gary1701 Posted April 9, 2017 Share Posted April 9, 2017 (edited) Gents, A few pics that may be of interest. Lakenheath this week has seen 18 Mountain Home F-15E's transit on their way home from down South. These arrived in three separate cells of 6 on Thursday/Friday and yesterday, with each cell staying for 48 hours before making the final hop across the pond. The 492nd at Lakenheath was also deploying South at the same time to replace them. Although I couldn't do Thursday or Friday I was able to get over Yesterday for the final cell arriving. Lakenheath's second cell also deployed South and the first MO cell departed for home as well. Most of us who observe these movements here in the UK thought this was all rather ambitious and expected it to fall apart quite early as nowadays the serviceability of the KC-135/KC-10s usually results in postponements and delays. Surprisingly, only the MO cell heading home caught a delay for a couple of hours when one of the KC-10's went down at Mildenhall briefly. 'Tabor 41' flight inbound to Lakenheath on 24. Gary Edited April 9, 2017 by gary1701 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mungo1974 Posted April 9, 2017 Share Posted April 9, 2017 Been very busy putting warheads on foreheads if those mission tallies are anything to go by.... Thanks for sharing with us Gary Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gary1701 Posted April 9, 2017 Author Share Posted April 9, 2017 Hi, At first we were a bit surprised that all 18 jets carried the same mission marking stencil on the left side of the nose, but apparently it carries onto the other side as well (which I haven't seen). The totals on the right side supposedly vary depending on the jet which makes more sense. Gary Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Stephen Posted April 9, 2017 Share Posted April 9, 2017 Great pics as always Gary, thanks for sharing. An awful lot of ordnance dropped according to the mission tally. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
strikeeagle801 Posted April 11, 2017 Share Posted April 11, 2017 Great shots of my favorite unit. Thank's for sharing Gary! Aaron Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gary1701 Posted April 12, 2017 Author Share Posted April 12, 2017 Hi Aaron, The 366th was one unit I had wanted to get as well so quite pleased. They are - finally - the first non-LN tailed F-15s I have got in decent conditions. Several times we've had ANG units come through and conditions have been bad, or as often happens they come in late afternoon in the summer when the sun is high and right down the Lakenheath centreline. Couple of Saturdays ago we had gorgeous weather and I thought about going over to Mildenhall for any weekend traffic but didn't bother and a bunch of ANG F-15s turned up late afternoon at Mildenhall with excellent angles for the sun. For once I didn't know the buggers were coming and I wasn't there - gutted! Gary Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Alternative 4 Posted April 13, 2017 Share Posted April 13, 2017 Note to self: Stay on the right side of those pilots...... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nate Posted April 13, 2017 Share Posted April 13, 2017 13 hours ago, Alternative 4 said: Note to self: Stay on the right side of those pilots...... Agreed!! Check out the Air Force press release: Record Breaking Deployment - 5,000+ Bombs Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Alternative 4 Posted April 14, 2017 Share Posted April 14, 2017 A question, why are the baggage pods gloss? Is it just to confuse IPMS judges? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nate Posted April 14, 2017 Share Posted April 14, 2017 Think anyone will do decals? That would make for a great model with all the mission markings.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
strikeeagle801 Posted April 15, 2017 Share Posted April 15, 2017 7 hours ago, Nate said: Think anyone will do decals? That would make for a great model with all the mission markings.... I hope someone does. Some updated 366th FW decals would be welcome. Aaron Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gary1701 Posted April 15, 2017 Author Share Posted April 15, 2017 (edited) Gents, Here's a few on the FC forum shot by somebody last Monday when this cell departed back home. It shows the differing mission marks on the other side. www.fightercontrol.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=144560 Gary Edited April 15, 2017 by gary1701 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jelliott523 Posted June 14, 2017 Share Posted June 14, 2017 (edited) Great photos!! I always like seeing the Mountain Home birds in photos from international locations. Fortunately, since I live in the Boise area, they are a frequent sight in the skies around here. It's especially cool to see that you have pictures of the Gunfighters, Bold Tigers and Thunderbolt aircraft at the same time! Way cool! Above are a couple of the Strike Eagles from Mountain Home that I recently completed. Edited June 14, 2017 by jelliott523 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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