NAS Oceana: 1/9/2013-Hornets and CAG Jets Galore

[NickPeterman]

Hello All,

For my first outing of 2013, I decided to head back down to NAS Oceana to get my fix of military jets before resuming classes. The base didn't disappoint. While the weather fouled up during the afternoon, it was a wonderful variety of squadrons, models of F/A-18, and colorful CAG and CO birds.

Now for the photos...


The morning began with some runway 05 departures




VFA-143's CAG Jet on departure




The civilian Beech 1900 that operates out of Oceana




And her Pilatus stablemate




VFA-106 Super Hornet on departure





A USAF F-15E Strike Eagle from Seymour-Johnson AFB was a nice treat





Getting buzzed by a T-34 TurboMentor





VFA-106 on arrival after a switch to runway 23 Ops





VF-11 jet sporting some newly applied tusks on the radome





The Civvies came back a while later...









As did the Pukin' Dogs' CAG Jet




We then took a break for lunch....

[NickPeterman]

... And the clouds came rolling in.

However the jets didn't stop, and we kept shooting.


VFC-12 brought in their new Splinter camo F/A-18





VFA-15 "Valions" brought in their CAG Jet as well





A nice Hawkeye from Norfolk





VFC-12 "Omars" recently swapped jets with VFA-87 "Golden Warriors" leading to this dilapidated looking jet from VFA-87, still wearing it's old camo



and her more cohesive looking partner





The T-34 came back in as well




And then came the CAG and CO bird party to finish the day



VFA-32 "Swordsmen" CO bird





VFA-136 "Knighthawks" CAG Bird





VFA-105 "Gunslingers' CAG Jet





And their CO Bird





And last, but definitely not least, the F/A-18F that I have been chasing for as long as I have been a photographer



VFA-213 "Blacklions" CAG Jet, who even did a Touch and Go for me














Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed, and please pardon the second half of the day, I wish it wasn't so grey Feedback and input is always welcome!


Nick

[Greg_NY]

Wow, great collection of shots Nick! I like the Dogs CAG jet and the splinter camo jet.

If I may ask, for the runway 05 departures, where did you take those shots from?

Thanks

Isaac

[Zee71]

Glad you got your fix. Great stuff.

[steve1840]

Wow!! Excellent series of shots!! Love every one of them!

[NickPeterman]

Thank you all.

Isaac, as I believe you are familiar with Oceana, you know doubt know of the spot off of Oceana Blvd. if you continue on Oceana Blvd away from the Wawa, Railroad tracks, etc to the next place you can turn left, that is where these photos were taken. It is a driveway into a gated dirt road. You can shoot departures if they extend a bit (vast majority will actually turn inside of you). Also, all of the sunny, blue sky 23 arrival photos were taken here as well, hence the more side on view, versus the belly shots at Oceana Blvd.


Nick

[BDLGUY]

Love them, Nick!!!!! One question....Is the F/A-18E VFA-105 "Gunslingers" AC-401 BuNo 166651, right? I've shot this one at former Otis AFB in Cape Cod on August 25, 2007.

Thanks for sharing!!!

John

[Greg_NY]

Nick, Thanks for the info. I checked out google maps and see where you mean. I will try that location in September ...

[jerslice]

Excellent set

[threeholerglory]

No F35? What a disgrace =P

this is epicness!! how long were you out there to catch all of that? I've seen the hawkeye once because approach descended me too early and we were within 500' of the guy on final when we were over the bay going into ORF. Sweet work!

[Joe]

Nice shots Nick! Having never been Oceana, I was curious and looked for the location on Google maps, I believe that I spotted the location that you are referring to. I am surprised that you were able to spend several hours there without being hassled. Does the base normally have so much activity?

[Steven Holzinger]

You MAY get chased from that location - the Virginia Beach Police tend to use that location as a speed trap. They'll likely ask you to move on down to the usual spot.

[megatop412]

Nice set of shots Nick, especially that Hawkeye

[NickPeterman]

Thank you all!

Threeholer, all these photos were taken between 0900-1230, and 1430-1630 in one day

Joe-I guess you could be run out of there, but there is no reason why you couldn't park at the usual Oceaba blvd location and walk down to that area.