USA II 2024
A full solar eclipse and shows at Randolph AFB and Fort Worth JRB were three good reasons to visit Texas!
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Texas offers a wide variety of military aviation, so we planned another trip to this relaxed state. Besides aviation, one of the goals of the trip was to witness the full solar eclipse that would occur during our stay.
On Friday 5 April 2024 a group of photographers gathered at Schiphol for the journey to the USA. After a smooth lay-over in Chicago, we arrived in the early evening at Dallas-Fort Worth. After picking up the van for the week, we moved to our nearby hotel for some well-deserved rest.
After an all-American breakfast we headed for the first stop of the Saturday 6 April 2024: Love Field. Unfortunately, not much of our interest was happening so we headed to Alliance where we saw the first military aircraft of the trip: a bunch of visiting T-6s from Laughlin AFB. Next stop of the day was Fort Worth (C-40) after which we made a quick stop at Waco. Nothing could be photographed very well here but we did see two of the new USAF E-37 and a C-5. Bergstrom provided no less than 9 different US Navy T-6s, but only a few could pe photographed. Our end goal of the day was San Antonio, where we managed to photograph some visiting T-1s. Not bad for a Saturday!
With some stories about heavy traffic published by the USAF in our mind, we made an early start on Sunday 7 April 2024 to visit the ‘Great Texas Air Show’ at Randolph AFB. A wise choice as traffic was still light and before we knew it, we walked on the ramp of the base. Quite a lot of static aircraft could be seen and photographed as not too many people were on the base yet. The airshow part of the day was surprisingly packed with action, featuring F-16s, F-15s, F-35s and of course the local trainer aircraft. The show was closed by the famous Thunderbirds after which the great exodus started. Getting off base was more difficult, but we managed to make it within an hour or so, enabling us to end our day with some Texas steaks and beers!
We had another early start on Monday 8 April 2024 as we still had some distance to cover to Laughlin AFB. These base houses the 47th FTW who operate the T-1, T-6 and T-38. This day was also the day of the total solar eclipse and Laughlin being directly in the path of the eclipse. We contacted the base on beforehand, and they agreed to host us to take pictures of the aircraft during the eclipse!
The total eclipse would take place around 12:30 local time and lasts more than 3 minutes. There would be no flying this day due to the eclipse, but we had provided the base with several suggestions on how to position the aircraft. Upon arrival we had enough time to wander on the ramps to take pictures of the based aircraft before the Eclipse would occur. As there was a thunderstorm planned later that day, ground crew was busy moving T-38s from the ramp to the hangars and no time to move ‘our’ aircraft to the desired spots. Nevertheless, three aircraft remained on the ramp for us to take pictures during the Eclipse.
Imagine nighttime setting in in a few seconds; that is the strange effect that an Eclipse has. From daylight to pitch dark in moments, a very strange effect! Unfortunately, the weather was not playing ball with clouds hindering a full view of the Eclipse but with help of the special glasses we could still see the effect. We managed to make some pictures after all, and we left the base very satisfied with the experience. The rest of the day was used to cover the distance to Corpus Christi.
Today, Tuesday 9 April 2024, was all about Naval training. We started out at NAS Corpus Christi where, despite the murky weather, activities were high. Unfortunately, the aircraft did not use the nearby outlying fields, so photography was a bit boring. After some time, we decided to try our luck at NAS Kingsville, home of the T-45 of the US Navy. The weather had improved quite a bit, so we were lucky enough to catch quite a few Goshawks in nice weather. By the end of the afternoon, we headed on to our hotel in Waco, experiencing fierce Thunderstorms along the way.
Wednesday 10 April 2024 started at Waco, where we were able to catch a nice NASA T-38 on the ramp. Next stop was NAS Fort Worth that was a bit slow, but very interesting. Quality over quantity in this case. Highlights were two legacy Hornets, some more modern Growlers and both UAE Air Force F-16 testbeds that did a mission at the end of the day. The day started out rainy but at the end of the day the sun came through the clouds every now and then. In the end, a very rewarding day!
Sun and lots of activity is the summary of Thursday 11 April 2024. An early start at Sheppard AFB, home of the 80th FTW, started at the runway mostly in use by T-6s for some early morning light shots. The morning proceeded near the other two runways that Sheppard AFB has, to catch the many, many flights that were performed today. A virtually endless stream of activities today with a few special color aircraft as well in the mix.
After a short lunch we returned to the base to catch mainly T-38s using two of the three runways. Weather was still playing ball, so we had our cameras working overtime. A nice intermezzo was had when a Belgian T-38 instructor came to visit us for a small chat outside the base. We had some driving to do to Enid, so we left the base in the early evening. The successful day was finished with a nice steak!
Another day, another early start. Despite being a Friday (12 April 2024), activities started early at Vance AFB with flocks of T-6s making their way to the sky. Opportunities at Vance are great so within no time we had some good pictures of the based aircraft. During lunch we paid a visit to the nearby civil airport where we found a T-38, T-6 and T-1 at the ramp. In the afternoon the activities started to dwindle down a bit but we were still able to get some nice shots of the T-38s. We ended the day again at the civil airport where six T-38s arrived for a weekend stay, after which we headed for our final destination of the trip: Fort Worth.
Today, Saturday 13 April 2024, we visited the ‘Wings over Cowtown’ airshow at JRB Fort Worth, the first show at that base since 2016. Entering the base for non-US citizens included formalities as fingerprints and headshots but after that we were free to roam. A very nice static included several US Navy aircraft (T-45, F/A-18, T-6, P-8) but also US Army, USMC and USAF assets. The perks of a Joint Reserve Base! The airshow included a C-17, C-130 and a USMC Role demo and what finished off by the famous Blue Angels. A great day out and we hope this airshow will be held more regularly! The last evening of the trip was, of course, closed off by some steak and beers!
Our last day of the trip, Sunday 14 April 2024, was our departure day but not before we visited Alliance again which resulted in a wide variety of aircraft (T-38s, F-5s, T-6s, F/A-18s); not bad for a Sunday!
In the afternoon we headed to the airport for our journey home, looking back at very successful trip!
