Monday, December 8, 2014
The Yellow Sheet Magazine
My first story in this magazine was published in their Fall 2014 issue. It's the story about the WTI 15-1 training that select marines go through twice a year.
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
NAF El Centro Photocall and some really Good News
Right before the Thanksgiving holiday, NAF El Centro had their bi-annual Photocall. This is an opportunity for amateur aviation camera clubs and some professional aviation photographers to head out on the runway of a military base and take photographs of military aircraft landing and taking off. This is a unique opportunity for these photographers and a highly sought after prize. on this particular day, well over a hundred photographers lined the runway as a C-2A made repeated touch and go landings, along with Navy F/A-18 Super Hornets and T-45 Goshawks doing the same. It was a beautiful day out in the desert with temps in the low 80's, a cooling breeze, and bright sunshine, with occasional clouds. Groups included the Aviation Photographers of Southern California, Fence Check, the Aviation Photographers of Arizona, the Phoenix Spotters, and the Pacific Photographic Society.
Now for some good news for me. I've heard back from several magazines lately who are going to publishing either stories or images of mine in upcoming issues. First Combat Aircraft Monthly, then Wings of Gold (multiple stories), Yellow Sheet (multiple stories), the Military Press Newspaper and of course Photorecon.net. I'm still waiting to hear back from two other magazines, but things are looking up.
The F-35C and the USS Nimitz
Well, I hope everyone's Thanksgiving holiday went well. It's been fairly busy for me since September and I've really appreciated it all, after going several months with barely any activity. I got quite the surprised when the US Navy invited me to witness their testing of the new F-35C Lightning II fighter. The plane was testing the launching and landing capabilities onboard the USS Nimitz.
It was extremely exciting/stressful for me, as this would be my first time landing and taking off on an aircraft carrier. I meet the Naval Air Forces PAO at NAS North Island, and we drove over to the passenger terminal. We boarded the C-2A Greyhound of the VRC-30, the Providers, and took off over the Pacific for our flight of roughly 1 hr. The Nimitz was approximately 100 miles off of San Diego. They had been conducting the training for well over a week, by the time we arrived.
The one thing I will say about the C-2A is that the passengers sit backwards, and there's only two small windows in the plane, so when we came into land, it was kind of like a roller coaster effect. Here we are going well over 100 mph, and then suddenly coming to a violent stop and being thrown back into your seat, and you are not seeing anything.
We landed safely onboard the Nimitz and were escorted to the Ready room, where we met several of the Lockheed Martin folks, the PAO of the boat and several other people. back up to the flight deck for a tour and an interview with one of the Test Pilots, and then back down to the officers galley, where we were able to conduct interviews with the Strike Groups admiral, the C.O. of the Nimitz, the Test Pilots again and the people from Lockheed Martin. We then broke for a short lunch.
It was then time for us to see and photograph the F-35C launch and recover, so it was up many, many flights of ladders (Navy speak for stairs), and we finally found ourselves on Vulture's Row. Here we were able to see 2 different launches and 1 recovery before we headed back down to the ready room and got ready to head back to NAS North Island.
The launching of an aircraft off of an Aircraft Carrier is a very violent action. You go from a dead stop to well over 120 miles per hour and upwards at an extreme angle. In the C-2A, you again are violently thrown forwards and it seems to last forever, but then suddenly your airborne and leveling out. The rest of the flight was uneventful and we landed safely back on base. The crew of the Providers gave me a patch recognizing my first time experience with the Carrier.
I'm scheduled to be back onboard one of the carriers in January, 2015 to stay for a few days to cover the flight operations out to sea. I can't wait!
It was extremely exciting/stressful for me, as this would be my first time landing and taking off on an aircraft carrier. I meet the Naval Air Forces PAO at NAS North Island, and we drove over to the passenger terminal. We boarded the C-2A Greyhound of the VRC-30, the Providers, and took off over the Pacific for our flight of roughly 1 hr. The Nimitz was approximately 100 miles off of San Diego. They had been conducting the training for well over a week, by the time we arrived.
The one thing I will say about the C-2A is that the passengers sit backwards, and there's only two small windows in the plane, so when we came into land, it was kind of like a roller coaster effect. Here we are going well over 100 mph, and then suddenly coming to a violent stop and being thrown back into your seat, and you are not seeing anything.
