US Navy Legacy Flight program
October 1st, 2009 | Photography | Posted by Erik Hildebrandt
Officially know as the US NAVY LEGACY FLIGHT program, this image shows a “section” of two F/A-18F Super Hornets or “Rhinos” as they are called in the Fleet. The Rhinos are from VFA-122 based at NAS Lemoore and they were part of this dedicated photo mission with a WWII Corsair flown by Chuck Wentworth based in Paso Robles, CA. The flight was conducted in support of my latest book, FRONT ROW CENTER4: Inside the Great American Airshow in which the Navy Legacy Flight program is featured. Similar to the USAF Heritage Flight program, the idea behind these flights is to raise public awareness around the country by executing these formation flights as part of the official air show demo routines. They are incredibly popular with air show crowds, so both the Navy and Air Force support the effort as part of their ongoing recruiting campaigns. The photo was taken from the open cargo ramp of a C-130J operated by the 143rd Airlift WIng of the Rhode Island Air National Guard based at Quonset Point. With a standard flight helmet and oxygen mask to cut down on thew wind noise of the open ramp, I am able to communicate directly with the pilots of all the aircraft including the C-130 over a hand-held aviation radio. This flight started out as a “division” or 4-ship formation of Rhinos that we dragged up from the Salinas air show all the way past the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco Bay. We ended up just off the coast west of Monterrey where Chuck joined the two demo Rhinos and the other section flew over the hills back to NAS Lemoore. Total flight time was almost 2 hours and as always, ended with an open trunk and a styrofoam cooler of road-sodas to ease the neck-cramps from flying formation for so long.