Reference Photos

[Scott R Wilson]

I had a few minutes to spare so I thought I'd post a few photos some of you might find interesting or useful.

Here's a couple of F-5Es I photographed at Zaragoza AB, Spain:

Here's two of 74-1568 that I shot a few years apart. The first one was at an airshow at MCAS Yuma on April 16, 1983 when the airplane belonged to the 57 FWW. The second time I photographed this airplane it had been repainted and reassigned to the 527 TFTAS at RAF Alconbury. I took the photo at Decimommannu AB, Sardinia, Italy on October 24, 1985.

And here's three of 74-1563 that I took, this first one at Ramstein on September 24, 1983 and the second two I took at Decimommannu:

74-1563 on March 26 1984 at Decimommannu:

And same jet on October 24, 1985 with a 10 TRW patch added to the side of the nose and a very subtle change to the gray camouflage:

Edited January 19, 2014 by Scott R Wilson

[Scott R Wilson]

I photographed 74-1556 at Zaragoza on July 29, 1983:

Another time I shot 74-1556 at Zaragoza, this time on May 17, 1984

Here's two shots of 74-1553, the first was taken in July 1984 with my camera by a WSO of the 526 TFS. I'd asked him to try to get some air-to-air photos for me. Unfortunately those didn't come out well enough to bother posting here, but he did get this really nice shot while they were sitting for the end of runway checks just prior to takeoff. The second photo I took at Decimommannu on October 24, 1985:

Edited January 19, 2014 by Scott R Wilson

[Pete]

Great!

I'm building 74-1563 right now, and these pics are great reference. Thanks for sharing them!

[Scott R Wilson]

I photographed 74-1543 at Decimommannu, October 24, 1985:

74-1544 at Deci, same day:

74-1545 at Deci, same day:

And 74-1547 at Deci again, same day:

I took this photo of 74-1549 at Zaragoza on July 29, 1983:

And I saw this jet again back at Ramstein on September 24, 1983:

Here's one I took at George AFB on April 7, 1983, just a few days before I left George for my next assignment at Ramstein:

I took this one in May 1982 while standing on the hood of my car parked on a desert dirt road just outside the fence at George AFB. Someone called the cops on me, and they came by to check me out. They claimed that though I was outside the fence, the military still controlled the area and I had to leave. I think they were wrong but I knew better than to try to argue, so I left. Still, it's one of my favorite photos:

[Scott R Wilson]

I shot 74-1532 at Ramstein on December 3, 1983:

And I saw this airplane again at Decimommannu on October 24, 1985:

Here's a shot I took of 74-1538 from a road that went to the Alert Facility alongside the taxiway at George AFB in May 1982:

My buddy Kevin Foy shot 74-1534 at a base in England:

Another one, 71-1417, that I took at George AFB, this time in October 1982

And in November 1982 I took this photo of F-5B 71-1033 at George AFB:

And finally for this batch, here's a shot I got of 71-1420 at George AFB in March 1983:

Edited January 19, 2014 by Scott R Wilson

[Scott R Wilson]

I preferred shooting jets static with a 50mm lens for maximum image sharpness, but occasionally having a telephoto lens on hand was a good thing. I kind of like this shot I grabbed on the ramp at Nellis AFB in November 1982:

And I never got to be close enough to this F-5A to be able to get static shots. It flew as a target for the two F-106s that the San Antonio ALC operated, I presume for testing systems modifications.

Here's a shot in my collection by Mick Roth from December 4, 1976:

Another one from my collection dated November 1980, photographer unknown to me:

And I saw this same airplane some years later. Here she is at George AFB on April 17, 1983. It might be one of the very last photos I shot at George before leaving for Germany:

Edited January 19, 2014 by Scott R Wilson

[Scott R Wilson]

Here's 74-1571 at Nellis AFB, I took this photo in June 1982:

And I saw the same jet again at Nellis in November 1982:

74-1572 was at George AFB in November 1982:

And during November of 1982 I took a trip to Nellis where I photographed the same jet again:

I took this photo of 74-1573 at Nellis in March 1982:

My buddy Kevin Foy took this photo of 74-1570 at Kelly AFB, Texas in December 1981:

