Living near an airbase

I was stationed at MacDill AFB in Tampa Fl. I got to see the local KC 135Rs, the AWACS stationed there from Tinker. A ton of Navy F-14 and F18s, numerous T-38s, F-15s,F-16s. The ThunderBirds and Blue Angels. When Tampa had the Superbowl, we had almost everyplane in the US inventory showed up at MacDill, was very interesting. When I was deployed to Kuwait I got to see the British Tornado and Predator up close and personal, even got to see how they "flew" the thing. Like someone else said, i have seen a lot, just not a lot to show for it except a lot of unit coins from them.

I live in Rotterdam, about half a mile off the approach to Rotterdam Airport, which is civilian only. Every now and then (maybe once a month, an indication of the Dutch defence budget), a Soesterberg CH-47 will do a touch and go (without touching of course, that costs money, and we are famous for our frugalness here). Also, I regularly get the Valkenburg (NAS) P-3C's leaving from or returning to base. Love the hum of those engines! Well, I just heard from MarcelIP that they are about to close down Soesterberg . Since Valkenburg has the same fate coming, I guess that'll be it for me (as regards seeing anything military in the air). You gotta wonder want creeps into the heads of politicians sometimes
Where are the days (1980's)growing up under a NATO low-flying route in the east of the country? Back then, the churchtower behind my parents' house seemed to be a landmark they used. They in this case meaning practically all of NATO's fighter-bombers of the time: f-104 (), f-16, F-4F, Tornado, Jaguar, Mirage F-1, F-111, A-10 (those were slower and higher but still.....). Ah, those were the days

Up until Nov. 1st of last year I lived 1.5 miles from the North end of the runway at Dyess AFB, Home of the 7th BW. It was an everyday experience to see or hear a B-1B. Loved sitting at the end of the runway and watching them land. If one missed the approach they would kick in the After Burner sometimes right over top of my head, painful, but very awesome. This was especially neat at night. Theres also a Hercules squadron there and once again that was an everyday experience. Some of the transient A/C I've seen there include the T-1A, T-38A, T-37A & B, HH-60, UH-1, B-52H, F/A-18, F-16, F-15, E-4B, C-17, C-5, C-37 and the occasional KC-135. When I was growing up we lived under the base leg portion of the flight path for McClellan AFB. This was during the Viet Nam war, But, unfortunately, all I can remember from this time frame was the endless procession of C-130s' (sometimes as many as forty at a time!!) and the occasional C-119. McClellan was the repair depot for F-106s', F-111s', F-105s' and F-4s' so it wasn't nothing to see these all the time. We would even get some of the foreign planes in there as well, These include CF-5A and CF-101Bs from Canada, The incredible Avro Vulcan and the occasional Victor and C-130 from England. I remember when President Ford came to the California Capitol and I got to see the Air Force One 707. Man I wish I had taken more pictures back then.

Hey folks;
not to brag but, I was stationed at Nellis AFB for 2.5 years and seen just about everything in the U.S. inventory & other NATO counrties too, also I live within 10 miles from Whiteman AFB and yes it's the home of the B-2, but I rather watch the A-10's fly, and I have heard and seen the ole Warthog at work at the range at FT Lost in the Woods(Lenard Wood) and that's an airshow especially when they punchout the sides of a 40 ft reffer trailer

Hey folks;
not to brag but, I was stationed at Nellis AFB for 2.5 years and seen just about everything in the U.S. inventory & other NATO counrties too, also I live within 10 miles from Whiteman AFB and yes it's the home of the B-2, but I rather watch the A-10's fly, and I have heard and seen the ole Warthog at work at the range at FT Lost in the Woods(Lenard Wood) and that's an airshow especially when they punchout the sides of a 40 ft reffer trailer

Oh I have to answer this one.
I live less than a mile from Aalborg airbase in Denmark ( I also work at Aalborg airbase ) They fly: F-16,C-130J Hercules, Challenger 604, T-17, Gulfstream lll and S-61 Seaking so I hear and see alot of planes, and I love it.

I live at the North end of Ellington Field. I must say that I have been able to see a variety of aircraft fly over. The norm is the T-38's from NASA, F-16's from the TANG, F-18's from unknown squadron, RB-57 Canberra, F-8 Crusadre, S-3 Vikings, SBD Dauntless, F8F Bearcat, B-17G, Superhornets, just to name a few. I can actually wave at the pilots as they fly over. They always wave back.

