West Quest Part Deux - Day 59
Davis-Monthan AFB and Oracle, Arizona
Friday, 7 October 2022
WARNING: Cute canine pictures (domestic and wild) and maximum retired military aircraft in this post!
We woke up this morning to find ourselves in a nice RV parking space. It was difficult last night to figure out exactly what spot we had selected as it was very dark.
The plan today is to move slowly since it was a hard day yesterday, take care of some personal things, get some gas for the truck then look around the aircraft boneyard before heading to my Dad and step-Mom’s house in Oracle.
Seeing the Davis-Monthan aircraft boneyard has been a lifetime bucket list event for me and I was not disappointed. I flew the EA-6B Prowler back in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s and as fate would have it, the 90 or so remaining aircraft (not on display or among the 50 destroyed in accidents out of 170 built) are parked right where I could easily see them on the other side of a fence.
Since I have flown in 30 or more different Prowlers, I was no doubt looking at aircraft I served in and collected over 170 arrested landings aboard USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) from 1990 - 1992. It was a sentimental and somewhat melancholy experience to see them parked in the desert, never to be flown again.
Not far from the EA-6Bs were numerous North American T-2 Buckeye two-seat jet trainers. I had a flight in one of these as a midshipman in 1984 and 20+ flights during naval flight officer training in 1987 and 1988. With 529 built, I could not be sure I had flown in any of the ones I could see, but again, there is a good chance I did.
Much further in the distance, and not easily photographed, were hundreds of Beechcraft T-34 Mentor two-seat turboprop trainers. I had far more flights in T-34s than T-2s, but with 2,300+ built, again it’s hard to know if I flew in any I could see but it was cool to see them again.
Finally, the last airplane I flew in flight training was the McDonnell Douglass TA-4J Skyhawk and there are several of these in the boneyard as well. Again, too far away to get a good shot, but sentimental to see a few.
Other interesting aircraft include numerous McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet fighters including a two-seat Blue Angel #7 aircraft:
Lots of Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II close air support aircraft including this interesting one near the fence:
Numerous Lockheed C-5 Galaxy heavy lift strategic transports:
I flew in a C-5 several times in my career including from Dover AFB, Delaware, to Rota, Spain, then on to Bahrain in the summer of 1983 for my midshipman cruise to join USS Thomas C. Hart (FF 1092 ) in the Persian Gulf.
There were numerous Lockheed C-141 Starlifters, which I flew in several times throughout my career, including from Vincenza, Italy to Brazzaville, Congo for a hostile, non-combatant evacuation operation in 1997.
I have a special soft spot for the Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King with over 50 flights in them throughout my career. My first flight in one was as a midshipman in 1983 when we were flown out to the Thomas C. Hart (FF 1092 ) in one. In the summer of 1994, I had dozens of flights while supporting the United States SECOND Fleet in the Caribbean during the Haitian and Cuban migration crisis when I shot many pictures of Navy operations while my legs were hanging out the cargo door. Gosh that was fun!
Here are countless General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon air superiority fighters:
Here’s a lone McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II V/STOL ground-attack aircraft with many McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle air superiority fighters in the background.
Here’s the iconic Boeing B-52 Stratofortress with countless other aircraft in the background:
One of my favorite bombers is the Rockwell B-1 Lancer:
After all this aircraft geeking we headed to Oracle to visit with my Dad and step-mom Sandy.
With all this aircraft history, it’s appropriate that we’ll be visiting with my 93-year old father who is himself part of Naval Aviation history. As the “Gray Angel,” he is the oldest pilot from the most senior Blue Angels team, having flown Right Wing — #2 — in the 1955 season and Slot — #4 — for the 1956 season flying the Grumman F-9 Cougar fighter.
Some years ago, my dad and I went to look at the Blue Angels F-9 on display as you cross into Florida on I-10. We looked at the Bureau Number on the aircraft and my dad started crying as he realized it was the VERY aircraft he flew formation on throughout those two seasons. A gallery of images of this display aircraft may be seen here. And here is a fantastic interview of my Dad about his time with the Blue Angels.
Shortly after we arrived at their house, a coyote came into their backyard:
A tiny little guy, he walked right through the fence as though it was Field of Dreams!
For the next few nights, we will stay here before heading north to Gallup, New Mexico on Tuesday.
Enjoying the story. I knew your dad had been a Blue Angel but didn’t know he was the Gray Angel!
Neat backstory on you and your dad. The mountains were beautiful in the background as well. Safe Travels!