Luke AFB Air Park

Well, the runway approaches are off base, so the boys in AF blue lose some authority there... not that I would argue with them if they were to pull up and talk to me.

Yes, that is a F-84F Thunderstreak in Thunderbirds colors there. However, technically speaking, it should be a F-96. The USAF brass & Republic changed its' nomenclature for budgetary reasons to sneak it in with less scrutiny from Congress. They did the same thing with the F-86D, which would have been the F-95. Both types were substantial changes to the families of the original designs. Luke could use a straight winged Thunderjet in the air park, especially since that is what the Thunderbirds initially flew when first formed at Luke.

stikpusher

One of these days I need to park by the runway approaches with my DSLR and a telephoto lens to get some close up in flight shots.

But thanks for sharing. I thought that was an F-84 there.

Bill

Hi, Stik - I'm glad you had a good visit to Luke, many thanks for sharing with your post. Several years ago a friend and I were parked and watching the A/C taking off and landing, at one point we heard the loudest exhaust noise you could imagine, but nothing could be seen taking off, the runway view was obscured by trees and buildings. We were thinking we'd soon see some spectacular fighter come into view.

Soon enough something did climb high enough for us to see, four of the little Cessna T-37's in a formation takeoff, making enough noise for ten airplanes. One of our pilots was a former AF pilot, he had gone through some of his training on the '37. I commented on so much noise from such a small airplane, he said it was considered to be the worlds most efficient way to convert jet fuel to noise.

They never won any awards for "best looking airplane," but served well and long. They even served in combat for a time, I guess as a bomber???

Thanks, Stik, I enjoyed the photos.

Patrick 

I'm glad to hear that you boys like the photos.

Greg, we did enjoy our visit to the base! Always good stuff to be seen or done there.

Drums, the collection indeed does show the evolution of USAF figter types since Luke was established. They could use a P-40, P-51, and F-84 Thunderjet to show the types based there as well for fighter pilot training in the past. Nowadays it's  the F-16 and F-35 that are used to mint new USAF and allied nation fighter jocks at Luke.

One of these days I need to park by the runway approaches with my DSLR and a telephoto lens to get some close up in flight shots.

Nice pictures...

It kind of appears to be showing the evolution of U.S.A.F. fighter aircraft.

As Greg said, thanks for sharinf them.

stikpusher

......it is still a very nice collection.

It is, indeed. Hope you two had a great time and thanks for sharing the pics.