Selfridge connection! I was born on Selfridge. Besides having been in the AF I grew up a military brat. My father was from northeast Mi and my mom from Detroit. My father, a recip mechanic, was retraining on jet acft. I grew up on Craig AFB AL (Selma), Clark AFB P.I., Fort Walton Beach FL between Eglin and Hurlburt and then on to Elmendorf AFB AK. 41 years on and around military installations. My wife still insists that I wanted our property for its' location.(see my first reply)

The closest I get is the Indiana ANG helo base. We get Blackhawks in formation, but I've seen a C-130, plus C-5 and C-141 at really high altitude. (Don't they care about contrails?)

QUOTE: Originally posted by plum1030 I'm about a mile from the 104th TFW (MA ANG) who fly A-10's. Just a few miles south is the 103rd TFW (CT ANG), also A-10's. Also just a few miles east is Westover AFB. A few more miles east is Otis AFB who fly F-15's. Quite a bit around here. Open houses and airshows annually.

Even better, superscale just released sheets for the 104th and 103rd and twobobs has a sheet for Otis AFB, the WTC scramblers sheet. I just met the pilot of the plane from the 103rd at work.

I live in Napa, Ca. 26 miles from Travis AFB located in Fairfield Ca. We see C-5s and KC-10 flying over the mountain just east of my home from time to time.
In the summer of 1958, I lived with my Aunt about 2 miles from Castle AFB and we saw B-52s all day and night. We were in the pattern. Saw an F-102, wave to the pilot and he wave back and then turn the 102 so the tail would be facing us and hit the burner, it was just turning into night and show was really great. Also saw the last B-36 that is now in AF Museum fly over. It was a site to see for sure.
Travis has not had an airshow for the last two years because of 9/11.

Use to live about 1.5 miles NW of Pope AFB, from '78-'81. There's been other places, but it seemed there was a whole lot more to look at down at Bragg, with the constant training that took place. Long lines of C-130's or C-141A's were the norm, and it was kinda like on the Blues Brothers when Jake asked; "How often does the train go by?" "So often, you don't even notice!" <;-)

Those were the days!
Frank

I'm 25 minutes from Maguire AFB/Ft. Dix, in New Jersey, and there's a ANG center flying UH-60, UH-1s.. They fly C-5's, KC-135s, and KC-10s from Maguire. Maguire is a big base for Tankers. There are a lot of Civlian 747 freighters that land there. The MEPS is off the end of the runway. Nothing like walking damn near naked and seeing the pilots of a KC-10 wave to you while getting a medical. That was what happened to me when I enliseted. I'll have to go back there when I leave for Germany to go Active duty.

I am ex AF and when I purchased my property I was still active and stationed in Indiana. My property is in Mi. When I ret. we set up on the property which just happens to be exactly 7 miles off the south end of the local airport. The outer marker is adjacent to the NW corner of my land. The field is also host to a Combat Readiness Training Center. So I have active, reserves, guard (AF & Army) and coast guard flying over all the time. My wife says we bought the property because of its' location. Not true, we got 20 acres for a steal.

I live near Soesterberg Airbase in the Netherlands. Almost ten years ago the last USAFE f-15's of the 32 TFS left the base. That part of base is mostly empty now. It was then called Camp New Amsterdam.
Aslo stationed there around that time was a transport squadron flying fokker F-27's and an helicopter squadron flying Allouette III's. The transport squadron moved elsewhere and the Allouettes are replaced by CH-47D chinooks.
But now they have decided to close the base altogether, that is a shame it is the oldest airfield in the Netherlands. It will get quiet in the skies above our house. The only planes then will be planes ready for landing at Schiphol international Airport

Up until a few months ago I lived on HMAS Albatross (Australian Navy fleet air arm base) I was posted to the Army Parachute training school (Go Army!!) only 100m from NAS Nowra. As a result our accommodation was on the Navy base (The enemy!!) My barracks were about 150m from the runway. They fly mainly helicopters out of there, Seakings, Seahawks, Seasprites and Squirrels. They also operate some lear jets as training A/C. We always had C-130s and Caribou in for jumping as well as a Shorts Skyvan. The RAAF drop by sometimes in the P-3C Orions, F/A-18, F-111, HS 748, Hawk 100, P/C-3 (Roulettes). There were also the Yanks! With whatever they happened to be flying at the time. As for us Army we often had Iroquois, Blackhawks and Chinooks in. When I first arrived there 2 Sqn RNZAF were a lodger unit flying co-op for the Navy. They flew A4 Skyhawks that the Aussie Navy sold to them then realised that they still needed them! So the Kiwis were 'hired' by the Aust govt to do the job the Navy used to be able to do themselves. The Navy also operated some HS 748s until a couple of years ago, damn are they a shitty sounding A/C!!
Don’t let anyone tell you living this close to all these aircraft is fun! I guess at first I liked it but……......... A SAM, a SAM my kingdom for a SAM!!
If I never hear another jet or jet turbine again it will be too soon! Its hard to sleep when there are all types of helicopters and fast jets taking off and landing a stones throw away!

