bolo Posted November 17, 2012 Share Posted November 17, 2012 AJ-501 VAQ-134 Garudas Quote Link to post Share on other sites
A6BSTARM Posted November 17, 2012 Share Posted November 17, 2012 The caption for that picture is wrong. That is a ICAP II Block 89A Mod 4 aircraft. I can because it has the LED strobes on it and the Block 89A has been the standard variant since about the late 1990s in the fleet. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Moffettflyer Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 Nice catch! VAQ-134 with their new 'AJ' tail code. Interesting that 502 has a different style 'A' than 501. Almost looks like the font they might have used for CVW-17's old 'AA' tail code. While 501 got a freshly painted 'AJ' Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Devilleader501 Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 I want to know how you caught the strobes. The only way I can tell them is kind of close up and flying at night because they light up differently. And whats with the, most of the prowlers are the ICAP II because most of the Marine Prowlers are ICAP III now. Was that person talking about the NAVY birds. That would make sense because they are going EA-18's now instead of Prowlers. ALQ 99's have been carried for years. Whats the deal with this pic. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
A6BSTARM Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 So the strobes are easy to catch because if you blow it up and look at the lower forward one under the nose (the one just before the radome) its is clear vs. being a red. That is indicitive of being a LED strobe that came with the ICAP II Block 89A Mod 4 changes. The caption of the photo on Flickr states this is a Block 86, if that would be true then the LED strobes wouldn't be there. The ARC-210 antennas wouldn't be installed (the ones that have the horns on them just aft of the cockpit and under the cockpit on the lower half of the forward fuseslage), there wouldn't be the additional antennas for the USQ-113 system (the extra blade antenna on the top of the fuselage in what is commonly called "Turtleback 3" that also contains the SATCOM hump, along with the large blade antenna on the birdcage area). To tell if its ICAP III you would need to know what is under the radome and what is under the "football" on the tail. So just looking at what I see right in front of me tells me at its heart, this is basically an ICAP II Block 89A mod (since there are two of the ARC-210 antennas vs 1 with the Blk 89 mod), then add in that LED strobes are there that makes it a Mod 4 change. Mod 4 basically brings over a number of ICAP III changes such as a DFCS system, new IFF system and a few others with out adding in the ALQ-218 mods. The only visual clue that I can remember which tells an ICAP II from an ICAP III bird is that on the football there is an extra panel on the aft section commonly called the "Coffee Can" this use to house an antenna array for the ALQ-126 system from way back in the days of EXCAP and ICAP I. During the ICAP III mods, this panel is deleted so the tail is smooth again on the back end. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bolo Posted December 17, 2012 Author Share Posted December 17, 2012 (edited) JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Dec. 14, 2012) Personnel assigned to Fleet Readiness Center Southeast tow an EA-6B Prowler aircraft down Yorktown Boulevard at Naval Air Station Jacksonville towards Heritage Park. The Prowler is painted in a World War II paint scheme and displays the names of several naval aviator heroes including Capt. Scott Speicher who was shot down during the Gulf War, Capt. Michael Estocin, a Medal of Honor recipient for actions during the Vietnam Conflict, Cmdr. Harry Ferrier, a hero during the Battle of Midway and Korean War Ace Cmdr. Guy Bordelon, Jr. The aircraft is on loan from the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Fla. Edited December 17, 2012 by bolo Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nt161822 Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 Caught a couple VAQ-209 Starwarriors yesterday......... 501 must have got some new paint?, the nose looks different to me than the old 500?? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Moffettflyer Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 (edited) Nice catch! The most interesting thing is that she is numbered 501. CAG used to be 500. Aside from the nose the font for all of the lettering is different also. Looks pretty sharp! Edited January 29, 2013 by Moffettflyer Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tomcatfreak Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 What means TSW? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
xavi84 Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 (edited) My guess is The Star Warriors. That is one awesome looking prowler. I like it better then the old 500. Edited January 29, 2013 by xavi84 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
VFA-103guy Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 WHOA!! That VAQ-209 jet is the balls!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Peter Fey Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 What means TSW? Training Support Wing. What became of CVWR-20, the reserve CVW. TSW has VAQ-209, VFC-12 & 13, VFA-204 and the recently decommed VAW squadron. The reserves have been feeling the budget pinch as of late. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
xavi84 Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 OOH. Well I learned something new today. Thanks Peter Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Moffettflyer Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 I wonder if '500' is in full color also? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tomcatfreak Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 Training Support Wing. What became of CVWR-20, the reserve CVW. TSW has VAQ-209, VFC-12 & 13, VFA-204 and the recently decommed VAW squadron. The reserves have been feeling the budget pinch as of late. Thanks Peter Quote Link to post Share on other sites
FeetDry Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 What means TSW? The "T" in TSW actually stands for Tactical. HTH! Jeff Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jinxter13 Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 All it needs now is to paint "Kolja" on it, and it's perfect :D Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jai5w4 Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 I wonder if '500' is in full color also? Doubtful. I would guess 500 to probably be in depot level maintenance; so they painted up 501 in it's stead. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brian P: Fightertown Decals Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 (edited) Talk about perfect timing! - For VAQ-129 Starwarrior fans I have some good news. When we originally printed the sheet 48050 we got 550 copies from the printer but only 500 inserts for the tail. We finally printed up a new batch of tail inserts along with a few extra pieces. So we now have 50 sheets available. (and 200 extra tail inserts that will go into the spares box). So while it's still the 501 jet, we do have the sheets back in stock. I'll turn on the links in the morning. thanks, brian Edited February 7, 2013 by Brian P: Fightertown Decals Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Karl Sander Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 Another way to tell if it's ICAP III is there's a small blade antenna on the top of the 'football' on the tail in addition to the removal of the -126 'beer can.' Which makes Kinetic's -140 boxing kind of ineteresting, in that the airframe (externally at least, I can't remember what I've read about the cockpit) represents ICAP III, but the paint job represents -140's ICAP II '500.' Once we got ICAP III (right as I was arriving the at the squadron), the color on the tail of 500 had to stop at the football. NAVAIR was pretty explicit in saying 'no,' and guys who had worked both developmental and operational test in their shore jobs were fellow department heads - and they managed to convince the front office that, in fact, it would have been bad to paint the football. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
efd327 Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 Another Prowler has been placed on static display. It is 158034 the 10th Prowler built and came off the production line in 1971 or 72, has been placed on static display at Tinker AFB, Oklahoma. It carries the tail code NE and has USS Constellation for the carrier name. It apparently just arrived recently and work is still being done. As the gate to where it is on display was locked I could not get close for pictures. I would assume as Tinker has the Navy E-6 squadrons stationed there is the reason it has been put on display at an Air Force base. Hope this helps for the bureau number watchers out there. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Photogator Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 EA-6B 160609 in CONA colors is the subject of a walkaround I did previously that is now posted to Prime Portal EA-6B 160609 bill Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bolo Posted July 9, 2014 Author Share Posted July 9, 2014 Do you know which squadron VAQ will go to CVW-8 after going to the EA-18G? According to Wikipedia it is to be VAQ-133 or VAQ-131. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GreyGhost Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 One can never fully know until you see the AJ on the tails and see them flying off the boat ... -Gregg Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Diamondback Six Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 I'm throwing a bit of a Hail Mary here, but does anybody have anything on the VEP mods for 158542 and 158547 before the three ADVCAPs were cut-and-spliced into FrankenProwler? Mainly, I'm looking for anything that could help me fab the fin-tip and wing LERX extensions, what few photos I've seen are all at more dramatic "artsy" angles and nothing square-on and suitable for reference. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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