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Eagles,
and Tigers, and Vipers...oh my! |
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Moffett Air &
Space Expo 2004
Moffett Federal Airfield, California
May 29, 2004
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View, California. The annual airshow at the former
Naval Air Station Moffett Field was held early this year. A number of tactical types
rarely seen in the Silicon Valley landed in Mountain View over
the Memorial Day weekend, including F-15Cs from Langley AFB, a pair of
exotically-painted F-5Es from NAS Fallon, and a whole flock of
F-16s from as far away as Andrews AFB.
The highlight of the
festivities was an appearance by the USAF flight demonstration
team, the Thunderbirds, which put on a six-ship
performance. Although I've seen the Blue Angels on
several occasions, this was my first time seeing the
Thunderbirds live. It is an impressive show, with almost
as much emphasis placed on precision on the ground as in the
air. The maneuver pictured on the right is the
"diamond overtake," where ships #1-4 make a slow and
dirty pass in front of the crowd, while the soloist, coming up
from behind, slices through the center of the formation at
high speed. |
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The
1st Fighter Wing sent two jets from the East Coast F-15C
flight demonstration team. The F-15C on the left (27th
FS, 1st FW, serial 84-025) was the aircraft flown by CPT Jay
Denney when he shot down two Iraqi MiG-23s during Operation
Desert Storm. Unfortunately, I wasn't close enough to
the port side of the aircraft to take a better picture, but
you can see the kill markings (two green stars) just under the
cockpit in the image to the left.
The aircraft on the right (71st
FS, 1st FW, serial 81-022) flew the display flight on
Saturday, showing off the Eagle's incredible thrust-to-weight
ratio. Toward the end of the demonstration, the F-15
joined Chuck Hall's P-51 "Six-Shooter" in formation
to commemorate the 60th anniversary of D-Day, and the
"Heritage Flight" made several passes over the
crowd. |
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The Guard
was also well-represented at Moffett this year.
The "Capital Guardians" of the 113th Fighter
Wing at Andrews AFB sent two Block 30 F-16Cs from the
121st Fighter Squadron (serial numbers 85-1471 and
85-1465).
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The
Arizona Air National Guard was represented by this
Tucson-based Block 42G F-16C (serial number
89-2117), operated by the 152nd Fighter Squadron,
162nd Fighter Wing. This Pratt &
Whitney-powered, night Viper represents the most
modern F-16 type flown by the Arizona ANG.
89-2117 arrived
carrying an air-to-air loadout, including the
starboard wing stores visible below. The
wingtip missile is an AIM-120 AMRAAM, while the
outboard underwing pylon carries an AIM-9M
Sidewinder. Both are inert training rounds,
as indicated by the blue stripes.
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Next page: Tiger
Saints
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