On a happier note Just up the road is HARS, an Australian restoration group that operate a Super Constellation a Catalina, and few D/C-3s, ah the lovely sound of a piston engine, now that’s a sound to go to sleep by!!

This thread really has my memories going of when CFB Edmonton was an airbase and those times I visited it outside of airshows. Here's a few images from my own personal Memory Lane

I just don't hear the Hercs as often as I'd like to anymore


C-130 of Canadian Armed Forces 435 Squadron (1991)

Twin Otter of Canadian Armed Forces 440 and 418 Squadrons (1991)

Kiowa of Canadian Armed Forces 408 Squadron (1991)

Retired CF-101 of Canadian Armed Forces 416 Squadron (1990)

C-5B (1990)

C-141 (1990)

HH-3 (1991)

Oh, The memories

I work on what used to be NAS Dallas. When I got here VF-201 was still flying F-14s, VMFA-112 was here, along with the 136AW flying C-130s, & VR-59 operating the C-9s. They have sinced moved across town to NAS Ft. Worth. VF-201 became VFA-201, flying the F-18 now, but that may change (deactivation, heard), VR-59 became the very first C-40 (737) unit in the Navy, VMFA-112 & 136AW moved there also ,joining VMGR-35 (I think) a Marine KC-130 unit, & a F-16 unit I cant remember the number of. As an added bounus, the Lockheed Martin factory is right across the runway, so brand new F-16 are seen & heard there daily.

I know I'm a late comer to the topic but I'm fortuned enough to be living in the old base housing area of Grissom AFB in Indiana (now active reserve). Although I don't get to see much more than the KC-135's, I do get the rare opportunity to see an occassional F-16 from Ft. Wayne. It's really neat to see the wings come in from Florida or else where when there's a terrible hurricane inbound. The area here was fortunate when Grissom was deactivated because a housing company came in and refurbished (and still in the process) the base housing. It's great to step out of my front door and smell the jet fuel and hear the whine of the engines.

J Hulk, that's good news to hear that you are still a Wings fan! It must be kind of hard to hear anything about them over there. And I thought I had it bad! At least they boradcast National Hockey Night on ESPN, and they are usually highlighted. Looking forward to the playoffs soon!

Take care

Has anyone been to Keflavic NAS Iceland? I spent a year (1989) there assigned to the 57FIS. That was a good place to see alot of countries aircraft.

Currently living near Offutt AFB, the Nebraska Air Nat'l Guard, and Nebraska Army Nat'l Guard. The aircraft stationed at these installations: E-4s, RC-135s, WC-135s, EC-135s, KC-135s, AH-1s, AH-64s, UH-60s. Seen in these installations, C-5s, C-141s, C-130s, C-17s, P-3s, F-15s,-16s,-117s,-14s,-18s, B-52s, B-1s...etc.
Then there is a private company under contact to service military aircraft at the Lincoln Airport, in which I've seen E-6s, C-141s, etc.
The Lincoln Airport also used to be Lincoln AFB which stationed the B-47.
I was a crew chief in the USAF trained on the C-141B, and I was stationed at McChord AFB, WA and Kadena AB, Okinawa Japan. At McChord: C-141s, C-17s, UH-60s
At Kadena I was placed in a transit squadron, where I saw every current aircraft you could imagine, Mitsubishi F-1s and T-2s, F-14,15,16,18, A-10s, C-141,5,17,130, KC-135, RC-135s and the list goes on and on. But I must mention the Antonov An-124 that we mashalled in, the world's second largest production aircraft, but is still the world's largest active aircraft. That thing was a monster!

