#1119planes

To the military brass in Vietnam, the forward air controller (FAC) pilots were the biggest bunch of miscreants to ever fly a USAF aircraft. To the boots on the ground, they were a guardian angel with eyes up above that could summon air strikes. And to the pilots of the fast movers that hit targets marked by the FACs, they had big brass balls to fly low and slow using the Mark One eyeball to ID targets. ⠀ ⠀ The USAF procurement of the Cessna O-2 Skymaster came out if a need for a more capable forward air control platform in Vietnam than the O-1 Bird Dog. Having twin engines have it a measure of redundancy when flying low over the battlefield in the FAC role, but it also allowed the O-2 more performance in the tropical air in Vietnam as well as being able to carry more weapons. The USAF would procure 532 O-2 Skymasters. In Vietnam, the Skymaster had two nicknames- “Oscar Deuce” and “Duck”. ⠀ ⠀ The first O-2 Skymasters flew with 7.62mm Minigun pods underwing, but aggressive O-2 pilots were taking matters into their own hands attacking targets and O-2 losses climbed. So the gunpods were banned and white phosphorus target marking rockets were carried. But the O-2 pilots, being a scruffy and resourceful bunch, took their M16s with them and fired them out the side windows. Ejected shell casings were dinging the rear prop, damaging the instrument panel and messing with radios. So the M16s got banned. ⠀ ⠀ Not ones to give up, the FAC pilots (as one pilot said, “We’ll FAC anything!”) took to using their service pistols and hand grenades to keep the enemy occupied until the fast movers arrived. ⠀ ⠀ Of the 532 O-2 Skymasters built for the USAF, 82 were lost in combat. Seven O-2 drivers earned the Distinguished Flying Cross in Vietnam. ⠀ ⠀ November Aviation Photo Challenge | @kjdphoto1971 | #1119planes | “Air Force” | Day 26⠀ ⠀ #Avgeek #aviation #aircraft #planeporn #KAFW #AFW #AllianceAirport #FWAAS2017 #airport #planespotting #Cessna #O2 #Skymaster #USAF #FAC #instagramaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #mil_aviation_originals #instaaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #flight #AvGeeksAero #AvGeekNation #AvgeekSchoolofKnowledge (at Fort Worth Alliance Airport) https://www.instagram.com/p/B5VQ14ThOV8/?igshid=5iy13z6rz0fc

This 747 Classic is a 747-121, N747GE, the former General Electric engine testbed that had been flying since 1992 for GE. At the time of its retirement in November 2018, it was the oldest active 747 in the world. ⠀ ⠀ Originally delivered to Pan American World Airways in March 1970 as N744PA, this particular 747 was the 25th 747 built (LN 25) and was originally christened “Clipper Star of the Union”. In 1982, Pan Am renamed it “Clipper Ocean Spray” and it flew for Pan Am all the way to the airline’s eventual shutdown in 1992 when it was sold to General Electric to become an engine testbed. ⠀ ⠀ Most of the interior was removed and the left wing and empennage were strengthened to make it suitable for engine test work. Re-registered as N747GE, the aircraft test flew the GE90, GEnx, Engine Alliance GP7200, the CFM56, and the CFM LEAP. ⠀ ⠀ When GE retired it in November 2018, it was just three months shy of its 50th anniversary of its delivery to Pan Am. It has been replaced by an ex-Japan Airlines Boeing 747-400 that has had its winglets removed as they’re not necessary for the sort of flying GE has planned. ⠀ ⠀ I took this photo of N747GE at the Pima Air & Space Museum this past March where it was being prepared for eventual display. ⠀ ⠀ November Aviation Photo Challenge | @kjdphoto1971 | #1119planes | “Boeing” | Day 29⠀ ⁣⠀ #avgeek #aviation #aircraft #planeporn #PimaAirandSpaceMuseum #Pima #Tucson #DavisMonthan #Arizona #airport #planespotting #instaplane #instagramaviation #Boeing #747 #N747GE #GE #GeneralElectric #instaaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #flight #AvgeekSchoolofKnowledge #AvGeekNation (at Pima Air & Space Museum) https://www.instagram.com/p/B5c5DPlB0GY/?igshid=g6p8j0v94vmj

