F/A-18E's of VFA-103 Jolly Rogers - bu.no's?

[Niels]

Thanks @fasteagle12, the unit is however VFA-31, not -103 which I inquired about.
The reason I inquire is because VFA-103 historically has always flown the F/A-18F, but recently have also introduced 3 E's to the fleet. And its these E's I'm curious about. So far 2 identified, only missing the third. 

Otherwise agree that for some photos its easy to read the bu.no., however not so much for pictures taken on the flattops.  

[fasteagle12]

6 hours ago, Niels said:

Thanks @fasteagle12, the unit is however VFA-31, not -103 which I inquired about.
The reason I inquire is because VFA-103 historically has always flown the F/A-18F, but recently have also introduced 3 E's to the fleet. And its these E's I'm curious about. So far 2 identified, only missing the third. 

Otherwise agree that for some photos its easy to read the bu.no., however not so much for pictures taken on the flattops.  

I see that now.  I was searching by VFA-103 and the photo came up and I didn't verify the unit.

[fasteagle12]

 

[strikeeagle801]

I can't find it anymore, but there was just a post today on Instagram with several Jolly Rogers jets on an airport ramp. There was either one or two Echos in the group. I thought it was at Wilmington International Airport. Maybe your search skills are better than mine. I can't pull it up.

 

Aaron 

[Alternative 4]

I found the photos you refer too. There were two Super Hornets, 212 and 202 (an F model)

 

 

[Niels]

Ooh, those pics are nice! I found the Mason Ellis account on Insta, and he sure has some nice pictures of VFA-103 from October 12th!

[strikeeagle801]

Yes, those seem to be the ones I was referring to. 

 

Aaron

[Thadeus]

Please. Not so fast. I still haven't gotten to terms with VFA-211 switching to Echos.

[tosouthern66]

There is another possibility on the E's. I think 103's birds are being pulled for Block 3 upgrades. If that is the case then the E's might be on loan so they can keep their operational commitments and give the pilots the chance to keep their flight hours up. Here is a good place to look up BuNo's.

https://www.joebaugher.com/navy_serials/thirdseries23.html

Edited November 1, 2024 by tosouthern66

[Niels]

Joe Baugher's work is great, too bad he passed away last year. 
His work is still online but not being updated anymore. 

Crouze has however taken over the gauntlet and republished on a new site that he is in fact updating: Joe Baugher's serial number lists

[757flyer]

Oh wow, I had not realized Joe had passed away.  His work is almost the Bible of sorts for U.S. military aircraft serials.  Refer to it all the time.  What an incredible individual effort.  Glad his work will live on as tribute to his time and dedication.

 

 

[757flyer]

For the -E in the Ellis photo above (AG212), the aircraft appears to be wearing the standard two-tone gray colors (FS36320 over FS36375), if a bit faded.  But what color is the radome?  Is that appearance the result of fading and wear on the paint (almost has a glossy sheen to it)?  What color are the tail skull and AG letters?  I would assume they are FS35237 as they definitely have a blue tone to them.  The rest of the detail markings (NAVY, BuNo, Warning stencils, etc) should be FS35237 - correct?  The nose Modex and I believe the ones on the flaps are black.

Edited November 1, 2024 by 757flyer
Mis-typed paint color number

[tosouthern66]

I was unaware of Joe passing away! Damn! Ill check out the other page for updates. 757flyer, not sure on these supers but on the legacy the radomes had a rubbery type boot applied. It was some what semi glossy. I know when I was in corrosion control we were told do not paint the nose boot!

[Waltz41]

Hey guys,

   Just saw this so hope it helps.  Here's 211.... it's Bu. No. 165870.  I took this on a spotting trip down there at the beginning of this past August.  Also, not sure if you all ever noticed, but check out the Skull and Bones on the tail....all the E's carry a patch over one eye!

 

Brian

   

 

 

[strikeeagle801]

On 11/1/2024 at 5:33 AM, 757flyer said:

For the -E in the Ellis photo above (AG212), the aircraft appears to be wearing the standard two-tone gray colors (FS36320 over FS36375), if a bit faded.  But what color is the radome?  Is that appearance the result of fading and wear on the paint (almost has a glossy sheen to it)?  What color are the tail skull and AG letters?  I would assume they are FS35237 as they definitely have a blue tone to them.  The rest of the detail markings (NAVY, BuNo, Warning stencils, etc) should be FS35237 - correct?  The nose Modex and I believe the ones on the flaps are black.

