BillD22

Well, talkin' 'bout the China Lake (talkin' 'bout the China Lake)
Whoa, oh (whoa, oh), China Lake

                                  - "Slightly altered" lyrics from the song "China Grove" by the Dooby Brothers

Here are some random ramp shots of an F/A-18 at the Naval Air Weapons Station, China Lake, California.  The airplane is in the day glo orange, white, and black color scheme for Navy training, test, and utility aircraft and assigned to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 31 (VX-31) - the "Dust Devils."

3 hours ago, Downwind66 said:

And I come back down from the sky with the military AC, let's fall back to a "Classic" (even it's daydreaming)!!!!

 

Another great shot Rick!  Daydreaming is the great thing about FS.  I'll never get in an F/A-18 or have $4M to buy a Vision Jet but FS provides reasonable facimiles.  On the other hand,  if I win the lotto................................ 

A favorite of mine too!  Great shot Rick.

A full moon lights up an Atlas Air B747-8i on approach to Anchorage, Alaska (PANC).

Very colorful. Oh well - so much for low viz 

Nice!  Now about those live weapons on the wing stations......................... 

7 hours ago, mrzippy said:

Nice pics, Bill!  Was the Phantom escorting a Soviet Bear bomber?  I remember several flyovers of Bear Bombers being escorted by Saratoga's Phantoms Med. Cruise '69.

Thanks Mr. Z.  Yes - but in today's world the F4 being tucked in so close to the Bear would probably be considered unsafe and unprofessional,

6 hours ago, PhrogPhlyer said:

Bears were still quite active mid '80s cruses too.

Biil, do you kno the name of the file for that Oriskany model? Great for any Korea or Nan missions,

Couldn't find the Oriskany file but simMarket has a payware FSX/P3D 3 Essex class carrier package (Bonny Dick, Hancock, and Lexington) for 10 Euros.

simMarket: ESSEX-CLASS AIRCRAFT CARRIER FSX P3D

29 minutes ago, PhrogPhlyer said:

Blasts from the past. Love '70s - '80s props and jets still had their place in the balance of power. Great overflights of NAS North Island. And the "Bear Box" mid pacific, always great for pics from the deck. 

Thanks Phrog - hoping some of these guys will show up in FS2020.  Had to clear off FSX to make disc space for it.

Some musty, dust covered files from my FSX photo archives. 

There's nothing like the "Phabulous Phantom!" 

Great shots of an iconic bird Phrog and an intrepid solo flight.  

Thanks Phrog!  Pre-GPS this is how you got where you were going when over the pond. 

The 3 stars of Orion's belt stand out in the star filled sky as a B737-600 makes an early morning climb out from KSEA.

Great series.  Beautiful shots.

A great collection JK. .  I agree on biplanes.  Coolness factor = 100%!

Here's a real world map of today's jetstream at about the time we were flying from Charlotte NC to New Orleans and leveling off at FL310 doing 83 knots GS.   Groundspeed climbed to a whopping 173 after that.  Mardi Gras will be over before we there!

Check out the RW headwind and resulting groundspeed in the lower left corner of our Vision Jet PFD.  This could be some kind of jet record for slow ground speed! 

Nice intro and shots.  There's a whole world out there.  Looking forward to your adventures.  Took a little getting used to but I'm liking this new forum setup.

Must have been an awesome sight to see.  The closest I've ever been to airships was seeing the old hangars for these guys at NAS Moffett Field and once when the Goodyear blimp flew over our house on the way to a Jacksonville Jags football game.  The size of the hangars was truly impressive.

Phong -glad to see the FSX forum up and running and such fine examples of aircaft and scenery.  MSFS may have glitz but it can't touch the variety of aircraft and scenery - especailly vintage - available in FSX.  Hope to see lots more.

Thanks for the memories in these great shots.  BTW - is that OV-10 taking off from the ramp? 

This is more like a feast than tidbits!  Great series.  

Very nice shot - great compositon and atmosphere. 

A Vision Jet SF50 G2 exits the runway after an approach to minimums at Bangor Maine (KBGR) in today's RW weather of snow and freezing rain.

16 hours ago, PhrogPhlyer said:

Bill, Got your "100 missions over the s--t river bridge" patch? Cubi Point and Olongapo, San Magoo's and balut. Damm, I so miss the P.I.

Fighter bar from the Cubi O'club was removed and rebuilt at the Naval Air Museum in P'Cola.

No - but an equivalent number of "missions" in Cavite City outsided Sangley Point