When the postwar successor to the Boeing B-29, the B-50 Superfortress, entered service in 1948, it was always planned that the B-50 be converted to tankers once replaced by the B-47 Stratojet which made its first flight in 1947. The Hayes Aircraft Corporation was assigned responsibility for the conversion of the B-50 into KB-50 tankers. The first KB-50s entered service with the Tactical Air Command in January 1956, replacing the KB-29 which was simply too slow to refuel jet aircraft. The KB-29s were phased out completely by November 1957. However, the increasing performance of TAC’s jet fighters meant that in no time, the KB-50s were also too slow to function as tankers. Hayes was once again contracted to upgrade the KB-50 fleet to KB-50J standard with the addition of a single 5200 lb thrust GE J47 turbojet under each wing. The jet engines gave the “new” KB-50J a shorter takeoff distance by 30%, improved the time to operational altitude by 60% and allowed the KB-50J to operate easily at over 400 knots in level flight. 112 KB-50s were upgraded to KB-50Js and a further TB-50 crew trainers were also converted to jet-augmented tankers, designated KB-50Ks. The first KB-50Js were delivered to TAC in January 1958. The KB-50J/K tankers were to be interim tankers until the arrival of the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker. Unfortunately their long careers as nuclear bombers and then tankers had taken a toll on their durability and reliability. Aircraft were commonly cannibalized to keep other tankers flying and the first KB-50J/Ks were phased out in 1964. The crash of a KB-50J in 1965 revealed extensive cracking and corrosion in the aircraft structure and the Superfortress tankers were retired quickly in 1965. They did last long enough, however, for some to be used in the Vietnam War. November Aviation Photo Challenge | @kjdphoto1971 | #1119planes | “Cold War” | Day 30⠀ ⁣⠀ #avgeek #aviation #aircraft #planeporn #PimaAirandSpaceMuseum #Pima #Tucson #DavisMonthan #Arizona #airport #planespotting #instaplane #instagramaviation #Boeing #B50 #KB50 #Superfortress #USAF #mil_aviation_originals #instaaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #flight #AvgeekSchoolofKnowle (at Pima Air & Space Museum) https://www.instagram.com/p/B5fZ46ghZux/?igshid=1nrxjl9ks67t7

The sawtooth trailing edge of the Boeing 747-8 family or nacelle chevrons are for noise reduction- during the design phase, computational fluid dynamics was used to optimize the shape and cant of the chevrons- each tip is canted inward slightly into the bypass flow. ⠀ ⠀ Jet exhaust noise is the result of turbulence in the exhaust flow. ⠀ ⠀ Each chevron tip creates a vortex that speeds the mixing of the cooler bypass flow with the hot core flow, reducing the turbulence from the mixing of the two flows- but CFD was needed to optimize the chevrons as too much of a vortex could cause more turbulence and actually increase noise. ⠀ ⠀ A Boeing 777 flew with a testbed chevron nacelle to validate the CFD work under the Quiet Technology Demonstrator program. The 747-8 and 787 were beneficiaries of the QTD program and on the 747-8 family, the chevrons reduce engine noise by a significant 4 dB. As the nose decibel scale is logarithmic and not linear, a 4 dB reduction in engine noise is remarkable.⠀ ⠀ The GEnx (General Electric NeXt generation) engine used on the 747-8 family first ran in 2006 and is the replacement in the GE turbofan portfolio for the CF6-80C2. Used on both the Boeing 787 and the 747-8i/8F, the GEnx is an advanced evolution of the GE90 turbofan used on the Boeing 777. ⠀ ⠀ With significant aerodynamic and materials improvements, the GEnx engines on the Boeing 747-8i/8F have a 15% better fuel burn than the CF6-80C2. Much of what went into the GEnx engine is also used on the CFM LEAP-X engine.⠀ ⠀ November Aviation Photo Challenge | @kjdphoto1971 | #1119planes | “Takeoff/Landing” | Day 21⠀ ⠀ #Avgeek #aviation #aircraft #planeporn #KDFW #DFW #airport #igTexas #planespotting #airlines #Boeing #747 #Cargolux #dfwavgeek #instagramaviation #LXVCE #splendid_transport #instaaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #flight #aviationphotography #AvgeekSchoolofKnowledge #AvGeeksAero #AvGeekNation (at DFW Airport) https://www.instagram.com/p/B5IKVVyBdhh/?igshid=ha5jne8t2keh

