Tag Archives: marine corps

Marine Corps Hornets Leave Boeing Field

It’s been a while since I posted some images of Marine Corps Hornets having issues starting up to depart from Boeing Field after a weekend visiting for training.  I didn’t include any images in there of them actually taking off.  I got a reasonable spot to try and see them take offs even though the weather was not really great.  I was surprised at just how quickly the jets got airborne.  They were already quite high by the time that they came by me.  I was still able to get some reasonable shots of them.  Fast jets are always a nice change to the usual Boeing Field traffic.

Leaking Fuel and Engines That Won’t Start

The Memorial Day weekend included the visit to Boeing Field of four F/A-18 Hornets from the US Marine Corps.  I had heard that they were in the area but wasn’t able to get out to see them until the Monday of the holiday weekend when they were due to head home.  Weather was a bit overcast so not great for shooting a grey jet!  Still, I wasn’t going to ignore them.  When I got there, the crews were just beginning to look like they would be ready to go.

However, things were not going to be smooth.  One of the jets was the color jet and I had heard that it had been leaking fuel during the stay.  Sure enough, when they fueled it up for departure, it must have leaked again because a bunch of ground crew – presumably from the FBO – were suddenly out with absorbent pads and brooms to clean up whatever had spilled.  This took quite a while to get done so the four pilots were hanging around the jets waiting to be clear to go.

Finally, everything was tidied up and they crewed in for departure.  The sound of engines starting was a positive one but, as one jet fired up one of the engines, it definitely didn’t sound like it was spooling up at the same rate as the others.  Sure enough, one jet shut down and the pilot hopped out of the cockpit, walked back down the fuselage and slid to the ground.  I’m not sure what he did to the jet but he then retraced his steps, back up on the jet and strapped back in.  This time, the start sequence went okay and they were all ready to taxi.

Ospreys Through BFI – Not The Birds, Though

I spent a portion of a Saturday with my buddy Chris as he was passing through town.  While I was waiting for him, I headed to Boeing Field and was surprised to see a V-22 Osprey on the ramp across the field.  The crew was working around it with some panels on the nacelles open but it became clear that they were buttoning things up for a while.  They soon headed off and I did similarly to get Chris from the airport.

When he had made it through immigration, we headed back to Boeing Field and, while walking near the terminal building, the sound of rotors caught our attention.  I barely had time to get the camera ready as a V-22 came into view.  It was heading to the same area as the other one, so we got some shots of it in the semi-transitioned configuration and then went around to the other side of the field to see the pair of them parked up.  I have no idea when they left but at least I got a little activity, even if on a grey and overcast day.

Fat Albert Arrives First

Seafair means a lot of aircraft coming to Boeing Field.  The Blue Angels are always the feature part of the show and this was going to be my first chance to see their new aircraft.  Yes, they have replaced the Hornets with Super Hornets and I shall cover that separately but they have also replaced Fat Albert since last I saw them.  The C-130T has been replaced with a C-130J that was sold to them by the Royal Air Force.  It has a new paint scheme to complement this change of era.

I was at Boeing Field for the arrival of the Blues and the jets were preceded by the arrival of Albert.  The good thing is that it is tractable on ADSB so I knew it was going to arrive and when.  Of course, a Herc coming down the approach is not as dramatic as a bunch of Super Bugs blasting over in formation but it is still good.  I did manage to catch it again in the coming days as part of the display so had more than one chance to get some shots.

A Marine Corps Bonus Package

One weekend, I was at Boeing Field for a visiting warbird.  I was pleasantly surprised to see some US Marine Corps helicopters across the field too.  A combination of UH-1Y Venoms and AH-1Z Vipers were on the ramp.  I had no idea if or when they would fly.  However, luck was on my side as a Venom/Viper pair fired up and launched on a training mission.  The rest stayed on the ramp while I was there but this pair taxied out to the main runway and then departed past my location.  A nice extra!

