Flyin' around the sandbox.

[adrianspeeder]

21 – Final approach to Dover. Can we make it? Absolutely.



22 – Loadmaster hero shot.



23/24 – Pilot hero shot.





25 – Loadmaster hero shot.

[adrianspeeder]

Trip 100, Summer 2015, Iraq

136 High speed haulin’ to Florida.



137 Florida Panhandle forecast of partly cloudy with a chance of awesome.



138 Yer gonna need a bigger boat to outrun that shark.



139 Prettiest approaches I’ve seen in a long while.



140 Aluminum overcast on the beach.



141 I normally poke fun at slow little C-130s, but maybe we shouldn’t make this one angry…



142 As I was doin’ the double pumpin’ refuel job, I remembered an ole friend from the basic training days was down this way so made a call to see if she was nearby.



143 She was right up the road to come out for a C-17 tour, and a Flight 413/414 reunion.



144 Normally I always go out drinkin’ with the crew but was shown the best steakhouse in town instead.



145 No buffoonery allowed.



146 Atlantic sunset



147 Pushing east the light switches off quickly.



148 Land ho!



149 Looks pretty, but it is so friggin’ hot here I don’t want to hang out for a swim.



150 While backing out of our parking spot, one passenger remarked we should have a backup alarm. No need for that with 4 motors screaming at 42k lbs of thrust in power reverse.



151 “Standby for departing traffic.” Gladly!



152 Don’t get too close now, you’ll burn my paint!



153 One big sexy curvy girl ready to drop the hammer on someone’s soon to be bad day!



154 "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy My brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay My vengeance upon you."



155 Quad burners roarin’ full chooch!

[adrianspeeder]

156 Second favorite kind of approach. Yeeehaw pull them belts up tight!



157 Airbus A300 Oscar Oscar Delta Lima Lima, also known as the DHL shootdown incident in Baghdad on November 22 ‘03 still sits to this day. The only Airbus or passenger airliner to be safely landed without any hydraulics.



158 One pretty Iraqi sunset.



159 Favorite way to get out of town quick as we can heavyweight.



160 Next stop? Point ‘er to the Moon!



161 Doing my paperwork I noted that this happens to be my 100th mission. Here’s to 100 more.



162 On this dark evening we get the call for a cargo load change.



163 Only one thing in the world will never cause us to complain or fail.



164 Making straight for Nineveh, just like Jonah’s whale. Holy truth you swallow, overseas you sail. Precious is the cargo, sacred was their gift. Offered in a sandstorm from which your wings lift.



165 Oh big airplane bring’em down easy. Out of the Delaware skies. Oh big airplane Dover is waiting to welcome the heroes you fly home.



31/34 – Loadmaster hero shots.









35 – Is the passenger asleep or not?



36/37 – Crew Chief hero shots.





38/39 – Pilot hero shots.





40 Here we have the instructor pilot in his natural environment surrounded by new copilots. Let’s listen in… “What are those?” “I have no idea, but they are always there.”

[unibody madness]

As always, very cool pics.

[adrianspeeder]

Thanks!

[adrianspeeder]

Out of 105 missions now, I've only gotten past the west coast 6 times.



https://youtu.be/ijiqGlBkv3I

Adrianspeeder

[adrianspeeder]

Trip 101, Summer 2015, Jordan

166 It’s like a Manas family reunion! I had worked with these contractors back in the day on my second and third deployments to the former Soviet Union, and at their current location, came out to say, "Hi friend!"



167 Cool new hats for everybody!



168 Whenever the Army makes fun of us, we’ll just have to go cry in our flight pay.



169 Found a KC135 friend that needed a lift on a cool jet with a fun crew.



170 Spider senses tingle when the co-pilot wanders away by himselfs. “What you doin’ back there?”



171 “Just checkin’ the gonkulator.”



172 Welcome to the crew friend!



173 “Whichever check you need, check completed.”



174/175 Loadmaster hero shot.





176 Deviating right of course for weather.



177 West Texas



178 Rainin’ pretty good down there.



179 Holding short of runway 21 for fast movers outbound.



180 You call? We haul.

[adrianspeeder]

Trip 102, Summer 2015, Massachusetts

01 – The Rooster!



02 – Copilot hero shot.





04 – Can you get to work?



05 – How do I do the things?



181 Just a wee lil guy!



182 Checkin’ out main HQ.



183 No game today!



184 Headin’ on in to get some clam chowder in Cape Cod.



185 One more job done, lookin’ pretty on the ramp.

[adrianspeeder]

Adrianspeeder

[LM14]

Thanks for your service and thanks for the fantastic pictures. Both are really appreciated.