Yeah, I know the Day 14 theme is “Fighter” in the Aviation Photo Challenge, but hear me out as to why I’m submitting an AC-47 Spooky as a fighter. Trust me, it’s a great historical side note in the history of Air Force gunships. ⠀ ⠀ The Douglas AC-47 Spooky gunship was the grand-daddy of a whole unique class of combat aircraft that came into existence in Vietnam. The first AC-47 gunships were converted at Bien Hoa AB in-theater with conversion kits created by the Air Force’s Aeronautical Systems Division. ⠀ ⠀ Two aircraft were converted as a proof of concept with three 7.62mm Miniguns, a Mark 20 Mod 4 gunsight from A-1 Skyraider mounted on the pilot’s left cockpit window, VHF, UHF, and FM radios, TACAN equipment for navigation, IFF gear, 45 flares, each producing 20,000 candlepower of illumination and over 24,000 rounds of ammunition for the Miniguns.⠀ The new gunships were designated FC-47 (FC for “Fighter, Cargo). Aeronautical Systems Division crews flew the first two FC-47s on 54 combat missions where they were decisive in breaking Viet Cong night assaults. ⠀ ⠀ Not long after those first two prototype FC-47s were flying combat missions, the fighter pilots on the command staff of Seventh Air Force and the Pacific Air Forces which were in command of USAF assets in Southeast Asia, heard about the FC-47 designation and nearly lost their minds over transport aircraft that were built during World War II with “F” for fighter designators. In the interests of keeping the peace and avoiding an internecine fight within the United States Air Force, the FC-47 was redesignated the AC-47, spawning an entire new class of combat aircraft.⠀ ⠀ November Aviation Photo Challenge | @kjdphoto1971 | #1119planes | “Fighter” | Day 14⠀ ⠀ #Avgeek #aviation #aircraft #planeporn #KAFW #AFW #AllianceAirport #FWAAS2017 #AllianceAirShow2017 #airport #planespotting #Douglas #DC3 #AC47 #Spooky #USAF #instagramaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #mil_aviation_originals #instaaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #flight #AvGeeksAero #AvGeekNation #AvgeekSchoolofKnowledge (at Fort Worth Alliance Airport) https://www.instagram.com/p/B43ebtTBUQR/?igshid=8wmue5xdou6d

The Thunderbirds converted from the Talon to the F-16 in 1982- the only thing missing from H. Ross Perot Jr.’s T-38 that would make it an accurate representation of a Thunderbird Talon is a shark fin VHF antenna on the dorsal fuselage behind the cockpit. I believe the flag panel on the forward fuselage is accurate for the 1980 show season. Perot Jr’s T-38 is named “The Spirit of Alliance” as his real estate development company, Hillwood, was the driving force behind the construction and development of Fort Worth Alliance Airport. When flying at air shows it uses the call sign “Spirit 1”. The first time I saw the Thunderbirds as a kid was their last season with the F-4 Phantom but most of what I remember was the Talon show. It didn’t have the roar of the Phantom or the glitz of the Fighting Falcon, but the Talon was a sleek jet and the stylized “stinger” scheme on the underside accentuated that. Given the Talon’s small wings, the usual stylized Thunderbird motif wasn’t used again until the team converted to the Fighting Falcon in 1982. The amount of fuel used by the six-jet Talon team was equal to the fuel used by a *single" Thunderbird Phantom during a show. Given the fuel prices of the early and mid-1970s, the conversion to the Talon was quite a boon to the bottom line not to mention the ease of maintenance for the Talon compared to the Phantom. Not to mention the recruiting value that neophyte pilots for the USAF would train in the very aircraft that the Thunderbirds flew. I never get tired of seeing this jet in action. Along with the Blue Angels A-4 Skyhawk, this was a big part of my air show experiences as a wee fart. November Aviation Photo Challenge | @kjdphoto1971 | #1119planes | “Jet Trainer” | Day 4 #Avgeek #aviation #aircraft #planeporn #KAFW #AFW #AllianceAirport #FWAAS2017 #AllianceAirShow2017 #airport #planespotting #Northrop #T38 #Talon #Thunderbirds #Spirit1 #SpiritofAlliance #RossPerot #instagramaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #mil_aviation_originals #instaaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #flight #AvGeeksAero #AvGeekNation #AvgeekSchoolofKnowledge (at Fort Worth Alliance Airport) https://www.instagram.com/p/B4bwspDhXm9/?igshid=1apr3bjk86x8z

