Meanwhile at Palmdale.......

They've now switched round their open days and are now only open Friday,Saturday and sunday,while before they were closed on these days. I blame Zaph for sending me there on Thursday,so all photos are either over the fence or through it....
















Travis AFB might have to wait until I get home. Still got the boneyard at Chino to go through yet.

Nice. Even for over/through the fence those came out pretty good.

I`m going through a weird 1950s aviation phase and really digging the F-101 and F-100 Thunderbird. Spotted a F-4, A-4 and an all time favorite the F-105 in the background. I could easily spend all day in that park those displays are in, longer if they let me spend the night.

Blackbird, head on, the sexiest aircraft ever to have been crafted!

Although Spitfire, Concorde, F-16 and the F-35 are pretty sweet too!

Nice photos!

Worked on a few of those......
Still I think the F106, is one of the sexy birds of all time and world record speed holder for single turbine engine.

5FIS Command Bird Balls 5

Thank you for the comments everyone. I agree on the design of fighters from that era,their designers had an eye for beauty that the modern ones just don't have. Today they're functional and amazing pieces of engineering,but are mass produced tin cans with no heart and soul. One of my faves is also the gorgeous F105 Thunderchief,along with the F4 Phantom which has more 'presence' than any modern jet fighter. And how can we ever forget how amazing the F104 Starfighter sounded with that characteristic howl made by it's J79 engine?

a reply to: Imagewerx

Or the incredible sound it made slamming into the ground at high speed.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Uh ... THUD?

a reply to: Cohen the Barbarian

More like THUD BOOM.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: Imagewerx

Or the incredible sound it made slamming into the ground at high speed.

But they did sound very nice before they hit the ground!

Thats where the phrase Lawn Dart came from...

a reply to: Zaphod58
't was a reference to their unofficial nickname.

a reply to: Cohen the Barbarian

But the F-105 was a much better Thud. You park that sucker on a bridge, raise the landing gear, and it made a Thud that could be heard for miles as it would valiantly block that bridge for years to come.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Whoops, my bad. The F-105 was mentioned in a different post above.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: Cohen the Barbarian

But the F-105 was a much better Thud. You park that sucker on a bridge, raise the landing gear, and it made a Thud that could be heard for miles as it would valiantly block that bridge for years to come.

I've read that a few times now and it still doesn't make sense to me? (Yes I know the F105 was nicknamed 'thud',but that's as far as I get).

a reply to: Imagewerx

There was a book written about flying the F-105 over Vietnam. In it the author wrote a section on how to properly employ a Thud:

"To employ a Thud, one simply drives it down a road until you come to a strategic crossing point such as a bridge. You then raise the landing gear, and the aircraft will squat there forever valiantly blocking the way."

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: Imagewerx

There was a book written about flying the F-105 over Vietnam. In it the author wrote a section on how to properly employ a Thud:

"To employ a Thud, one simply drives it down a road until you come to a strategic crossing point such as a bridge. You then raise the landing gear, and the aircraft will squat there forever valiantly blocking the way."

Of course,obvious really!