Super Rare Airborne Footage of E-6B Mercury
January 20th, 2011 | Photography | Posted by Erik Hildebrandt
TOPGUN TODAY
January 12th, 2011 | Photography | Posted by Erik Hildebrandt
Probably the most revered community in naval aviation, NSAWC (Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center) is home to today’s TOPGUN. Made famous by the movie when the program was still based at NAS Miramar, these days, students and instructors report to NAS Fallon about an hour east of Reno, Nevada. During my visit there in August, I was fortunate enough to get two sorties in the F-16N Viper. While the Hornet is a great photo ship, the Viper is even better. For the same reasons it excels for the pilot, shooting from the back seat is improved thanks to the low cockpit side rails and a more forward canopy bow affording a greater forward-looking capability. The following images clearly demonstrate the amazing clarity of the Viper’s fields of view.
Enjoy!
Erok
Where’s the Hook?
January 11th, 2011 | Photography | Posted by Erik Hildebrandt
It is the question everyone asks when they first look at pictures of the F-35C carrier variant of the new Joint Strike Fighter…. where’s the hook? Well, in these two shots, you need to look closely to see the much smaller, albeit beefier, arresting hook that is normally stowed inside the skin of the Navy’s version of the Lightning II. Primarily due to the comparatively steep angle of attack approaching the carrier for the F-35C (12.3), the shorter tailhook does not need to be nearly as long as the Super Hornet which comes in on a flatter AOA of just 8.1 degrees. It is simply a matter of geometry.
Erok
E-6B Mercury Continued
January 11th, 2011 | Photography | Posted by Erik Hildebrandt
One of the few publicly known capabilities of the “doomsday plane” is it’s role communicating with our fleet of nuclear submarines. In these 2 images, you can see the red and white conical fairing at the aft point of the fuselage. This device is the drag stabilizer for the trailing antenna wire for the VLF transceiver used to send and receive message traffic to our submerged subs. It has been said that when the antenna is deployed, several thousand feet of wire can be payed out to create a nearly vertically hanging RF conductor as the host E-6B orbits around a fixed point.
More to come.
Erok
E-6B Mercury Mystery Ship
January 10th, 2011 | Photography | Posted by Erik Hildebrandt
On the same sortie that I was able to capture the “Blue Rhino” from VFA-122, we also managed to steal a glimpse of the uber-secret E-6B TACAMO (Take Charge And Move Out) serving with VQ-3′s Ironman unit. In this first shot, USAF exchange pilot Capt. Kaercher literally shadowed the mighty Boeing 707 based doomsday plane as we flew low and slow over the Owens Valley of central California. More shots to follow as they clear the OPSEC review.
Erok
Here’s to the Enlisted Corps
January 9th, 2011 | Photography | Posted by Erik Hildebrandt