The prominent fairings on each side of the jet pipe on the Convair F-102A Delta Dagger came as a result of the YF-102 prototypes being barely supersonic. ⁣ ⁣ At the time, NASA aerodynamicist Richard Whitcomb had developed the idea of area ruling to minimize transonic drag. Since the fuselage couldn’t be “pinched” to the degree needed without a drastic redesign, the fairings in effect created the “pinched waist” needed for area ruling. In addition to a more powerful version of the J57 engine, the production F-102As were much better performers. ⁣ ⁣ For it’s day, the F-102A pushed the state of the art and many of the problems that dogged the early Delta Daggers were finally resolved, but the aircraft’s early reputation as troublesome stuck. ⁣ ⁣ While most F-102s served stateside with the Air Defense Command, some were stationed in Europe and Okinawa. ⁣ ⁣ In 1962, F-102s were moved to South Vietnam to protect against potential (but never occurred) North Vietnamese air attack. From 1062-1972, the F-102s were actually one of the safest aircraft with only 8 lost to operational accidents. One was downed by a MiG-21, two were lost to ground fire, and four were lost to ground attacks by Viet Cong sappers. ⁣ ⁣ Under Project Stovepipe, F-102s used their IR sensors to look for enemy campfires at night over the Ho Chi Minh Trail, sometimes even firing a heat-seeking Falcon AAM at the target. F-102s also flew daytime attacks, firing unguided rockets from the weapons bay. 618 ground attack missions were flown by the F-102As. ⁣ ⁣ Though wholly unsuited for ground attack, the F-102s had the fastest response time when emergent close air support was needed- all of South Vietnam was within 3 minutes’ flying time of Delta Daggers based at Tan Son Nhut AB at Saigon.⁣ ⁣ November Aviation Photo Challenge | @kjdphoto1971 | #1119planes | “Delta Wing” | Day 17⠀⁣ ⁣ #avgeek #aviation #aircraft #planeporn #PimaAirandSpaceMuseum #Pima #Tucson #DavisMonthan #Arizona #airport #planespotting #instaplane #instagramaviation #Convair #F102 #DeltaDagger #USAF #mil_aviation_originals #instaaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #flight #AvgeekSchoolofKnowledge #AvGeekNation (at Pima Air & Space Museum) https://www.instagram.com/p/B4-W3mdhIBR/?igshid=m9hbu9nwrr7j

One of the more unique twin engined prop designs to have entered service, the Fairey Gannet AEW.3 was based on the earlier Gannet carrier-borne ASW/strike aircraft. Though looking superficially like a single engine aircraft, the Gannet had two engines. ⠀ ⠀ Armstrong Siddeley developed the Double Mamba turboprop engine by having two Mamba engines drive through a common gearbox. One engine drove one of the paired contra rotating props on the Gannet. During patrols, the Gannet could alternate every half hour flying on only one of the Mamba engines to extend its airborne endurance. ⠀ ⠀ When one engine was stopped, one of the contra props stopped and was feathered. ⠀ ⠀ The Gannet AEW.3 served with a single Fleet Air Arm squadron, 849 NAS (Naval Air Squadron) from 1960 to the Gannet’s retirement in 1978. The squadron then had four flights- A Flight, B Flight, C, Flight, and D Flight, which were four aircraft detachments to Royal Navy aircraft carriers. There was also a headquarters flight and single a transport version of the Gannet, the Gannet COD.4, was usually deployed with each flight for carrier on-board delivery.⠀ ⠀ November Aviation Photo Challenge | @kjdphoto1971 | #1119planes | “Twin Engine Propeller” | Day 25⁣⠀ ⁣⠀ #avgeek #aviation #aircraft #planeporn #PimaAirandSpaceMuseum #Pima #Tucson #DavisMonthan #Arizona #airport #planespotting #instaplane #instagramaviation #Fairey #Gannet #AEW3 #RoyalNavy #mil_aviation_originals #instaaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #flight #AvgeekSchoolofKnowledge #AvGeekNation (at Pima Air & Space Museum) https://www.instagram.com/p/B5SpCR2h4Do/?igshid=7umetbyne6yr