Jump to content

Any good spotting areas at Barksdale, AFB?


Recommended Posts

From memory back in 1997, there wasn't any places that I/we found that give any kind of view of the a/c while they were on the ground. Best bet would probably be to position yourself further down the approaches of the runway. 

Link to post
Share on other sites

IIRC, there's a few parking lots on the NE side of the base that you could get some decent shots if they don't call the police on you. I think the entire south side is heavy woods and swampy areas= possible gators...best of luck!

 

Jeff

Link to post
Share on other sites

Actually, after a bit of googling, I found that BAFB is the home of the Global Airpower Museum.  Small collection of neat stuff inside but the best part was the outdoors display that includes approx 20 aircraft ranging from an immaculate P-51 to an SR-71, a couple of BUFF's and many others.  Never thought I'd get to poke around a Vulcan!    Nice way to kill a few hours.   Highly recommend it for anyone passing through that part of LA.   

Link to post
Share on other sites

You found the museum before I found this thread. I enjoyed the museum when I visited on an alert one time. I have some pictures from my visit buried somewhere. Some that may or may not have been from the flightline too :)

 

Cheers,

 

Dave

Link to post
Share on other sites

Funny you mention the Barksdale Vulcan....first time I saw that one was in the air as I was flying over it in a Cessna 152, believe it or not. I did my flight training at Louisiana Tech about an hour away and on one of my cross-country training flights we came down toward Shreveport from the north and were cleared to overfly BAFB en route to the Downtown airport. Not sure how often that happens for a 19-yr old in a Cessna, but I was stunned to be looking down at the A-10 flightline underneath me.

 

Well, as I was hitting one end of the field I was ASTONISHED to see below the unmistakable shape of a Vulcan! I had no idea there was a museum there, and being 1989 I wasn't sure if there were still a few around so naturally I thought it was a visiting beauty. Had I been a passenger and not trying to control and talk etc I might have noticed the other non-standard aircraft around it including a MiG-21F-13; DEFINITELY not visiting. :cheers: 

Link to post
Share on other sites

Wow, quite a story on the Vulcan...always like learning stuff like that.

 

As far as inaccuracies, the one time I got up close to there on the ground I was primarily interested in the MiG-21. It was early 90's by then and Fishbeds were still a bit rare in the USA. I was horrified to see it was painted in silver dope by what must have been a house brush! We modelers know that silver paint and large-bristle marks do not go together. Ever. 

 

Was interested further in seeing the tires were Goodyears; okay, tough to find spares here at that time....too bad they didn't actually fit the wheel rims....

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 3 weeks later...

Got back from my stay in the region.  Here are a few pics of the aircraft lineup at the museum.   If you ever end up in the scenic Bossier City, LA area, this is well worth a few hours of your time.   If you visit during a weekday, good chance you'll see some BUFF's flying as well.  

 

93800B32-EF8D-4D56-80C0-548A142D6F6F_zps

 

087E2F78-C736-4E92-BC8E-822D86353E70_zps

 

79929006-FCEC-4768-8600-85758F38DAF3_zps

 

 

Edited by 11bee
Link to post
Share on other sites
On 20.2.2017 at 11:57 PM, 11bee said:

Regarding the Vulcan, I think I recall that it was here on a SAC exercise and caught fire on the ground.   It was damaged beyond repair so the RAF bequeathed it to SAC as a display piece.     Beatiful aircraft.,...

 

AFAIK, they also left a Vulcan at Goose Bay, for the same reason.

 

Link to post
Share on other sites
On ‎2‎/‎19‎/‎2017 at 4:35 PM, jefropas said:

IIRC, there's a few parking lots on the NE side of the base that you could get some decent shots if they don't call the police on you. I think the entire south side is heavy woods and swampy areas= possible gators...best of luck!

 

Jeff

 

On ‎3‎/‎12‎/‎2017 at 1:04 PM, Lancer512 said:

 

AFAIK, they also left a Vulcan at Goose Bay, for the same reason.

 

and snakes! Lots and lots of snakes, and not the good kind

 

Link to post
Share on other sites
On 3/12/2017 at 11:04 AM, Lancer512 said:

 

AFAIK, they also left a Vulcan at Goose Bay, for the same reason.

 

That is correct, and I may have photos of it somewhere on in my collection of crap... 

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...