Fleet Week, NYC 2016
I spent the Thursday of Fleet Week NYC 2016 on the Flight Deck of the USS Bataan LHD-5, a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship. Later that week, my Saturday May 28th was spent at Republic Airport, at the American Air...
Category: Marines
VMAT-203 Hawks, Teaching the Ways of the Marine Corps Harrier
More than 40 years ago, Marine Attack Training Squadron 203 began fielding the Hawker Siddeley AV-8A Harrier, in preparation for the Marines’ transition from A-4 Skyhawks to Harriers as their frontline attack jet. VMAT-203, known as the Hawks, has...
Still Kicking After 50 Years
North American Aviation/Rockwell’s OV-10 Bronco won a U.S. military competition for a Light Armed Reconnaissance Aircraft (LARA) which was announced in 1963. The LARA requirements included improvements over the current observation aircraft of the period, namely Cessna O-1 Bird...
MCAS Cherry Point’s 75th Anniversary Air Show
Over the last weekend in April 2016, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, in the town of Havelock North Carolina, offered their 75th Anniversary Air Show. The last three quarters of a century has seen monumental changes in aviation, much...
Ventura County Air Show 2015
This year marked the return of the Ventura County Air Show at Point Mugu after a 2 year hiatus, and the show did not disappoint. There was an excellent showing of military aircraft on static. Many were from Point...
DAWN BLITZ 2015
Dawn Blitz is a multi-national exercise that takes place every other year, at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton and in the waters of the Pacific Ocean offshore from the base. This year’s exercise took place in the early weeks...
In the Back of Fat Albert
The Marines operate a Lockheed Martin C-130T Hercules as part of the storied Blue Angels Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron. Nicknamed Fat Albert, the four-engined tactical turboprop transport carries a mini-maintenance shop and the required non-piloting Blue Angels crew members...
The Five Solo Military Demo Teams at the 2015 New York Air Show
The inaugural New York Air Show at the Stewart International Airport drew countless spectators on the strength of its flying schedule. Normally, an air show will draw large crowds if there’s a military multi-aircraft demonstration (sometimes known as a...
VMFAT-101 Visiting Long Beach Airport
The sound of military jets could be heard all over the city of Long Beach, California during the Labor Day weekend. The source of that sound was Marine Flight Attack Training Squadron VMFAT-101 know as “The Sharpshooters” based at...
Cutting Edge Interoperability Honed at Northern Edge 2015
Large scale live training and experimentation between two or more branches of American military service – Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Air Force – is a rare opportunity in the real world. Demonstrating interoperability is most often...
VMFA- 323 The Death Rattlers (a.k.a. The Snakes)
The Second World War was still raging in Europe and the Pacific on August 1, 1943, when Marine Fighter Squadron VMF-323, the “Death Rattlers” were commissioned at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Cherry Point in North Carolina. Arriving at...
VMFAT-101 SHARPSHOOTERS – “Fighter Attack starts here”
Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 101 (VMFAT-101) was established at Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, California on January 3rd 1969. The squadron trained naval aviators and naval flight officers for the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II. The Squadron...
