F-18 flight in the Washington mountains

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skyking

skyking

Lifer
Nov 21, 2001
22,808
5,973
146
Had a bit of a thrill yesterday as I drove across the pass. A flight of 4 came by at about 1/3 NM in trail, 500' above ground level (AGL) and a good 350 knots! Gotta love that.
The first planes were in a steep bank and hard on the throttle to go around a mountain and change up the course. It was good and loud. :thumbsup:
 
John Connor

John Connor

Lifer
Nov 30, 2012
22,757
619
121
How were they able to do 350 knots under 10,000? Was that in a restricted area?

I don't fly, but in the sim I have the F-22 and I retrofitted the TAWS gauge and love to weave in and out of mountains in Nevada at night. The bitching Betty is constantly saying, PULL UP! PULL UP! TERRAIN! TERRAIN! LOL!

Best damn gauge I have ever used next to the FMC in my PMDG 737. http://www.reality-xp.com/flightsim/st3400/
 
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twinrider1

twinrider1

Diamond Member
Sep 28, 2003
4,096
64
91
Moments like that make me smile, nod my head in approval, and think to myself....America, F*&% Yea.
 
John Connor

John Connor

Lifer
Nov 30, 2012
22,757
619
121
I was at a Blue Angels airshow and I like the part where they can creep up on you. You don't even hear them and VROOOOM! They sore right over your head and it's just flipping awesome! Talk about shock and awe. LOL

I would love to have a front row seat to Red Flag.

Check this out. http://www.hulu.com/watch/24197
 
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spacejamz

spacejamz

Lifer
Mar 31, 2003
10,981
1,701
126
John Connor said:
I was at a Blue Angels airshow and I like the part where they can creep up on you. You don't even hear them and VROOOOM! They sore right over your head and it's just flipping awesome! Talk about shock and awe. LOL

I would love to have a front row seat to Red Flag.

Check this out. http://www.hulu.com/watch/24197
Click to expand...

That always gets the crowd going...the main formation does some pass in front of the crowd, then a few seconds later, the solo guys fly in from behind...
 
skyking

skyking

Lifer
Nov 21, 2001
22,808
5,973
146
That was how it was in the car, only no idea it was a possibility until RAWR! then 3 more when we were looking.
 
G

Genx87

Lifer
Apr 8, 2002
41,091
513
126
John Connor said:
How were they able to do 350 knots under 10,000? Was that in a restricted area?

I don't fly, but in the sim I have the F-22 and I retrofitted the TAWS gauge and love to weave in and out of mountains in Nevada at night. The bitching Betty is constantly saying, PULL UP! PULL UP! TERRAIN! TERRAIN! LOL!

Best damn gauge I have ever used next to the FMC in my PMDG 737. http://www.reality-xp.com/flightsim/st3400/
Click to expand...

Does the military have to adhere to these restrictions? I went to school in Fargo. The ND air national guard had a base right at Hector International. And several times a day they ran exercises that had two F-16s take off on the deck then go full vertical up to about 25,000 feet and roll over to go north to some practice area.
 
W

who?

Platinum Member
Sep 1, 2012
2,327
42
91
I wonder if the Italians are still angry about our fighters cutting their tram cable and killing people.
 
runzwithsizorz

runzwithsizorz

Diamond Member
Jan 24, 2002
3,497
14
76
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skyking

skyking

Lifer
Nov 21, 2001
22,808
5,973
146
Genx87,
Coming off the international, they are in the class D airspace. Climbing straight up will still be ~200 knots or so and they are above 10,000 and the speed restriction in a minute.

Where I saw them yesterday was on an MTR. They haul ass down low on those. "see and avoid" is the rule of the day, and I don't advise hanging out below '1000 AGL near an MTR. I tend to loo both ways before crossing, so to speak. ;)
Yesterday they were near VR1355 as shown on this chart.
http://vfrmap.com/?type=vfrc&lat=46.568&lon=-120.544&zoom=10

Note I said "near". They were probably 3 miles west of it when I spotted them.
 
SSSnail

SSSnail

Lifer
Nov 29, 2006
17,458
83
86
You know what's thrilling? Standing next to a temporary runway in the desert while the bird takes off, full AB. You can feel it in your bones. The rumbling if the metal slats, the roar...
 
balloonshark

balloonshark

Diamond Member
Jun 5, 2008
7,206
3,653
136
I worked with a guy who used to be in the air force. He was working in WV and decided to pull over and take a break overlooking the mountains. Along comes this F-15 flying in the valley and it's so close that he salutes the pilot and he salutes back.