I know that with the F-15 and F-16 that the radomes are not painted but rather coated with a neoprene-like material that allows the radar to "see" through it, and that it is matched closely, but not necessarily exactly, to the colors of the surrounding airframe. The radome is seldomly re-coated during its lifetime, and weathers at a different rate than the airframe around it. It would not surprise me that this is the same with the F-18's. So, I don't know if you would get an exact FS match to it, but rather look for something that is "close enough" and go with that.

 

Aaron  

[757flyer]

19 hours ago, Waltz41 said:

Hey guys,

   Just saw this so hope it helps.  Here's 211.... it's Bu. No. 165870.  I took this on a spotting trip down there at the beginning of this past August.  Also, not sure if you all ever noticed, but check out the Skull and Bones on the tail....all the E's carry a patch over one eye!

 

Brian

   

 

Brian,

 

MANY Thanks for the update on that BuNo for AG211!  Very helpful indeed.

 

Now to see what the BuNo is for the current AG210 with the gray tail:  

 

https://www.dvidshub.net/image/8631346/uss-gerald-r-ford-cvn-78-flight-operations

 

The Modex on the flaps looks very recently re-painted, and I would find it odd that they would have gone to the trouble of repainting the entire vertical stabilizers from the black that 166649 wore earlier this year.  Makes me think this is a replacement airframe for 166649...

 

 

Edited November 5, 2024 by 757flyer

[Niels]

@Waltz41 This is just brilliant, thank you 🤩 Finally I got the answer to my question, and I have also noticed the "one-eyed skull" on the tail - very cool! 

 

Another thing that amaze me with the pic you found is that this is bu.no. 165870, ie one of the earliest F/A-18E's ever to go into service since ~2002ish, ie 22 years old already. I am sure it's been upgrade over the years, but honestly thought all these early Super Hornets had been allokated to training units by now?

[757flyer]

I was able to download the high-rez version of the DVIDs photo above of AG-210 with the light gray tails, and it is in fact 166649.  So, it appears they did repaint the vertical stabs light gray.  

[Niels]

Thanks @757flyer. I can never get my head around the constant shifting back'n'forth between dark and light tails for VFA-103. Seems they can never make up their mind 😉

[757flyer]

Perhaps they are getting close to deploying again, and are planning to go back to gray tails for the "line" jets for the deployment, and 210 was the first to get repainted?  I believe the line jets didn't get the black tails until they returned from the last deployment, though I could be wrong on that.

[757flyer]

Another change - VFA-103 is now using 1xx Modex numbers, operating off the USS Bush:

 

https://www.dvidshub.net/image/8789596/daily-operations-aboard-uss-george-hw-bush-cvn-77

 

https://www.dvidshub.net/image/8796978/daily-operations-aboard-uss-george-hw-bush-cvn-77

 

VFA-83 is now wearing the AG-2xx Modex numbers:

 

https://www.dvidshub.net/image/8787943/uss-george-hw-bush-cvn-77-daily-operations

 

 

[Niels]

Thanks @757flyer. These are F's though. Assuming they have just changed "2" to "1", the bu.no's. should be F/A-18F AG106 = Bu.no. 166460 and AG102 = 166889. 
I guess it can be difficult even for the US Navy to keep the single seater "E" from the "F", as the wording states "E's" 😆

[ST0RM]

Not my photo, but a friend's. He took it on the ramp at McGhee-Tyson airport on the 26th of Nov. 
Still shows a Foxtrot with 2XX series modex

 

[757flyer]

On 12/17/2024 at 12:56 AM, Niels said:

Thanks @757flyer. These are F's though. Assuming they have just changed "2" to "1", the bu.no's. should be F/A-18F AG106 = Bu.no. 166460 and AG102 = 166889. 
I guess it can be difficult even for the US Navy to keep the single seater "E" from the "F", as the wording states "E's" 😆

 

Yeah, haven't found any new pics of the -Es since that last one with light gray tail on AG-210.  Of note in the December shots of AG-102 and AG-106 above is that they do still have the black tails.  If you look close behind the jet blast deflector in the image of 106, I think that might be a VFA-103 -F model (based on the location and appearance of the backseater crew name), which does have a light gray tail...

[kozlok]

Is anyone doing decals of the E’s yet?