SPark

[adrianspeeder]

Trip 103, Summer 2015, Virginia

186 Can’t look this good and work hard too.



187 Even as good as C-17s are usually, it is very rare to get the entire $250 million dollar machine built with parts by the lowest bidder to have not one single problem in the forms documented. I’ve only seen it twice before.



188 Big fancy Chucktown SC bridge.



189 Met one of my passengers for first time in 5 or so years, after 8 years ago now when we both started together as new airmen at Dover AFB.



190 Different view of the big fancy Chucktown SC bridge.



191 “That cloud looks like a bunny.”



192 “I don’t see it.”



193 Raptors One and Two snap to heading 250, to intercept bogies in the weeds ten miles out not squawking.



194 High speed low drag, but I bet we are burnin’ more gas.



195 Milford Trade and Exchange

[adrianspeeder]

Trip 104, Summer 2015, Arlington VA Flyover

196 Special mission this time with absolute time control for an Arlington National Cemetery flyover. We wanted to get airborne as soon as possible to shake the jet out, but can’t there early, so pilot play time practicing approaches, landings, and go arounds.



197 One button push of the TOGA control on the number three throttle puts the jet into Take-Off/Go-Around mode. Sets everything up automatically for the motors to push, and the pilots to point us away from the ground as fast as possible.



198 Play time is over, left turn head for DC hammer down big time. Called on for a fly over of WW2 USAFF 2nd Lt Stephen Biezis’s burial at Arlington who was killed in action as a co pilot on a downed B-26 in occupied Germany. It is an honor I’ve not been part of before. Luckily our co pilot was a former air dropper out of Charleston, who set the jet up perfectly for the mission computing system to be exactly on point over the cemetery at the exact moment required on time. Amazing side of the jet I don’t normally see.



199 Air Force Memorial in Arlington.



200 Just reach out and touch it.



201 Spooky low level by the Pentagon. I’m not sure which side was hit on 9/11, but it had to start to look like this before going lower. Arlington is at the top of the photo.



202 Second part of the day was heading to my least favorite short runway that doesn’t have much room for error if everything doesn’t go right.



203 You call? We haul! Fits through the door? We’ll chain it to the floor! C-17 worldwide tactical heavyweight airlift 2 day Amazon Prime shipping.



204 Quite happy to pull this mission with my big girl 07007173. Paid for in 2007, and the 173rd C-17 in the USAF inventory. I first met this jet at the factory in pieces before the wings were put on. Later became the Dedicated Crew Chief for one year responsible for her home station care and feedings. Even though a new name is on the side of the jet, she’s always to be mine.



205 What is almost as cool as an aeroplane? My other big boy toy happiness of railroading. Too bad it is Crash Smash Xpress, but I take the shots I can get.



206 Well, why are we here? Got told to expect a loading test of never before hauled cargo. There is a computer system to figure this kind of thing out, but nothing like real world practice.



207 “Uhhh, if we are relying on these antiques for ISIS, things have gotten bad.”



208 Old School



209 Turns out these belong to the Marine Corps ceremonial drill squad, and they wanted to figure out how to move a few if needed.



210 After a bit of thinking, we got everything to fit with legal restraint, and with an on time return I call it a successful day.

[adrianspeeder]

Trip 105, Summer 2015, Bahrain/Wake Island

211 Next stop, the Moon.



212 Suck, squeeze, bang, blow. That’s what makes the motors go.



213 Kick back, watch the world fly by, make money.



214 Sandy city on the sea.



215/216 Buildin’ big big towers.





217/220 Durrat Al Bahrain artificial islands. $1.3B in build costs.









221 Lets go fishin’!



222 My girl 07007173 workin’ like a champ as usual, but it’s friggin’ hot out. Let’s pull chalks and GTFU!



223 “80 knots.” “Clamp.”



224 “Positive rate.” “Gear up.” “Gear up.”



225 Boat doing boat stuff at full chooch.



226 Scoopin’ out the scrap metal 727’s. Steps down for easy access.



227/228 Manama Bahrain





229 Trekked back across the Atlantic, but had to divert to Jersey for the weekend. Boss asked if I’d be able to babysit the bird for a few day until a new crew could drive up from Delaware, and go out on another mission. Would I have a choice? No, so I said, “Sure, where to?” “Need you to go out to Hawaii and the South Pacific.” Sweet! That night sitting in the hotel room the light hit the window just right to catch my eye. Wonder what the story was behind an outline of sweat where some girl was having fun on a previous night since the last time the glass was cleaned?



230 Made a quick stop down in Alabama to Roll Tide, War Eagle, and pick up some junk.

[foodstick]

I can't believe the pics you get !