QUOTE: Originally posted by MikeV QUOTE: Originally posted by plum1030 I'm about a mile from the 104th TFW (MA ANG) who fly A-10's. Just a few miles south is the 103rd TFW (CT ANG), also A-10's. Also just a few miles east is Westover AFB. A few more miles east is Otis AFB who fly F-15's. Quite a bit around here. Open houses and airshows annually. Karl, You are a lucky man my friend. Mike

Even better, I work for a bank and I occasionally get guys from the bases in the bank. I got an A-10 pilot who promised to get me a trip in a simulator. Also cool was an F-14 tech about to go on deployment on the George Washington, the only carrier left with two F-14 squadrons, red rippers and pukin dogs. As an added bonus, we have the New England Air Museum with the newly restored B-29 that was wrecked in a tornado 20+ years ago. Wish they could restore the B-47 too. ...and just 2.5 - 3 hours away is the Intrepid...

Like U96 Brize is my nearest large airbase, with the tine RAF base at Weston on the Green just down the road from me in Bicester. Weston is mainly used for gliders and jump aircraft, all of which provides entertainment while watching my eldest play rugby, as the practise ground is next door to Weston.

I regularly see C130s on parachute training runs over Weston, in fact there was one tooling around in the snow storm last Wednesday!!!!! I suppose you don't get to choose wether conditions when you have to jump!!

Karl

hey Upnorth I appreciate the pictures. Someday I will get to see one up close. I am planning a trip down to Lambert's in Sikeston, Mo. shortly. Not only is Lambert's incredible but there is an F-4 on display down the raod a little way. Anyway thanks again.

Rich
Believe me, one weekend at Salina is much more fun than any 10 weekends over at Ft Riley.

Originally posted by stram8777 There is also a fuselage of an f-4 near the side of I-70 on the way to Lambert. This is the only f-4 i have ever seen so if anyone has pics of them i would appreciate it if I could see them. The f-4 is probably my second favorite aircraft to the f-4u corsair. O.K. stram8777, here's some photos of Phantoms I took duing the time CFB Edmonton was an airbase and we had a big two day airshow every two years. Enjoy RF-4C Phantom of Kansas ANG, 1990 F-4G Phantom of Idaho ANG, 1992 F-4F Phantom of the Luftwaffe, 1994 Reply upnorth Member since December 2002 From: Canada / Czech Republic Posted by upnorth on Sunday, February 1, 2004 1:37 PM I agree that its not really required to be near an air base to see some interesting things winging over your head. I'm nearly under one of the approach routes to the city's international airport and have seen, beyond the usual civie birds, RAF VC-10s and Tristars, the occaisional USAf C-17 and even a couple of Antonov 124 transports a few years back that had been contracted to haul some particularly large oil drilling gear up north. Seeing those Antonovs heading out North over the city, right over the shopping mall I worked at at the time when I was heading home from my shift with their wheels still down and so low I could see so much detail on them was amazing. I'm still kicking myself for not taking my camera that day. Reply J-Hulk Member since February 2003 From: Tochigi, Japan Posted by J-Hulk on Sunday, February 1, 2004 6:49 AM QUOTE: Originally posted by benzdoc J Hulk, you are a lucky guy. I would love to have gone to school right there. So, only being there for a little time, did you ever take to the Red Wings? Out here in CA, people look at me funny whenever I say the word hockey, let alone know what it is! BTW, my brother lived in the "shores" as we called it for a couple of years too. He loved it over there. It's really nice to run into someone from "home". Take care over there in Japan. Thanks, Benzdoc! Yup, I was a Red Wings fan! Still have a ton of Red Wings paraphenalia, and actually all my old hockey gear from those days. I really enjoyed my time in Michigan. Ah, I forgot to mention airbase experience here in Japan! I lived in Fujisawa, which is located between Yokosuka Naval Base and Atsugi Naval Air Station. I'd see AF-18s, A-6s, and S-3s ferrying back and forth between Atsugi and the carrier Kitty Hawk stationed at Yokosuka. Saw a lot of JSDF P-3s and Sea Kings flying around, too. ~Brian Reply 123 JOIN OUR COMMUNITY! Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account. Login Register SEARCH FORUMS FREE NEWSLETTER SIGN UP By signing up you may also receive reader surveys and occasional special offers. We do not sell, rent or trade our email lists. View our Privacy Policy. FORUMS PRODUCT REVIEWS READER GALLERY HOW TO VIDEOS SHOP ABOUT US FREE MONTHLY NEWSLETTER SIGN UP By signing up you may also receive reader surveys and occasional special offers. We do not sell, rent or trade our email lists. View our Privacy Policy. More great sites from Kalmbach Media Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Copyright Policy