Pope AFB, NC  9 May 2005

Around 6.15 o'clock we already awakened by the 'Reveille' signal. However we stayed in bed till 7.15 o'clock. Mark decided to stay in bed for two more hours, so Mo and I went to the active part of the base to read the A-10's and C-130's. There was not much flying activity but there was a lot parked at the flightline. When we went back to Mark's room to pick him up, we already read 25 C-130's, 23 A-10's and some visiting stuff. When Mark joined the team again we drove towards the eastern part of the airbase to see the aircraft of the "Golden Knights". We were very lucky and these nice guys even invited us to have a look inside their aircraft and we were allowed to take as much pictures of their aircraft as we wanted. Thanks a lot guys!!!!

After visiting the great "Golden Knights" we went to the headquarters of the 74 FS, flying the A-10A Thunderbolt II. Here we asked permission to take pictures of the A-10's parked at the flightline. Unfortunately this was not possible because it took a lot of time to arrange the permission. However, we were invited to have a close look at the A-10's.

Major Renner was willing to give us a small tour around the A-10 and told us everything we wanted to know about this beautiful/ugly aircraft. Thanks Major!! After this small tour we decided to leave Pope AFB and drove towards Seymour Johnson AFB.

History of U.S. Army Parachute Team "Golden Knights"

In 1959 13 men joined together to form the Strategic Army Corps Sport Parachute Team, to compete in the then communist dominated sport of skydiving.  The team performed so well that on June 1, 1961 the Army officially recognized, designated and activated the team as the U.S. Army Parachute Team. For more than 44 years the "Golden Knights" have been wowing audiences at air shows, competitions and most recently, with high profile tandems. They are the most successful U.S. Department of Defense sports team. The "Golden Knights" not only perform at air shows, compete on an international level and perform high profile tandems they also visit high schools and work with local recruiters showing young adults what type of opportunities the Army has for them.

Charleston AFB, SC  8 May 2005

After our visits at Shaw AFB and McEntire AFB we drove further south towards Charleston AFB. This base houses a large amount of the C-17A Globemaster within the US Air Force inventory. From outside the base the C-17's can be seen, but it's very hard to read them from there without being spotted. We however, entered the base and tried to read as much as possible from inside the fence. This was not easy at all, because the flightline is very well covered by fences. But in the end we were able to read all the C-17's parked at the flightline. After a short visit to the BX (Base Exchange) we left Charleston AFB. When we drove passed the civil part of the airfield we also saw two TH-57's of the US Navy. So have a sharp lookout when you go there!!

MCAS Beaufort, SC  8 May 2005

Although not planned in advance we decided to go to MCAS Beaufort. Since the US Marine Corps bases are most of the time very well guarded we didn't have any hope to enter the base. However when we got there we were allowed access to the base with our military IDs. The flightlines and hangars are very well guarded so it was impossible so see all the aircraft parked here. In the end we managed to read about 20 F-18's, which is less than 20% of the whole fleet stationed here. But we were very happy with it of course because we didn't plan to go here in the first place. So it was only a bonus! After we left MCAS Beaufort we drove towards Pope AFB where we already booked a room in advance. Because of the construction work going on at the gate of Pope AFB, it was very hard to find the gate. Late in the evening we finally had our rooms and went to bed for a well earned rest.

Seymour Johnson AFB, NC  9 May 2005

When we came in the neighborhood of Seymour Johnson AFB we already saw the first F-15E Strike Eagles recovering. Around 4 o'clock we entered the base very easily and went looking for some places to read the F-15's parked at the flightlines. Because we already spent a lot of time at Pope AFB we didn't have time to drive to NAS Patuxent River as planned, so we decided to catch a room for the night at Seymour Johnson AFB. Later that evening, around 6 o'clock we went back to the parking spots to read some more F-15's. And we also had look at the KC-135 flightline on the eastside of the base. After that we decided to try our luck at one of the squadrons, and walked to the 334 FS headquarters. Unfortunately our request for taking pictures was denied again, but we were invited to have a small tour around one of the F-15E's parked at the flightline. This even allowed us the read some more F-15's from there. Thanks go out to Captain Marc Johnson and the guys from 334 FS!! During our visit at Seymour Johnson AFB we were able to read 45 Strike Eagles and 8 KC-135's, but we had to leave at least 30 Strike Eagles unread behind us.