Those sand built islands .. I can't see anyway they can last long term? the sand eventually is just going to be pulled out from underneath or something.. It can't be long term stable.

I look at those airplane pics and suddenly the 1/3 scale Fokker DR1 I am building in the basement doesn't seem so big !

[adrianspeeder]

I can't believe the pics you get !

Those sand built islands .. I can't see anyway they can last long term? the sand eventually is just going to be pulled out from underneath or something.. It can't be long term stable.

Thanks!

I don't know, but for 1.3 billion with a B, they oughta know what they are doing.

231 I was told down here that, “The South will rise again!”, and they’ll use rockets.



232 We had to climb pretty quick for the one friggin’ hill next to the runway.



233 Alabama country club?



234 Pacific clouds look pretty much like Atlantic clouds.



235 Watch out for that lava!



236/240 - Hawaiian Island tour.









241 Downtown Honolulu looking busy with beautiful weather!



242 Bring your boat to work day, or go fishing on a lunch break?



243 Runway in sight, before landing check complete, clear to land.



244/245 Runway 26L





246 Getting paid to drink on the beach. Best job I ever had.



247 East coaster on the far left coaster.



248 Pacific surf wear?



249 Electric Beach sunset.



250 Great friggin’ day and met some friends too.

[adrianspeeder]

251 On this trip we also had a “dollar rider” out on his first mission. I needed some help “calibrating the radar” using a steel chain to do the hokiepokie with as the winch controller “fine tunes” the signal.



252 Well, something all came together right as in the middle of the biggest ocean, we were on time to find Wake Island.



253 I was amazed how small the place is.



254 Water looks perfect for a swim, but I imagine there is a mess of sharks or something.



255 Circled around for winds, and a different view of the island.



256/258 Nowhere else to go easily, so let’s make this one count.







259 Vintage ramp of history dating back to WW2. I don’t know that my grandfather was here, but easily could have been.



260 Job’s done, stuff delivered, now it’s a long way back around the world to home. Was on the road a few weeks for this one, so the photoset was bigger than most.

[adrianspeeder]

...

[adrianspeeder]

...

[adrianspeeder]

All loaded up with Christmas cheer.



Iraqi Christmas dawn.



"Reach 435, expedite climb at best rate for traffic heading 230."
"Copy, searching for Santa, Reach 435."



Santa’s USAF delivery subcontractors.



Adrianspeeder

[adrianspeeder]

Trip 106, Fall 2015, Kuwait

001/004 Pilot hero shots.









005 Loadmaster hero shot.



261 Another fill ‘er up Friday. By the book and everything to show another brand new dollar rider copilot the way it is done.



262 Normally I don’t photograph the cargo for security purposes, but this tactical movement of tactical pallets of pallets…



263 Vol III separation of thunderstorm avoidance procedures followed as this beast was no joke.



264 Fastest I’ve watched a stateside storm build ever.



265 Even as tough as our engines are, going in there would for sure exceed the water ingestion rate, and we’d all be dead shortly thereafter.



266 I couldn’t get the gopro out fast enough for how quick that little guy was building.



267 Next day over the Cradle of Civilization. Water is life for sure.



268 Can start to smell the desert air comin’ in.



269 Big Airbus beast of a unit that makes a C5 look small.



270 First trip wearing the 1500 hour mark.



271 “Oh shit,” I said to our dollar rider copilot on this trip. “Our pilot’s side Heads Up Display has flaked out. Looks like the NovRAM has gone all corrupted.”
Aircraft commander says, “Hmmm, since we need this for the next leg of the mission being a night vision goggle assault landing, gonna have to fix this one here before we take off.”
“Can you do that chief?” the dollar rider asked.
“Well, the book calls for some special equipment after I cold-start the HUD after dumping the NovRAM for the boresite alignment, but I’ve done this enough in my pre flying days as an avionics tech to wing it. You’ll be right on target, but I’ll need your help.”
As the AC nods in agreement, the dollar rider looks around and says, “That sounds made up.”
“No, here look. Put the maintenance monitor panel power on, select avionics ground bit to on, press and hold the copilots MFC panel test button in, observe the test digits displayed in the copilots HUD, and compare that to the DIP switch data plate under the copilots CNC panel. If they match it’s good. That’s what I’ll have to set up on the pilot’s side HUD while I’ll have you stand out front to compare the return against.”
“How’s this chief?”



272 “Lookin’ good Lt, just a bit to the right.”



273 “Now put your right foot in, and take your right foot out. Do the hokie pokie, and you shake it all about…”



274 But really yer the most on point focused new copilot I’ve ever flown with. Good job on a successful dollar ride.



275 No more dickin’ around as the sun sets on another desert night. We gotta go! ‘Till next time on the next trip.