Are there any Air Force pilots on the Dope? I live in the flight path of Nellis AFB and when the fighters are returning from training they fly over my home maybe 2 to 3 thousand feet in the air. I’ve always wondered why some of them fly tight, within what appears to be a hundred feet or so, some 6 or 7 hundred feet apart. It makes me think the pilots that fly close together are the kind of guys that are a little more anal than the rest. The Thunderbirds fly in close formation quite a bit and I see them from time to time as well, maybe the regular pilots are practicing tight formation or something. Any body got input on that?
In any case it’s an hourly reminder of the power of our country and some of you might think it might be annoying. Only really at night or when they have Red Flag, a coming together of pilots from everywhere to compete with each other. It’s like Top Gun except that it’s the Air Force version.
Back during the war (WWII), B-17s and heavy bombers used to be heavily armed for self-defense: ball turrets, waist guns, top turrets, etc. They flew in ‘tight’ formations to interlock their .50-cals’ fields of fire to provide all around coverge against the Luftwaffe. Now that we’ve got longer range weapons and radar coverage, that very tight formation is actually more a liability. One good SAM in the middle of a flight could theoretically shred two or three jets at once.
IANAP, but I am an AF Civil Engineer type, who knows guys that fly: it seems that a lot of the times, it was to keep your buddy close, either for communication or just the mental feeling of literally having your wingman close. Flights (two-ship, four-ship, or six or eight) will usually fly in a close formation for ‘group events’ like going up to a tanker to refuel. Or if on patrol in a ‘kill box’, one jet will sometimes sweep for air targets, while his wingman will sweep for ground. In an actual fight, I believe they seperate for tactical reasons (such as my SAM example above). One jet goes in for a kill while the other stands off and provides “topcover” for his bud.
To my simple ground-pounding knowledge, there’s no actual reason for having your wingman a few hundred feet away versus a mile or two other than the mental, visual surety that your wingman is right there with you.
Again, I’m not a pilot, but I play one on Microsoft Flight Sim.
I have a related question. C130s fly over my place on a regular basis, always incredibly low, maybe 3,000’ max. The terrain is transitional, flatland to hilly elevations. Is this a form of practice?
The local airport has flying instructors using Cessna types and a couple WWII warbirds who like the airspace too, but they’re never around when the transports fly over and scare the crap out of the locals.
Hey Carson, what airport are you at? I can lookup flight profiles. . . However, AirmanDoors will be able to answer this better, but I will venture a guess (or three):
The loaded cargo weight of the C-130 may preclude it from ascending fast–it takes a shallower flight path up to altitude. Then again, when I was in Bagram, Afghanistan, the policy was “Get up as high as you can, as fast as you can.” I learned not to sip soda or water on the ascent or descent (I wished I had a bib with a little lobster on it at those times).
Airspace clearances may not have been granted, keeping them a little lower than what they’d expect. Again, I don’t know airspace as well as someone else, but it’s a possibility.
Hell, that’s just the departure route they took. Maybe they wanted to remain low for whatever reason (mission profiles), or they really did just wanna scare the hell out of you.
Tripler
“Sir, did you pee your pants, or did you try drinking a soda on final descent?” :smack:
The airport is near Smoketown. The C130s originate likely west of the Susquehanna. Philly international shares a similar path, much higher, headed NW.The military planes are always headed east.
There were two Hellcats out flying tight formation today.Or so I think- the Hellcat was a carrier plane, somewhat bulky and slow?
What do you mean “just”? Where in the hell would the world be without roads and commodes I wonder. Shitting behind a tree thats where. You build the world my friend.
The choppers fly out low on a different path. The only one I’ve ever seen made an emergency landing by the freeway about two years ago. It was a big mother too. WOP WOP WOP you know what I’m talking about right?
Except when I was in high school the day the MGM hotel casino caught fire. It was so funny my pals and me were sitting in the parking lot of a high school getting stoned before class started. We had just seen Apocolypse Now the week before so we all had the sound of the hueys used in the movie on our minds when a flock of about 20 flew over. We about crapped ourselves right there. Stoned in the parking lot and we thought there was a war starting in town. Shit, those were the days
I grew up in Las Vegas, and I remember a kindergarten field trip to see the Thunderbirds in action. Well, I don’t remember the Thunderbirds so much as the nifty signed poster I got afterwards. I was very impressed, though. Kept it in my bedroom for years.
Color me impressed. I speak to those guys quite a bit. I sell them parts for their “bobcats” they call them. The vehicles that have been modified to move ordinance and stuff.
They do in fact originate east of the Susquehanna, but just barely considering that the airport is right on the Susquehanna. Do the planes look like this? If so, that’s my unit doing pattern work. Since it’s a Guard unit we usually do a series of touch-and-gos to maximize training time, and it makes little sense to climb to altitude between them.
Incidentally, it looks low (and it is), but it’s not 3,000 feet. I can assure you of that.
Probably. I only see the belly, and only for a few seconds given elevation changes and treelines, despite the loud warning rumble on approach. If there are two of them the window glass rattles.
Unless it’s classified, how far am I off? A ‘Nam chopper pilot told me they stay under 3000’ to avoid traffic…there are lots of choppers going by too, and I guesstimated based on that.
Tripler, thanks for the help.
It could also be that they’re doing tactical work to the northwest of you by Fort Indiantown Gap. If so, yes, they are lower than 3,000 feet. I forgot that the bomb range was in the vicinity.
Aaah yes, I have plenty of hours in a Bobcat. Usually I stuck to operating the Mk 2 shovel and HOE-1 gravel rake. But I can run a mean power screed or hammer.