I saw 1570 with a new paint job at Nellis in November 1982

Edited January 19, 2014 by Scott R Wilson

[Scott R Wilson]

There was a road at Kelly AFB that paralleled the runway that I sometimes parked besides to shoot photos over the fence. I got this sequence of two F-5Es departing Kelly one day:

My buddy Kevin Foy got this one at Kelly AFB in December 1981:

Here's another one I shot at Nellis in November 1982, 74-1558:

Kirk Minert shot this one of 74-1557 on February 24, 1980:

And this one of 74-1557 I took at Nellis on April 2, 1983:

I got this shot of 74-1531 at MCAS Yuma on April 16, 1983:

Edited January 19, 2014 by Scott R Wilson

[Ian Cooper]

Wow - some brilliant shots there, Scott. Thanks for sharing!

Ian

[Hajo L.]

Wonderful pictures! Astonishing how many different paintschemes were worn...

HAJO

[Scott R Wilson]

Wonderful pictures! Astonishing how many different paintschemes were worn...

HAJO

I'm glad you guys enjoyed my photos. I have a book of color schemes worn by the F-5s at Nellis up until 1983 or thereabouts. I'll post it in a separate thread. I hope someday to find time to finish scanning the rest of my F-5 slides, I have quite a few more in my collection.

Scott W.

[Lancer512]

These pictures are a real treasure! Thank you for sharing them with us

[Emvar]

Scott,

You have created an excellent resource here Thank you!!! I hope this will eventually make it to the resource page.

Emil

[Stefan buysse]

Totally awesome, as usual.

Thank you, Scott.

[BJ Blazkowicz]

Such a great collection Scott. You made me want to build one of these.

[phantom]

Excellent photos, thanks for posting them!!!

[Aggressor01]

Here are a few pics from VMFT-401 taken by Ted Carlson. I posted them in the F-5 corner a while back but they were lost in the great ARC crash of 2013 <_</>

Not really much use because they are taken from the ramp of a C-130 but beautiful nonetheless.

Notice the shadow on the nose from the tail of the C-130. Now that's close :jaw-dropping:/>

Hope this helps for those of you doing the Marine Corps schemes.

[Devilleader501]

Wow very cool. I love the pics of the MCAS Yuma aircraft. Makes me wonder if my father was out and about refueling aircraft when you were snapping these shots. I have quite a bit of pictures of yuma from the 70's that my father took while he was in the Corp. I'll have to get them out and scan them. I especially like the pictures you have from Nellis. You can see how much has changed from then and now. Nothing like a history lesson to make you feel old. Lol. Great pictures my friend.

[SERNAK]

Fantastic shots!!!!

Thanks for sharing.

[Jinxter13]

Thanx Scott if the USAF nickels had a scheme that you didn't show, it must have been for one day only...you've got every scheme that they ever had. Some of the shots are just beyond words IMHO :worship: .

[Exhausted]

Wow very cool. I love the pics of the MCAS Yuma aircraft. Makes me wonder if my father was out and about refueling aircraft when you were snapping these shots. I have quite a bit of pictures of yuma from the 70's that my father took while he was in the Corp. I'll have to get them out and scan them. I especially like the pictures you have from Nellis. You can see how much has changed from then and now. Nothing like a history lesson to make you feel old. Lol. Great pictures my friend.

I remember 32nd St going back toward Ave B and seeing these guys land.

Here are some pictures I took in Yuma and Phoenix at the air shows during 2011.

Close of up the pilot:

Phoenix

Edited February 10, 2014 by Exhausted

[Exhausted]

double post.

Edited February 10, 2014 by Exhausted

[SERNAK]

Fantastic pics!!! Thanks for sharing!

[SERNAK]

Hi Guys,

Now, that the Trumpeter T-38 is out on the market, I've decided to buy one and build the following T-38A, from NFWS.

Does anyone have these photos in colour format? They are from the book, "Colors & Markings of the U.S. NAVY Adversaries Aircraft" by Bert Kinzey (page 10).

Any help would be much appreciated!

Edited February 22, 2014 by SERNAK

[SERNAK]

Any progress on finding a color photo of this "lovely" T-bird??? Anyone?

Come on you guys!!! I know you must have at least one color-picture in your archives!!!!

Edited February 24, 2014 by SERNAK