The Great, Constantly Changing Picture Gallery...part DEUX

[ChuckMK23]

One of the latest batch of refurbished CH-46E's being delivered to Department of State Aviation unit at Patrick AFB, Florida. Beautiful glass cockpit, ILS, GPS, etc.

Moving from "Orca" gloss blue and white to low vis paint scheme.

View attachment 16739

@Randy Daytona

 

[Randy Daytona]

@Randy Daytona

Just as Carroll Shelby stuffed a NASCAR 427 into a tiny 2 seat British sports car, Boeing stuffed a Chinook drivetrain into a Phrog. Double the horsepower (and then some...) got you a 25% increase in max gross weight and a 50% increase in speed, to somewhere over 200 knots. What could have been....

Retractable gear helps

Streamlined fuselage and 4 bladed main rotors.

Nice rear end view. Baby Got Back.

 

[Malo83]

Yankee Station,

 

[Griz882]

Yankee Station,

Very nice. The Whale was a pretty cool aircraft and I think a few were still around back when I left active duty in 1992. I sat next to an A-3 driver who flew several strikes on VN on a cross country flight and he spoke warmly of the aircraft.

 

[Flash]

Very nice. The Whale was a pretty cool aircraft and I think a few were still around back when I left active duty in 1992. I sat next to an A-3 driver who flew several strikes on VN on a cross country flight and he spoke warmly of the aircraft.

They retired at the end of FY91 after serving one last time in the Gulf War, VQ-2 flew them in the war and some of those guys were DH's when I was in VQ-1. Some contractors flew them as testbeds, they carried radars or other systems until 2011 when they were finally retired, again.

 

[jmcquate]

after serving one last time in the Gulf War

Did not know that. Were they part of a CVW?

 

[Pags]

Did not know that. Were they part of a CVW?

At least a Det. I work with a few former VQ bubbas. One was telling Sea stories about setting out to USS Coral Sea.

 

[Recovering LSO]

Yankee Station,

Who's the artist? I can't read the signature in bottom right corner.

 

[Renegade One]

Who's the artist? I can't read the signature in bottom right corner.

R. G. Smith (Honorary Naval Aviator #10)

Painting is titled Operation Wet Wing; showcasing A-4E, A-3 and USS HANCOCK

 

[Griz882]

R. G. Smith

Well, since we are doing R.G. Smith...I have always been a fan of this one.

 

[Renegade One]

Well, since we are doing R.G. Smith...I have always been a fan of this one.

Coup de Gras - Battle of Coral Sea

 

[Griz882]

Coup de Gras - Battle of Coral Sea

Yep. My neighbor owns his "SBDs at Guadalcanal," another beautiful painting. Smith had a great hand and I could start a new thread just on his stuff.

 

[Renegade One]

Yep. My neighbor owns his "SBDs at Guadalcanal," another beautiful painting. Smith had a great hand and I could start a new thread just on his stuff.

Or we can all just "ooh and ahh" at http://rgsmithart.com/index.php?go=images.aviation-art

 

[Flash]

Did not know that. Were they part of a CVW?

Not during the Gulf War, they were based in Bahrain.

At least a Det. I work with a few former VQ bubbas. One was telling Sea stories about setting out to USS Coral Sea.

They stopped det'ing to the boat in '87 after a pair of landing mishaps, one on the Nimitz where the crew of 7 was lost.

 

[ChuckMK23]

R. G. Smith (Honorary Naval Aviator #10)

Painting is titled Operation Wet Wing; showcasing A-4E, A-3 and USS HANCOCK

Was that picture creative imagination or did tanking actually happen that low?