Nellis Air Force Base-Red Flag 12-4

[NickPeterman]

Hello All, and greetings from Las Vegas, home of the Air Force's largest aerial exercise, Red Flag. I am in town for a full week, partaking in the excitement that is dozens of combat jets roaring into the hot July sky. And of course, I will do my best to share what I can with y'all. Suffice it to say that this thread will be image heavy and photobombed by this time Friday, and I ask for some leeway in advance, as I am editing on a new laptop, and cannot vouch for its lack of color cast.

Anyhow, today alone I shot 5 new aircraft types, so there is much new for me to find here. I hope you enjoy installment 1, which provides a good sampling of what was seen today.


I hope you enjoy, and leave me some feedback, as I need to get comfortable with editing on this laptop!



Cheers!


Nick


A VAQ-209 Prowler

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8286/7587944836_a1921d315c_b.jpg



A banking Bone

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8284/7587945394_c9f30b1c35_b.jpg



And a Big Bad BUFF

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8151/7587948010_d08ba764c8_b.jpg



AWACS on recovery

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7123/7587949356_18215680cb_b.jpg



The new Splinter Eagle

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7251/7587951574_b1654dc2e8_b.jpg



And a Pave Hawk Too!

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8430/7587952110_458dbda82a_b.jpg

[NickPeterman]

An Agressor Viper

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8430/7587953782_22d4585f11_b.jpg



Homeward bound Bone

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8151/7587955050_8360ae3346_b.jpg



And a Lakenheath Eagle

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7255/7587955892_038177e237_b.jpg



An Arctic Aggressor

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8167/7587956508_a2228c60d2_b.jpg



And a Test Bird

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8018/7587957762_4d5dd4c537_b.jpg



A new dark Viper

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7107/7587959194_0b3f61523c_b.jpg



And a Hog on the Hunt

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8152/7587962124_ac68e105bf_b.jpg

[TJK]

Kfir is an awesome looking aircraft. Nice shots!

[NickPeterman]

Thank you TJK!

That Kfir sounds just as good as she looks with that J79 engine.

[moose135]

Great work, Nick! I've always thought the Kfir was a neat airplane, glad you were able to catch it. What's that thing under the forward fuselage of the B-1? Some sort of sensor pod they use on the range for Red Flag?

[AA757]

Really Nice Shots....


Rich B

[gonzalu]

Is that a Mirage? :tongue: It fits in the dessert lol. VERY nice set Nick. I have missed Red Flag for years. I go to Vegas at least once a year and never at the same time as one of the events :-( Can;t wait to see more ...

[gonzalu]

BTW were you spotting from Cheyenne or Nellis Blvd? I got kicked out of Cheyenne last year... the MPs were very upset with me, not sure why. SOme local spotters said it was rare to be kicked out of the approach area...

[NickPeterman]

Thank you all!

Moose-That B-1B is carrying a Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod, it is now standard fit for the B-1B's so that they can self designate laser guided bombs, as well as perform their own Damage Assesments before releasing ordnance. It is a fairly recent addition to their arsenal. Its hard to see, but the B-52 above is also carrying a targeting pod between nacelles on the starboard wing I believe.

Manny, departures were shot at Cheyenne, and recoveries at the Speedway. What did you do to get yourself thrown out? I have NEVER heard of that happening, unless perhaps you parked on the base side of the street...



Nick

[megatop412]

great shots Nick- me likey BUFF

so is Red Flag something you have to have special access to, or can you just go there when it's happening, like an airshow

[NickPeterman]

All of the shots that you have seen here can be taken from off base with no special access. Some of the shots from the next 3 days will require that added access that I have gotten for a project that I am working on, but many people from the world over do come just to sit off base and shoot all the awesome aircraft that come into town.

[Vinny Ohare]

Great pictures! Is the sky really that blue?

[megatop412]

To add to Vinny's question, I was just going to ask how you are handling the heat haze out there in terms of your editing- or are you so close that there isn't much- being the middle of summer I would think you have at least some

[captmjk16]

Awesome shots Nick, thanks for sharing! I think Red Flag is on all our bucket lists as spotters. Can't wait to see the next few batches of images, keep em coming!

I may be wrong, but I think the BUFF uses the Sniper pod, though the one on the wing in that picture looks more like a LANTIRN pod from that angle.