We landed safely onboard the Nimitz and were escorted to the Ready room, where we met several of the Lockheed Martin folks, the PAO of the boat and several other people. back up to the flight deck for a tour and an interview with one of the Test Pilots, and then back down to the officers galley, where we were able to conduct interviews with the Strike Groups admiral, the C.O. of the Nimitz, the Test Pilots again and the people from Lockheed Martin. We then broke for a short lunch.
It was then time for us to see and photograph the F-35C launch and recover, so it was up many, many flights of ladders (Navy speak for stairs), and we finally found ourselves on Vulture's Row. Here we were able to see 2 different launches and 1 recovery before we headed back down to the ready room and got ready to head back to NAS North Island.
The launching of an aircraft off of an Aircraft Carrier is a very violent action. You go from a dead stop to well over 120 miles per hour and upwards at an extreme angle. In the C-2A, you again are violently thrown forwards and it seems to last forever, but then suddenly your airborne and leveling out. The rest of the flight was uneventful and we landed safely back on base. The crew of the Providers gave me a patch recognizing my first time experience with the Carrier.
I'm scheduled to be back onboard one of the carriers in January, 2015 to stay for a few days to cover the flight operations out to sea. I can't wait!
Monday, November 3, 2014
A Busy Time
Well, after my US Air Force Tanker flight, things got busy. At the end of September, I was able to fly with the Marines twice during the WTI's in Yuma, AZ. First day was on a C-130 where I had a F/A-18 from VMFA-323, the Death Rattlers come up for a refueling and then the next day, I spent flying around with a CH-53 delivering artillery pieces to Marines and then watching them fire off the rounds.
In early October, the Miramar Airshow was back, while a smaller show was store due to the sequestration still being in effect. it was still a good show.
Then in late October, something that I've been waiting for approx. 1 year for.
To fly on the last Marine Corps active duty CH-46's., and this happen with the Purple Foxes HMM-364, now known as VMM-364, since they are getting Ospreys. I spent twos days with these great Marines, as flew from Camp Pendleton to Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson, and delivered one bird to the Bone Yard, and then back to Pendleton the next day.
Thursday, October 2, 2014
Frustration and Happiness
Over a year ago, I put in a request with the Naval Air Forces West people to do a Carrier Qual, basically asking to be onboard during Flight Operations for a story. The first PAO officer I spoke to said "No Problem:, and then got transferred. The current PAO, has been a little difficult, but finally gave me some dates for my embarkation onboard the USS Nimitz. She would be conducting Carrier Quals for anyone of the Navy and Marine pilots who needed the training off of the coast of San Diego, before she departed back home to Washington State.
On September 9th, I find myself at Naval Air Station North Island at 0830 hrs., and ready to go. We would walk onto the ship, but the next day fly off onboard a C-2a Greyhound. Being launched from a carrier would be a new experience for me.
The PAO came up to me, and stated the ship was leaving late, and flight ops would not be conducted until night time, when I really can't get any great shots. I said, well there's tomorrow, and he said my plane would be the first to leave, so I'd miss those flights also. He was still willing to let go, but I declined, and he promised to get me onboard another Carrier in the near future. AARRGGHH!!
For some better days. September 23rd found me at March Air Reserve Base. After a simple briefing by the Base's Commanding Officer, and the briefing with the flight crew. I boarded a KC-135R Tanker, and we took off toward the south.
On September 9th, I find myself at Naval Air Station North Island at 0830 hrs., and ready to go. We would walk onto the ship, but the next day fly off onboard a C-2a Greyhound. Being launched from a carrier would be a new experience for me.
The PAO came up to me, and stated the ship was leaving late, and flight ops would not be conducted until night time, when I really can't get any great shots. I said, well there's tomorrow, and he said my plane would be the first to leave, so I'd miss those flights also. He was still willing to let go, but I declined, and he promised to get me onboard another Carrier in the near future. AARRGGHH!!
For some better days. September 23rd found me at March Air Reserve Base. After a simple briefing by the Base's Commanding Officer, and the briefing with the flight crew. I boarded a KC-135R Tanker, and we took off toward the south.
