The Breitling Watch Source Forums

I thought I would share with ya'll some pics of the various aircraft I've been fortunate to get up close and personal with as well as the opportunity fly in some of them. Most of the photos were all taken in Afghanistan in 2006 when I was based there and conducting refueling missions. A number of the others were taken at Al Asad in Iraq when I transferred there from Afghanistan. I hope ya'll enjoy.

US C-17 Not the largest US Cargo plane, but certainly the best. Pilots claim it to be the Cadillac of the group.


A Russian MI-26 in flight over Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan. These are contracted by the Dutch in support of cargo movement and famous for being one of the largest helicopters in the world.


A Russian AN-12 which is an old converted Russian bomber contracted by the Dutch for cargo transport in Afghanistan.


An A-10 Thunderbolt (aka Warthog)as it taxis in for refueling after completing a mission.


A Russian made MI-8 used by the US DOD for drug intervention in Afghanistan.


A Russian IL-76 another old converted bomber contracted by the Dutch for cargo support missions in Afghanistan.


Me standing next to a Predator Drone outside the maintenance and operations center.


This is an EA-6B electronics warfare aircraft as it taxis in for refueling.


This is a Dutch F-16 as we refuel it upon it's return from a mission.


The nimble British Lynx is known to hold the fastest air speed for a helicopter at sea level and also for being the only chopper capable of completing a full loop.


This is a British C130 J Model, which is the latest upgrade to the C130 airframe.


An Apache Longbow chopper as it returns from completing a mission.


An F-18 Hornet preparing for take off in Iraq.


The venerable UH-1N Huey over Al Asad Iraq.


2 CH-53 Sea Stallions unloading troops in Iraq.


Uploading a CH-46 (Phrog) airframe after it suffered an emergency hard landing.


Troops loading up on a CH-47 Chinook at Al Asad in Iraq.


A Marine AH-1 Cobra in flight over Al Asad Iraq.


A V-22 Osprey over Al Asad Iraq.

_________________

Cool, many thanks.

_________________

My favorite aircraft of those pictured: the Prowler and the Warthog and its awesome GAU-8 Gatling gun

Thanks for sharing Montexn.

_________________


- This is Ghost Rider requesting a fly-by. - Negative Ghost Rider. The pattern is full.

very cool pics. Thanks for sharing.

_________________
Breanach78

A Few Breitlings.

With a name like F14D Tomcat......you gotta love em buddy!! I have had the opportunity to ride in the C-130 H and J models, C-17, C-5 (that thing is HUGE), C-23 Sherpa or Flying Boxcar, CH-47, CH-46, UH-60 Black Hawk, and almost got to ride in the V-22 Osprey.....got bumped at the last second....grrrrr. Oh and I can't forget my experiences flying in an AN-24 NATO code name: Coke, Russian light cargo/troop carrier fixed wing aircraft. I'll tell ya what, bit scary to fly in the Russian birds as most of them are held together with duct tape and bailing wire....amazing they are still air worthy. I've seen the crews doing some "on the spot" repairs amongst other unconventional things that will leave you saying..."Hmmm, I think I'll wait for the next available ride if you don't mind"....even if it could mean being stuck for a few more days.

My favorite military group to work with....hands down the Brits! I made friends with many of the crew chiefs and their staff, wonderful bunch of young men and women. They were some of the hardest working air crews on the base and they knew their stuff backwards and forwards.

The Dutch were also a very awesome group of folks to work with, but almost all of them are Giants including the women. I asked them one time, "What do you guys eat over in the Netherlands that makes all of ya'll so big?"....the reply, "Whatever doesn't get away".

The Aussies were on par with the Brits, but there wasn't a very big contingent of them I was exposed to. The ones I worked with were also a great bunch of folks.

The Harrier is a cool bird, but they require more maintenance than even a rotary wing aircraft, which amazed me. The C-130 is like the 18 wheeler of the sky and is depended upon heavily to support all types of missions. The C-17 is simply incredible, it has so much power and can take off and land in an incredibly short distance for such a big bird. It is all state of the art with an all glass cockpit, able to carry up to 2 UH-60 helicopters or a 40 foot container, and can also be fitted with normal commercial seating to do personnel transport duty.

I must say I really enjoyed my time working on the flight line over there in Afghanistan and I got to learn quite a bit. It was a very interesting experience to say the least.

Oh and as a side note: I think the aircraft that most impressed me was the AC-130H Gunship with it's with two 20 mm M61 Vulcan cannons, one Bofors 40mm autocannon, and one 105 mm M102 cannon. This is one "Bad Mama Jama", trust me you don't want one of these bad boys loitering over your location for long if you are a bad guy. Check out the 2 links below.

http://www.aviationexplorer.com/c-130_facts.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_AC-130

_________________

Good stuff, thanks for posting these! My knowledge is very limited but I love watching aircraft.

Quite a report there Montexn, really appreciate the details.

Tell you the truth, I really envy you. It must have been quite an experience. Although I have seen all of the aircraft pictured in my spotter "career", I've never, of course, had the chance to see them in the theater they're suppose to operate. The closest I had the chance to get was in various get-together meetings in Europe (even for the Predator!), so that was mostly static.