[NickPeterman]

Alrighty, just got back in from another day in the blast furnace that is nellis at this time of year, and will try to answer your questions in order before I run out for dinner.

Vinny-In some places, the sky really is that blue. It is a product of shooting nearly overhead as they break over you in some places, and just DAMN good light in others. Its not all that Blue, but a lot of it is if you know where to shoot.

William-Heat Haze is an issue in some places, more on the ground (as you will see from my photos tomorrow), but ever present. If you try to shoot at the far end of a zoom lense, you might encounter a little, but they are usually either high or close enough to avoid super bad haze. Its also not very humid here, which helps things in your favor as well. If you;d like, I can post some 100% crops as examples later.


Captmjk-These BUFFS are carrying LITENING, and I have never seen a BUFF with a Sniper ATP. It was an ANG unit that first qualed the LITENING pod on the BUFF, and since then, I believe that has been what they use.


Pics later tonight, once I stop feeling sick from dehydration.

[JDANDO]

Great shots, I like the BUFF!

[gonzalu]

To add to Vinny's question, I was just going to ask how you are handling the heat haze out there in terms of your editing- or are you so close that there isn't much- being the middle of summer I would think you have at least some

William, Hot Air + Hot Ground = No Heat Haze problems :smile: Seriously, at a huge distance maybe and right off the tarmac maybe... but for the most part, you;d be surprised how little of it there is... especially at altitude.

Being close to the action helps, of course. But you will get far more of the nasty stuff on 31L from Bayswater on a humid cold day with sunlight (Singapore A380 Inaugural for instance)

[gonzalu]

Manny, departures were shot at Cheyenne, and recoveries at the Speedway. What did you do to get yourself thrown out? I have NEVER heard of that happening, unless perhaps you parked on the base side of the street...

Nick

Yeah, no, I know the rules.. .It had to be something else. Someone dropped me off (friend who lives there) and she did not pick me back up until late so no car LOL. Everyone was kicked out and we just moved over to the racetrack side... they were using both ends readily... I wasn't even taking pictures! Who knows, but maybe the MPs were having a bad day?

[NickPeterman]

Alrighty guys, time for round two. I would have gotten 'em up yesterday if I hadn't been suffering from a nasty case of heat exhaustion. This is another sampler of what flew during the day mission, some familiar faces, some new ones as well, and a few nice banks! Hope you enjoy! The next two days will be very different shooting-wise, and some of those photos may not be shareable for a few weeks, but I will post what I can.

Closeup of the B-52H

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8432/7597305274_c9e99b5919_b.jpg



Moody Herk

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8431/7597306834_4bca222190_b.jpg



422nd TES Boss Bird

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7130/7597307712_c9e8374cd4_b.jpg



The new "Dark" Viper

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7124/7597314216_cea24f932e_b.jpg



The Eye in the Sky

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8429/7597328750_b4ddb32e5b_b.jpg



Lakenheath Eagle

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7119/7597306160_16d181e7d6_b.jpg



The real highlight for me, a bona fide Boeing 707-320C in the flesh! This gal was built in 1967 for Korean Air, and has served with several operators before landing with the Colombian Air Force.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8426/7597308470_58f6692685_b.jpg

[NickPeterman]

Loaded up Hog

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7261/7597311420_dbc098811f_b.jpg



Emirates Viper

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8013/7597312288_7eec21babe_b.jpg



Prowlin'

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8287/7597316370_605ac8b1f8_b.jpg



Bone in Burner

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8149/7597325746_ed0672249a_b.jpg



Passing gas, and Kicking, well, you know...

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8422/7597327990_186af2d028_b.jpg

[gonzalu]

Damn it that light! goddamn it... we need that light here! lol.

[MORS-AB-ALTO]

Love the Colombian goodies! Keep an eye out for their 767. Keep them coming Nick it's much appreciated!:cool: Had a chance forr on base access during the last Aussie "Earth Pig" deployment but couldn't get time off. Will definately have to call in sick next time after seeing your shots!

[NickPeterman]

Thank you Both! Manny, when you see the light I will have to deal with this afternoon, you will recant that statement, I promise you that!

Mors-ab-alto: It would appear that they broke the 767 on day 1, as they dropped the sortie then, and used the 707 on day 2.