I've only got to see one jet do a fly-by. It was at an airshow in a small town. They had an A-10 Warthog scheduled to do a fly-by. It was so quiet when approaching right above the runway. Once it got 90 degrees to us it scared the crap out of me. He then pulled straight up and hit the throttle. I've been a fan of the Warthog ever since. It still didn't hold a candle to the rumble of the space shuttle.
 
skyking

skyking

Lifer
Nov 21, 2001
22,808
5,973
146
The best flyby 'in the wild' that I saw was near Morton. I was working on a dam job on the Cowlitz river, and IR344 route was overhead. We would see A-6s all the time at about 600', flying by instrument.
One day there is this huge roar, and an F-111 Aardvark comes into view right in the treetops! He goes behind a 300' high hill and pops out the back side, pulls up 30 degrees nose up and does a victory roll right there. He was not on instruments for that flight :D
 
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JulesMaximus

JulesMaximus

No Lifer
Jul 3, 2003
74,586
986
126
John Connor said:
I was at a Blue Angels airshow and I like the part where they can creep up on you. You don't even hear them and VROOOOM! They sore right over your head and it's just flipping awesome! Talk about shock and awe. LOL

I would love to have a front row seat to Red Flag.

Check this out. http://www.hulu.com/watch/24197
Click to expand...

I used to work right off Miramar Rd, right next to Marine Corp Air Station Miramar and every October they would start practice for the Miramar Air Show on the Thursday before. You would see cool aircraft flying in and the Blue Angels practicing their routines in the afternoon. It is loud as fuck and you can hear them taking off from inside the building with all windows and doors closed.

They perform some great low altitude flybys at that show.
 
OutHouse

OutHouse

Lifer
Jun 5, 2000
36,410
616
126
about 15 years ago i was on on my backyard deck talking to my dad on the phone. From my deck i have a nice view of the front range mountains. im just sitting there talking to my dad and looking at the view and i notice this black dot. this black dot is getting bigger and bigger and bigger and it hits me, holy fuck that is a B-1 coming right at me about 700 AGL with its wings swept back.

that fucking thing went right over the house if not at mach1 it was pretty fucking close to it. i thought all my windows were blown out. my wife comes running out, my neighbors come outside, car alarms are going off.

my dad heard this and he said what in the world was that????!!!!! i told him some B-1 pilot being an asshole.

(i was stationed at Grand Forks AFB when they had B-1's so i know what type of aircraft buzzed my house)
 
OutHouse

OutHouse

Lifer
Jun 5, 2000
36,410
616
126
skyking said:
Genx87,
Coming off the international, they are in the class D airspace. Climbing straight up will still be ~200 knots or so and they are above 10,000 and the speed restriction in a minute.

Where I saw them yesterday was on an MTR. They haul ass down low on those. "see and avoid" is the rule of the day, and I don't advise hanging out below '1000 AGL near an MTR. I tend to loo both ways before crossing, so to speak. ;)
Yesterday they were near VR1355 as shown on this chart.
http://vfrmap.com/?type=vfrc&lat=46.568&lon=-120.544&zoom=10

Note I said "near". They were probably 3 miles west of it when I spotted them.
Click to expand...


mmmm yakima, i need some cherries this summer.
 
twinrider1

twinrider1

Diamond Member
Sep 28, 2003
4,096
64
91
runzwithsizorz said:
Wait for it, -- wait for it, -- wait for it, ---
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIPcFx6nnRA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsaTkEo26bw
Click to expand...

Ha, I was ready for it in the 2nd video. Same maneuvers....wait for it....I still jumped. How low do you think that guy was?
I think they have another airshow over the water out west, San Diego I think. Can't find them, but I remember some crazy pictures of rooster tails (not really the right word for it) as the plane would fly by soooo low.
 
MarkXIX

MarkXIX

Platinum Member
Jan 3, 2010
2,642
1
71
SSSnail said:
You know what's thrilling? Standing next to a temporary runway in the desert while the bird takes off, full AB. You can feel it in your bones. The rumbling if the metal slats, the roar...
Click to expand...

This. My office was about 1.5 miles from the runway of an overseas air base and I got to experience all manner of aircraft taking off at all hours of the day and night.

From Predators to A-10s to 747s, night and day. Amazing stuff. The A-10s would strafe the nearby mountain ranges during the night and day, that was amazing too although that sound you just never really get used to. It really is like hell tearing at the seams when that front canon opens up on a target.
 
BoomerD

BoomerD

No Lifer
Feb 26, 2006
66,423
14,821
146
skyking said:
Genx87,
Coming off the international, they are in the class D airspace. Climbing straight up will still be ~200 knots or so and they are above 10,000 and the speed restriction in a minute.

Where I saw them yesterday was on an MTR. They haul ass down low on those. "see and avoid" is the rule of the day, and I don't advise hanging out below '1000 AGL near an MTR. I tend to loo both ways before crossing, so to speak. ;)
Yesterday they were near VR1355 as shown on this chart.
http://vfrmap.com/?type=vfrc&lat=46.568&lon=-120.544&zoom=10

Note I said "near". They were probably 3 miles west of it when I spotted them.
Click to expand...



:D We spent several days camping at Rimrock Lake (seen in that map) this past summer. We had several "fly-by's" while we were there.
Pretty awesome to have them come screaming over the lake at a very low altitude...and in those "canyons," not even hear them before they're there.
 
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