Aircraft I had the chance to board were, among others, the Globemaster, Galaxy and Hercules. I also had the chance to have very interesting and detailed discussions with the pilots who had flown the aircraft (fixed and rotary wing) to the various meetings to the limit of classified info, of course. The best, was a memorable discussion for over 2 hours with the pilot of a Tomcat at le Bourget in Paris. We talked with his RIO about bogies, air-to-air refueling, carrier landings and especially nite carrier-landings etc. Because you really have to have balls to do that IMO. However, the best thing you can ever do with your clothes on is a carrier take-off That was also the last time I have seen an airworthy Tomcat

It is only after discussions like these that one can realize how passionate these men and women are for the dangerous job they are doing. And how proud they are to defend yours and mine freedom. They know the danger they face everyday and they expect it but it is part of their everyday life, so they have learned to live with it and it does not influence their operating mode.

As for the Brits, I totally agree with you, not only they have the tradition, but they are really "living" their job, if you know what I mean. No wonder they know their stuff inside-out. They are on the same wave length with the Americans, sharing a common language and also, very often, the same equipment.

By the way, lucky you for having had the chance to take a pic of yourself in a Harrier (seen in the cars thread ) as they're supposed to be retired next year.

_________________


- This is Ghost Rider requesting a fly-by. - Negative Ghost Rider. The pattern is full.

Thanks for the photos.
I used to be a crew chief on C5's back in the day, but never got to work on the C17 as that was before its time. And I had no idea the Predator Drones were that big.

Thanks so much for posting these Montexn.

I'm curious. Why does the Dept of Defense, a U.S. Government entity, use Russian made helicopters in it's operations?

I'm assuming they're specially equipped in some way or function in some capacity that's unavailable in our own helicopters?

I'm sure there's a good reason for it. I know our government wouldn't want to waste tax payer dollars.

But seriously, What's the deal there?

Neither did I until I got in theater and had to contend with sharing the taxiway with them, but at gray dawn and especially at night they can be difficult to see on the taxiway.

Along with the Predator here at the base I'm on now, they also have another variant that resembles the old P-38 Lightning with it's twin fuselage. Unfortunately I've not been able to get any shots of it with my camera yet. The P-38 is one of my favorite WWII vintage fighter aircraft along with the P-51 Mustang of course. They also made a twin fuselage version of the P-51 Mustang called the P-82 Twin Mustang, but they were too late to be used in WWII. The P-82 did if I remember right score the first aerial kill of the Korean War though.

I had an American flag flown on a Predator mission to give to my son who is in the Air Force and actually is an instructor in Avionic Electronics and Communication on the C-130 J Model. When I went to pick up my flag upon the Predators return from mission I was also afforded a chance to watch a video from the "Eyeball"; I was surprised at the limited field of peripheral vision it had. It was interesting however as this particular video happened to involve a near miss with one of our fuel tankers and a Predator w/2 Hellfire missiles on-board as it traveled down the taxiway. The video clearly showed the driver of the tanker at fault and all of us suffered for his mistake.

_________________

Don't quote me on this br549, but from what I was told about the MI-8 is that it does not suffer the ill effects of flying in the heat and altitude of Afghanistan. Every one of the other rotary aircraft in theater suffered huge deficits due to the heat and altitude and believe it or not the CH-47 was one of the fastest in that theater from what I was told by the pilots. The Apache, Black Hawk, Lynx all suffered immensely in that environment, in fact the Brits Spec Ops guys used the MI-8 as well. The Dutch flew a chopper known as the Cougar which in the middle of the day had to remain grounded due to lift issues pertaining to the heat and altitude. So there may be some truth behind the MI-8's qualities being more suited for the Afghan environment.

_________________

Russian planes and choppers are used because they cost much less to operate than if a comparable western built equipment was used. They're available in huge quantities and easier to ferry over from the CIS countries. They are usually leased.

However, IMO they're used primarily for transport/cargo missions where cutting edge technology is not necessarily required. Lost airframes can be easily replaced and at a lesser cost. Ex-eastern block equipment cost much less than their American or western equivalent. They are also cheaper to maintain, if they are maintained at all and not replaced directly.

That way, flying time (hence maintenance costs) is kept at a minimum for western built airframes and equipment. Rotation of these, needed for extensive mandatory maintenance (which is not executed in Iraq or Afghanistan) is also extended.

Also, Russian choppers were better equipped for the Afghan or Iraqi environment. That is why Apaches, Lynxes or Black Hawks for that matter had to be modified for ex. with special filters for sand. Notably, filters used for aircraft operated in Afghanistan are different from those used for planes operated in Iraq because the sand particles are different in those two environments. But that took the maintenance guys some time to figure out with the results being many choppers being grounded, which the coalition could not afford. Having that experience, the British Merlins, for ex., were modified before they were sent to Afghanistan.

_________________


- This is Ghost Rider requesting a fly-by. - Negative Ghost Rider. The pattern is full.

Great post, thanks for sharing

_________________

For more information on identifying Breitling replicas, please visit my web site
http://f4buz.com/watches/breitling/fakes/fakes.html

Wow! Ask and you shall receive. This is what makes this forum the best out there IMO. Montexn and F14D_Tomcat you guys amaze me. Such great knowledge.

Really appreciate it guys!

Elwyn

These are amazing, thank you for sharing.

My favourites are the C-17 and the V-22 Osprey as they IMO are, respectively, the most retro-looking and futuristic of the bunch. Again, the predator is much larger than I'd have imagined, but I'm not surprised it's difficult to see in certain light conditions! Maybe if it were smaller there would be more accidents...