We love us some purty-pikshurs around here... so for today's quickie we offer this super-freakin-groovy shot of F-35C BuNo. 168735 of the VX-9 Edwards Detachment at Edwards Air Force Base, snapped at sunset during September of 2013.
Enjoy...
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Today we present a pikshur that is well-known to those who dig Soviet aviation of the Great Patriotic War.
The photo was taken at Vnukovo Airfield near Moscow on March 7th, 1942 and shows MiG-3s of the 120th Fighter Aviation Regiment on occasion of said regiment being renamed as the 12th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment.
For the model builders out there and/or for those who simply appreciate colors and markings... contrary to decades of popular belief, the outer wings of the ship closest to the camera were undoubtedly not red, but green. More info on that HERE.
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A long time back we shared a photo from 1977 showing an F-14 Tomcat of VF-14 'Tophatters' during an intercept of a Russkie Tu-95 'Bear', and mentioned that we kinda-sorta dig stuff like that. Also mentioned was that more such photos would be forthcoming.
Well, it took a while but today we offer another coolish intercept shot. This time the Tomcat squadron is currently unknown to us, as any identifying markings are hidden in high-contrast shadow. However, a little messin' 'wit the image in Photoshop has revealed an 'N' as the first letter of the air wing code, making it a RON from the left coast. We do have a date for the photo, August 1st, 1985... though we're not sure if that was the date on which the shutter was tripped or if that's when the photo was released to Joe Q. Public. Whatever the case, the ballpark date, 'N_' code, and '2XX' modex combine to provide a good basis for some digging and eventual ID of the RON. However, your blogmeister is more than a bit tired and lazy at the moment, and said digging won't take place just yet.
Anyhoo, for now we simply offer up this atmospheric image from the height of the Cold War and ask that you enjoy...
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Your blogmeister grew up during the height of the Cold War, and often found himself daydreaming of various potential World War III combat scenarios, many of which involved the Fairchild A-10 Warthog roving at low-level, down in the mud, ripping up scores of Russkie tanks and other commie targets across numerous European battlefields.
Back then the A-10 was generally decked out in one of a few variations of the basic and way-cool Europe I paint scheme, consisting of various shades of green and dark grays... perfect camo to blend the low-level Hawgs into the backdrop of those aforementioned fields of battle, hiding 'em from prying, higher-flying eyes.
So, with that in mind, today we bring you this fetching shot showing a four-ship of A-10s, circa the days of green...
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Today we present a photo showing the Vought F-8 Crusader, known as 'The Last Gunfighter' on account of being the last US fighter to be equipped with guns as its main armament. The example shown here is an F-8J, BuNo. 149154 of VF-194, the Red Lightnings, about to launch from USS Oriskany (CVA-34). VF-194 was embarked aboard Oriskany as part of Carrier Air Wing 19 on a Vietnam combat cruise that ran from April to November of 1969.
VF-194 and its sister squadron, VF-191, were the last two US Navy fighter squadrons to fly the F-8, trading in their Gunfighters for Phantoms in 1976 before being disestablished two years later, in March of 1978.
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We've said it before... we love us some purty pikshurs around here, and we also dig the mighty Tomcat mightily. The photo we present in today's quickie installment of TWW delivers on both counts... an F-14D snapped in silhouette with a gorgeous backdrop courtesy of Mother Nature.
Enjoy...
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