Plane Pictures

Courtesy of Mike Yukish, Applied Research Lab, Penn State U (Go Lions!)

The picture below is of an F-14 landing on a carrier. The sun is just going down, but it is not quite dark enough to call it night. This is known as a 'pinkie' landing. MUCH easier than landing in the dead of night.

The red lights at the back of the carrier are called 'drop lights'. they help the pilot line up on the centerline of the ship.

The pictures below are of an E-2C Hawkeye from the VAW-123 Screwtops, flying off of the USS America. The pictures were taken sometime in the summer of 1989, somewhere over the North Arabian sea off of the coast of Oman. A C-2 Greyhound was the photo bird. Its ramp was lowered in flight, and the photographer sat at the end of the ramp with his feet hanging off, attached only by a gunner's belt.

The weather over the North Arabian sea in the summer is the same every day, terribly hazy with a low cloud deck. The summer shamal blows from around the cape of Africa, all the way up africa's east coast, then curves along the base of Asia, eventually plowing into the Indian subcontinent and dumping all of its moisture. The tremendous fetch of the winds drives huge waves before them. The combination of mountainous grey seas and grey sky make flying in the North Arabian sea a surreal and not always pleasant experience.

If you look real close, that's me in the left seat

A picture of the infamous "Star Wars Canyon", taken from the cockpit of our Hummer. We took it through the saddle to the right of the knob. Planes with more "G" available go through the left.

Here's another picture taken from the cockpit of an E-2C, as it flies through "Star Wars Canyon", somewhere in southwest asia.

Myself, Tom Lowry, and Nick Filippone hanging out at Pax River, 1999.

Here are a couple of nice shots taken from a T-34 while flying out of NAS Pax River. The first shot is taken during a spin, which is why the background is blurred. The second is taken while arcing around, setting up for a loop.