornet in the video carries two AGM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAMs) on its port outboard wing station and an AN/AAQ-28(V) Litening imaging/targeting pod on its centerline station.
ATLANTA, GA — The precision flight of the Lima Lima Flight Team performed over the Good Neighbor Day Airshow on Saturday exciting huge crowds in attendance as they witnessed the maneuvers performed by the pilots of yesterday and today.
Their four yellow Beechcraft T-34 aircraft soared over the Peachtree-DeKalb Airport on June 10 as they transitted from right to left before the crowd as the lead pilot radioed “smoke-on”. Seconds later, the team began their climb into a forty-five degree angle straight up aginst the cold blue sky. It is their diamond formation — four planes flying as one just a few feet apart — which gave over 12,000 guests reason to applaude and cheer.
Designed by Walter Beech in 1949, the Beechcraft T-34A was built as a primary trainer for the Air Force and Navy as the jet age began. The Air Force contracted them right away and flew with them during the 1950’s. Meanwhile, the Navy continued flying the T-34 until 1972. Today, the military and even NASA use the single prop aircraft for different reasons.
Airshow Enthusiasm
“As a former Navy captain, I understand the incredible pride it takes to put multiple aircraft in the sky and into a syncronized plan in the sky,” said Lima Lima’s slot pilot Roger “Fritz” Fritzler from PDK’s flight line on Saturday. “Formation is a lot of fun and to do it in an aerobatic routine is even more fun — it just brings it to another level trying to stay precise in the same piece of sky.”
The team’s origins began forty-one years ago, thrilling crowds with formation flying in the midwest of the United States. Today, they are slowly performing at new show sites on the east coast and the southeast. Fritz, who joined Lima Lima in 2013, added this was their first visit to Atlanta, and they look forward for a possible return trip next year.
The four pilots for the 2017 and 2018 seasons include lead pilot Skip “Scooter” Aldous, Steve “Hoss” Smith, Mark “Enigma” Miller, and “Fritz” Fritzler. All four pilots carried early asperations of wanting to fly during their youth — three of them later entered military service and piloted top military aircraft.
As the four pilots stood together in conversation, they carried a tone of excitement as the prepared for an afternoon flight. Each with a positive tone about flying, discussing with a few airport officials how stongly they want to encourage today’s youth about the many fields of aviation.
“We want to make spectators excited and enthusiastic about aviation,” said “Scooter” Aldous as he stood near his yellow Beechcraft sporting the word ‘Navy’ on its fueslage. “We try to make our performance exciting, we want to hear a lot of ohhhs and ahhh’s coming from the crowd.”
Scooter added that the team performs every maneuver before the crowd at each show. From take-off to landing, Lima Lima stays in front of the guests in attendance.
Two Aerobatic Teams Soar Together
During the airshow weekend, the four pilots of Lima Lima joined with their brothers of Team Aeroshell to perform an eight plane close formation flight over Stone Mountain. The historic Georgia landmark is located east of Atlanta and just a few minutes by flight south of Peachtree-DeKalb Airport.
Following a preflight briefing between the two teams, Lima Lima took off first in finger tip formation from runway 21, gained altitude, and Fritz then maneuvered his number 4 aircraft into the slot position to form the diamond. Aeroshell then departed two minutes later and manuvered in the same fashion to form their own diamond.
This aerospace journalist flew along with Fritz to record the rare event as the two aerobatic diamonds flew in formation with the skyline of Atlanta in the close distance. Great weather greeted the aircraft as two teams set up for the formation over the park.
Following one practice pass in front of the massive granite mountain, the Lima Lima Flight Team and Team Aeroshell went smoke-on and performed a beautiful pass before Stone Mountain. On the headset, the pilots of each team were calm, but as the teams separated from one another the conversation was one of ecstatic chatter and goodwill.
Images: Charles A. Atkeison and John Willhoff
(Charles Atkeison reports on aerospace and technology. Follow his updates via social media @Military_Flight.)
