NAS Oceana, VA  15 May 2005

After a good night rest we checked out early in the morning. We decided to call the VFC-12 again to try to take some pictures, but no one was there. It was Sunday so there was not much activity at all. We decided to try our luck at base-ops and asked whether it was possible to take some pictures of the T-45C and EA-6B parked at the visitors ramp. It seems to be our lucky day!!

The guy from base-ops recognized Mo from his last visit and arranged a car and driver for us. From here on everything was possible and we were able to take pictures of almost every aircraft we wanted. First we visited the F/A-18s of VFC-12, then the mighty F-14s again, followed by the new F/A-18Fs of VFA-211.

In the end we were able to take pictures of all the F/A-18C/D's of the other squadrons and the visiting aircraft. When we left the ramp we went up into the control tower to take some pictures from here as well. Here we were able to take some sneaky shots of the special-ops Chinooks which were parked at the ramp. Thanks a lot guys for this awesome experience!!

After we very nice tour around the airbase we left base-ops and drove towards the Heritage Park close to the main gate to take some pictures of the aircraft parked out there. The F-14D parked here is the last Tomcat that was ever build by Grumman. Nice note is that it never made a carrier landing. A total of thirteen aircraft can be found at the Heritage Park including some very rare birds. My personal highlights were the aggressor Skyhawk and the Crusader in nice Grim Reaper colors. After we left NAS Oceana behind us we drove towards Washington D.C. to visit the National Air & Space Museum.