KNFW-NAS JRB Fort Worth: 3/14/2013- Lightning Strikes Twice
Hello All,
What an incredible day of spotting. I returned to Texas from a trip to Nellis AFB for Red Flag 13-3 this morning (and will get around to sharing those photos eventually-how can I hope to ever compete with Isaac's work in the other thread!?) Anyhow, we touched down in DFW at 0520, and I had already been up since 0500 the previous day and was stupid exhausted. Spirit lost my checked bag which cost us about an hour at the airport, and we got home just in time for me to recieve an offer from a friend to tag along on a trip to NAS JRB Fort Worth, the home of Lockheed Martin. Despite the fact that I was beyond fatigued, and going spotting would mean 40+ hours without sleep, I decided to caffeinate heavily and go out-Than heavens I did! In typical fashion, I will save the best for last, and trust me, it is worth the scroll :cool:
Flightaware prompted a massive rush to get from Alliance to the NAS when we saw this rare gal was inbound, the 737-400 Combi belonging to the National Nuclear Security Administration.
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You will notice that they do a good job of trying to make her discreet, look how similar she appears to a standard Navy C-40, like this one which landed minutes later
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We then relocated after lunch for more action, including the following locally-based assets
A C-130H recently taken on hand from the Alaska ANG
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the 301st Operations Group Flagship F-16C
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and a AGM-88 HARM-toting F/A-18C of the locally based "Cowboys"
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Then came the news we wanted to hear on the scanner, Lockheed was preparing to launch a test flight! We darted to the other side of the field to shoot departures.
The locals continued to put on a good show...
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Then came the chase plane for the F-35, who stayed in burner for a lengthy while, and sadly ruined our photo by turning inside of us....
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And then, the real target, my first F-35B, belonging to VMFA-121
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Rather unexpectedly, Lockheed's second F-16 chase plane went up, suggesting an additional test flight
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And indeed there was an additional test flight, which I will discuss more at the end...
We relocated once more to catch the returning F-35s and their escorts
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And lastly, for the highlight. The US Navy's F-35C has a significantly larger wing than her USMC and USAF sisters, which she put to good use in climbing too high to enable a good departure photo. However, she did return to NFW in splendid fashion with great afternoon light. This was my first F-35C, the first F-35C in the database on Airliners.net, and belongs to the first operational F-35C unit, VFA-101 "The Grim Reapers"
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Anyhow, I hope you have enjoyed a snapshot of a rather frenetic, and tiring, day of photography here in Texas. Feedback and criticism is always invited.
Cheers!
Nick