Marine Corps C-20G

Military movements don’t usually show up on things like FlightAware but they can make an appearance on FlightRadar24 or ADSB Exchange.  I hadn’t been checking either of them as I was getting ready to leave when one of the other people nearby let me know a C-20 was inbound.  It turned out to be a C-20G from the US Marine Corps.  I’m usually happy to shoot a Gulfstream but one in military markings is a bit more unusual and the Marine Corps even more so.  Glad to have had the tip not to go too soon.

Welcomed By a Flying H-34

As I mentioned in a previous post, my visit to Brewster to see the S-58/UH-34s was not one during which I was expecting to see anything flying.  As I drove up, you can imagine my surprise to see a UH-34 in pristine Marine Corps markings hovering in front of me.  It transitioned away as I pulled in to the airport so I was pretty annoyed thinking I was just too late to see it.  However, I was wrong.  They were doing pattern work and, while I don’t know how long that they had been flying already, they were not finished.

I parked the car and grabbed the camera as they came downwind and turned in to approach from a high position.  The next couple of approaches seemed to be autorotation training.  Each run around the pattern gave me a bit more time to get to a better position from which to get some shots.  Initially, there was a building in the way but I was able to move to a spot with a clear view of the action without going anywhere I shouldn’t have been.

As I had managed to grab some shots, I figured I would switch to some video while I was at it.  I didn’t get much video but enough to put together one composite circuit of the flying.  That video is on YouTube as seen below.  They then landed and taxied back to their ramp where, after a suitable cooling off period, they shut down.  I was tempted to hang around to see if they flew again but I had a long day planned ahead of me and wanted to make sure I got everything in so I decided, after a short while, to continue on my way.

Surprise Sharpshooters Visit

My Saturday morning trip to Boeing Field was to see the Gulfstream test jet covered in this post.  I wasn’t expecting much else other than the usual traffic but I was very happy when I pulled up early to see three F/A-18D Hornets from the Marine Corps training unit, the Sharpshooters.  They were parked on the other side of the field  but had people around them and one was already strobing.  It looked like they were going flying.  All three soon powered up and taxied out.

The taxiway on that side of the field has a kink in it which provides an interesting angle on the jets as they taxi up together.  I was wondering how the departures would look since the weather was heavily overcast and a gray jet with a gray sky is not ideal.  The first jet got airborne and climbed quickly which was disappointing.  However, the number two kept things a lot lower as they gained speed which helped a lot.

About an hour later, I heard them call up on approach.  No run in and break at this airfield.  The traffic over the top for SeaTac makes that more complicated so it was straight in approaches for all three jets.  They did run down a decent distance and then turned off to return to their parking spots.  That was a bit of a bonus.  I don’t know whether they were flying again later as I had other plans but a launch and recovery was welcome.

Late Viper Arrival

Helicopters are constantly moving around McCarran.  There are tourist rides operating seemingly around the clock so hearing a couple of helps is not a surprise.  However, these two were close to each other and seemed to have a more powerful sound.  It turned out that they were two USMC AH-1Z Vipers coming in to an FBO.  Paul was able to try and get some shots as they landed but I had to move the car.  I settled for watching them for a bit and then got the camera as they were shutting down.  It was unbelievably dark given how much ambient light there is in Vegas so I was pushing the camera’s capabilities a bit.  The closer one shut down first which was unfortunate but let’s not get picky.  They were still there the following morning when we were shooting departures as I could see them in the background of some shots.

Bye Bye Prowlers

I should probably have planned this post better and timed it to coincide with the actual event but that didn’t happen.  The Marine Corps recently retired their last EA-6B Prowlers and the web was full of shots of Prowlers to celebrate the event.  I like the Prowler a lot so I thought I would get in on the act.  I have shot Prowlers a bunch of times over the years whether it was on flight lines, on exercise, during training or at an air show.  Here is a selection of some of my favorite Prowler shots.