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if you all feel like it, have your cameras handy during the lunchtime hours (11ish to 1ish). There will be a great many very large grey airplanes buzzing around the area during those times, it's been on the news and stuff. Worth seeing if you're in the area.
a great many - meaning a lot more than usual
Where... ?
Tacoma/Lakewood area
Is Canada invading?
Are they finally going to bomb Tacoma? That place is ane eye sore.
http://www.csps.ukgateway.net/spmovie/images/02.jpgQuote:
Originally posted by iceman
Is Canada invading?
There also were a great many people jumping out of said airplanes. ;)
Well? What was all the hullabaloo?
It was a 12-ship formation, which for us is pretty rare. Only done every couple of years. Fighters do it all the time, but cargo planes the size of a blimp...rare. Neat sight to see.Here's the link to the news story. There's more to it than the training the news mentions, we are getting a new commander so this was the last hurrah for our current commander, who is a heck of a guy. Family friend. Anyway it was a surge effort, to see what we could do, and it involves a lot of people working very very hard to make it happen, esp. maintenance. They were calling guys in on their days off to pull this one off (the only reason I wasn't called in is because I'm on vacation....yeeeeyah).
I got a lot of pics too, which I'll post as soon as I figure out how to do it on a Mac. My desktop's broken at the moment, and macs don't have a "properties" menu.
Jetter -
How'd you enjoy the mass tac airborne operation? Got any pictures? Cargo planes alway look best when there are paratroopers floating underneath them.
Oh course....Didn't you see that TJ got called up and promoted to special staff liason guy with the Quebec National Guard division of the Canadian Army? First damn thing that guy is going to do is invade ;)Quote:
Originally posted by iceman
Is Canada invading?
let's see if this works...
The lineup. 3 more planes behind these ones too. All engines running. Very loud!
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic24054.jpg
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic24055.jpg
takeoff time
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic24056.jpg
here's the formation. 12 planes I think, maybe a 13th in there too, flew all around the Puget Sound/Seattle region.
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic24057.jpg
they all came in at one, flying the overhead in formation and then turning off in 10 second increments. Planes spaced every 500-1000ft, to give everybody room to land. Landed one at a time, with 2-3 airplanes on the runway at any given time. I think this guy had the best seat there, certainly the noisiest.
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic24058.jpg
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic24059.jpg
The boss does one last low flyby, rocking the wings to wave
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic24060.jpg
Turns in to park...
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic24061.jpg
And there's his reception.
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic24062.jpg
Pretty cool, we haven't done one of these since Iraq (I think there were 18 of them then, dropping in about a thousand US Army Rangers to secure Northen Iraq and open up a second front overnight. Then they brought in tanks too). I posted the thread to give people in the area a heads-up, I think it's certainly out of the routine. Didn't get to see the troop drops since they took place on the Ft. Lewis ranges.
I see a lot of no pictures.
Ah-hah! it works now.
Great Pics Mang!!!
They flew right over the top of me at lunch! I was wondering what the hell was going on. I've grown up on, or around the base and I can not remember the last time I saw that! When I did they were either C-130's or C-141's.
The place you shot the C-17 being hosed down is the exact same spot my pops used to take me to watch the ole F-4 Phantoms do touch n goes.
Thanks for sharing! :D
My wife had a job down in Olympia this morning and I asked her if she saw any of this and she didn't. She drove back through Tacoma at around noon. She wouldn't have been impressed anyway. I would have been, though.