Photorecon

A Salute to Air Mobility Heritage

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Like many other Military Bases across the country, Scott Air Force Base also has a Heritage Park to honor its rich history. Scott’s is located at 763 Siebert Road, which is directly outside of the main base entrance, and is appropriately named Scott Field Heritage Air Park. This park portrays the history of Scott Air Force Base also that of Air Mobility Command and specifically highlights the Airlift, Air Refueling, and Aeromedical Evacuation Missions. The Air Park includes current and former workhorses of Air Mobility Command with examples of the following aircraft types:

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Mc Donnell Douglas C-9A Nightingale Tail Number 71-0877 Construction Number 47495
Delivered to the U.S. Air Force in 1972
Flew with the 374th Airlift Wing and the 30th Airlift Squadron at Yokota Air Force Base Japan

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Gates C-21A Learjet Tail Number 84-0065 Construction Number 35-511
Delivered to the U.S. Air Force in 1985
Flew with the 375TH Air Mobility Wing and the 458th Airlift Squadron at Scott Air Force Base Illinois

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Boeing KC-135E Stratotanker Tail Number 56-3611 Construction Number 17360
Delivered to the U.S. Air Force in 1956
Flew with the 121st Air Refueling Wing Ohio Air National Guard, 171st Air Refueling Wing Pennsylvania Air National Guard, and the 126th Air Refueling Wing Illinois Air National Guard.

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Lockheed C-140A-LM Jetstar Tail Number 59-5959 Construction Number 1329/5026
Delivered to the U.S. Air Force in 1961
Served in the Philippines, Germany, and Scott Air Force Base. This was the last C-140A to be retired from the inventory in 1996.

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Lockheed C-130E Hercules Tail Number 62-1862 Construction Number 17360
Delivered to the U.S. Air Force in 1962
Flew with the 778th Tactical Airlift Squadron, and the 464th Tactical Airlift Wing out of Pope Air Force Base. This C-130 also flew with the 115th Airlift Squadron California Air National Guard and was retired in 2010.

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Lockheed C-141B Starlifter Tail Number 65-0236 Construction Number 300-6087
Delivered to the U.S. Air Force in 1966 as a C-141A and later converted to a “B” Model in 1983.
Flew with the 60th Military Airlift Wing Travis Air Force Base California and the 443rd Military Airlift Wing at Altus Air Force Base Oklahoma. This C-141 was part of Operation Homecoming flying former POW’s from Hanoi Vietnam back the United States, and was retired from service in 1993.

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The Scott Field Heritage Air Park Committee is responsible for the upkeep of the park and the aircraft with assistance from Scott and the local community. The Park is clean, the aircraft very well kept and are in good condition. The aircraft are arranged and spread out nicely with photos possible from all angles and sides. The added side benefit to the location is that it is right next to Runway 14 Right – 32 Left making arrival and departure shots possible, though the sun angle can be tricky depending on the time of day and year.

There is plenty of parking and no cost for admission, this is a definite must visit if you are in the area.

Until next time, “Blue Skies To All!”

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Scott Jankowski

Scott Jankowski - Franklin, Wisconsin Like so many others my love of aviation started when I was young, very young. I was only three years old when my Parents took me to my first air show here in Milwaukee, the rest you could say is “history”. I would read aviation magazines instead of Comic Books. I would prefer my Dad take me to the airport to watch airplanes instead of throwing a Football around. I grew up watching Convair 580’s, DC9’s and 727’s from the terminal here in Milwaukee, no Stage Three noise compliance back then! I started to seriously take pictures in the Mid 1980’s , for my birthday that year I finally had my first decent camera. I would head down to the airport with my pockets full of Kodak Film and take pictures of anything and everything. It did not matter if it was a Air Wisconsin Dash-7 or a 128TH ARW KC-135E if it had an engine I took a picture of it. I would drop those rolls off to be developed and three days later tear into the envelopes to see the results, which to be honest were not that good but there were a few keepers every once and a while. Fast forwarding to today with much better equipment and skills I spend as much time as I can at both General Mitchell International and Chicago O’Hare which are my Hometown Airports. While times and aircraft have changed the excitement is still as great as it was back all of those years ago. It makes no difference if it is 737, P-51, F-16, or Lear 35 I will not pass on any photo opportunity as you may not get that chance again. Even though my primary focus is on Commercial Aviation I still frequent as many Air shows as I can in the short Summer Season. I am fortunate enough to have EAA Air Venture in my backyard only being only an Hour and Half from my home. I routinely attend Air shows here in Milwaukee, Rockford, Chicago, Ypsilanti and the Quad Cities. I am very fortunate to be part of the Photorecon.Net and PHX Spotters Team and am looking forward to bringing everyone some Air show and Airliner action from the Midwest Region!

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