Nick

[captmjk16]

Great shots again Nick, thanks for putting em up for us!

I'm not surprised the Buff is using the LITENING pod, but I'm almost sure I read somewhere that they were either using or trying to qual the SNIPER unit too.

[NickPeterman]

Alrighty, time for Day 3! These shots were all taken on base during Media Day.



KC-135 going around

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8149/7604487924_0287746153_b.jpg



An NSAWC Viper, my first :)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7116/7604489514_af0b4d2735_b.jpg



http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8146/7604490960_41ef87ac68_b.jpg



Not the best lit BUFF, but a good looking chute

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8165/7604492050_7e44d72709_b.jpg



http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8284/7604492974_c1de2b3109_b.jpg



Gulfstream in the overhead break

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8168/7604494272_ccf8764de7_b.jpg



This guy put on quite the show all day long

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8290/7604498016_1f71552fbb_b.jpg



http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7122/7604499036_820f87b2e4_b.jpg



And lastly, a certain Sith Lord sneaks in on Runway 21L

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8424/7604500222_e290a61ea0_b.jpg



And a beautiful 707 with the Nellis tower

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8006/7604495430_76031d40ef_b.jpg

[fk6065]

OUTSTANDING!

[lijk604]

D R O O L! Awesome coverage!

[NickPeterman]

Thank you both! It has been an awesome time-everyone should experience it once in their lifetime if you are an aviation nut :biggrin:

[moose135]

Spectacular, Nick!

[NickPeterman]

Thanks Moose! I am saving up some more KC-135 shots to post for ya! Thought I'd toss that go around photo out early though.

[moose135]

Thanks Moose! I am saving up some more KC-135 shots to post for ya! Thought I'd toss that go around photo out early though.

What a tease! :wink:

[Fighting_falcon_51]

AWESOME pictures!

[Vinny Ohare]

Great shots! Thanks for answering my question.

[NickPeterman]

Moose-What can I say, a little teasing isn't usually in my nature, so I'm trying it out :cool:

Vinny, falcon, thank you both!

[727C47]

Great Work !!!

[steve1840]

Amazing stuff Nick! I have got to get my a@@ out there!! Any idea when the next red flag is?

[gonzalu]

Steve, Nellis is Red Flaggy all year round :tongue: except whenever [I] am in LAs Vegas it seems. Twice now I have gone over to the base when there was absolutely NOTHING going on :mad:

But anyway, here is the official page on it

http://www.nellis.af.mil/library/flyingoperations.asp

and some unofficial ones too :-)

http://www.dreamlandresort.com/info/flags.html

[Zee71]

Nick...........fantastic fantastic images!!! The light is fantastic (did I say fantastic again?). Steve...........sounds like road trip to me.

[NickPeterman]

727c47, Steve, Mark-Thank you all!


Steve, There are usually 4 Red Flags per Fiscal year, this being the final one of FY 2012. There is one scheduled for October, although I have heard many rumors of it being cancelled in all liklihood. Feel free to PM me if you want more detailed Nellis and Red Flag spotting info, as I would be more than happy to share my experiences here.

I will try and get photos from the past two days edited and posted ASAP. Hopefully I will have them done before I find myself in NYC in a few weeks.


Nick

[gonzalu]

Nick, you need to lose yourself in NYC :tongue: Again, terrific set of pictures from Nellis!! Thanks for sharing...

[NickPeterman]

Well Manny, with your help, I wouldn't mind losing myself for a day at JFK :tongue:

[NickPeterman]

Note: Due to several instances of unapproved use and copyright violation involving my Kfir Photos from this thread, I have removed them, and deleted them, for the time being. If mods want to clean up any reference to them, that would be fine with me. I will hopefully re-post them somewhat soon, after the issues have been resolved.

[NickPeterman]

More pics at last! I have been consumed with the project that took me to nellis in the first place, but here are a few more goodies from 12-4!

Figured I might as well add a little bit to the fun!

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8156/7681124960_a402c9521b_b.jpg



http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7258/7681125128_ed979f07af_b.jpg



A Prowler at Gate 4 ::dance:: (if you've been there, you understand)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7133/7681125376_56451b4bde_b.jpg



http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7120/7681125802_0909dccce6_b.jpg



http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8025/7681125970_7aab4990bb_b.jpg

[seahawks7757]

Great set of shots!