After flying over Mount Palmar, we turned to the west and out over the ocean, To our south was US Navy owned San Clemente Island. The most southern of the California Channel Islands.
We were soon joined by a C-17III while flying over Catalina Island, and we headed for the coastline going north. The entire time to towards Monterey Bay, the two planes practiced connecting and disconnecting with one another to refuel, and flying in formation.
A great experience and photo op.
Monday, September 8, 2014
It's September, and it's been hot.
Hi Folks,
Time to catch up since April. In order to keep cool this summer, I've spent a lot of time sitting around San Diego Bay with it's cooling breezes. By doing so, I was able to photograph a lot of US and Foreign Naval Ships as they came in and went out of the Harbor. The US Navy had a major exercise off of Hawaii called Pacific Rim, and so a lot of US Navy ships from San Diego took part, and the Norwegians, Chileans, Mexicans, and other had ships coming to San Diego before departing for Hawaii. ThJapanese had also came for a visit with 3 of their training vessels.
The Planes of Fame had their annual air show, and again, another great performance, but the heat was just kicking my ass. I'm surprised, I made it back to my truck without heat stroke.
After that, was the new San Diego Air Show (formerly "Wings over Gillespi"), and it was a major disappointment. Just a boring show..
Now for the best and worst part. In July, I took off for Las Vegas to attend the Red Flag 14-3 exercise, and it was HOT! it was 107 on the runways, and Media Day got cancelled before it even started due to a security issue. The next day was my scheduled flight onboard a US Air Force KC-135. it was 107 degrees again on the runway, but with the plane sitting in the sun all morning, I entered into the aluminum body of the KCC-135 at 120 degrees, and they even had the main cargo door wide open. When it was time to take off, they closed the doors and we sat for over 30 minutes, waiting to take off. The temp soon rose to over 130 degrees. I honestly thought at this time, heat stroke was going to get me. After we took off and climbed to over 35,000 ft. It was much cooler,a nd I survived.
It's now September and lots of things are happening. Tomorrow, I will embark on the USS Nimitz to photograph some flight ops. looking forward to that. Also, I will be flying in another Air Force KC-135, photographing a C-17 late in the month, and the 2 days of flying with the Marines at their Fall WTI exercises, onboard a C-130 and a CH-53. I'm working aon a US Coast Guard story, but I'll leave that for the next update. Take care folks.
Time to catch up since April. In order to keep cool this summer, I've spent a lot of time sitting around San Diego Bay with it's cooling breezes. By doing so, I was able to photograph a lot of US and Foreign Naval Ships as they came in and went out of the Harbor. The US Navy had a major exercise off of Hawaii called Pacific Rim, and so a lot of US Navy ships from San Diego took part, and the Norwegians, Chileans, Mexicans, and other had ships coming to San Diego before departing for Hawaii. ThJapanese had also came for a visit with 3 of their training vessels.
The Planes of Fame had their annual air show, and again, another great performance, but the heat was just kicking my ass. I'm surprised, I made it back to my truck without heat stroke.
After that, was the new San Diego Air Show (formerly "Wings over Gillespi"), and it was a major disappointment. Just a boring show..
Now for the best and worst part. In July, I took off for Las Vegas to attend the Red Flag 14-3 exercise, and it was HOT! it was 107 on the runways, and Media Day got cancelled before it even started due to a security issue. The next day was my scheduled flight onboard a US Air Force KC-135. it was 107 degrees again on the runway, but with the plane sitting in the sun all morning, I entered into the aluminum body of the KCC-135 at 120 degrees, and they even had the main cargo door wide open. When it was time to take off, they closed the doors and we sat for over 30 minutes, waiting to take off. The temp soon rose to over 130 degrees. I honestly thought at this time, heat stroke was going to get me. After we took off and climbed to over 35,000 ft. It was much cooler,a nd I survived.
It's now September and lots of things are happening. Tomorrow, I will embark on the USS Nimitz to photograph some flight ops. looking forward to that. Also, I will be flying in another Air Force KC-135, photographing a C-17 late in the month, and the 2 days of flying with the Marines at their Fall WTI exercises, onboard a C-130 and a CH-53. I'm working aon a US Coast Guard story, but I'll leave that for the next update. Take care folks.
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