Military Jet Manuevers over Sandwich Dome

[arghman]

(trying to stay away from politics but ask the question I want to ask)
Can anyone confirm GlennS's comments re the various national guards?
and anyone have any contact info for them?

I have no problem w/ them flying outside of Wilderness & support the military, but would like to give them my feedback re: flying within Wilderness. I saw two fighter jets the morning/afternoon of Mon Aug 14 flying between West Bond & Owls Head.

 

[Rick]

.... It was an Army requirement that brought them into being. Like I said, first and foremost their original job was to kill tanks that we were outnumbered by 3.5 to 1 by the Warsaw pact countries who were going to flood them through the narrow area at Fulda Gap. Keith

Wow, I just fell off my chair (almost) I was stationed in Fulda at the Fulda Airfield from 79-81 and worked mostly with hueys (UH-1 Utility copters), cobras (AH-1 Attack Copters) and 58's (OH-58 Obs Copters).

One day when I was there, I met Mike Wallace, he flew in to the airfield to do a piece on the fact that many in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Bns of the 11th Armored Cav had no mickey mouse gear/gas protection/AR-15s or any other standard equipment, and that our real only function was to give the world a 7-minute warning that the Soviets were coming through the Fulda Gap (traditional lowland route of attack through the Rhone Mountains).
Glad to se someone else on the board has heard of Fulda!!!!
(Sorry to digress, but this is really exciting!!!)

 

[Rick]

One other thing about that picture - You can't see it right off, but if you look closely at the front of the fuselage, under the nose, you will see that 30mm Cannon/Gatling gun. I believe it can fire upwards of 1,000 rounds/minute and the round are encased in depleted uranium (hard metal) so that they can pierce armor.

 

[Pamola]

The amount of military knowledge is stunning me here. A lot of great information! And I thought it was just me getting buzzed on Saddleback and pleasant mountain in Maine as a kid!

And just a nit-picky clarifier, the A-10's Avenger gatling gun actually fires upward of 4000 rounds per minute. I'm glad they practice with flares and such around our mountains.

 

[marty]

The fighter jets occasionally buzz over the Rangeley Lakes in Western Maine at low elevations. I was told they come from Brunswick, ME. Very cool to hear the noise echoing all around!

 

[Jeff-B]

Flags on the 48

Last year we were buzzed quite closely during Flags on the 48 memorial flag fly 9/11.
I suspect they know we will be there again this Saturday 9/9 and perhaps they will perform another outstanding and thrilling fly-by!

 

[SAR-EMT40]

Wow, I just fell off my chair (almost) I was stationed in Fulda at the Fulda Airfield from 79-81 and worked mostly with hueys (UH-1 Utility copters), cobras (AH-1 Attack Copters) and 58's (OH-58 Obs Copters).

One day when I was there, I met Mike Wallace, he flew in to the airfield to do a piece on the fact that many in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Bns of the 11th Armored Cav had no mickey mouse gear/gas protection/AR-15s or any other standard equipment, and that our real only function was to give the world a 7-minute warning that the Soviets were coming through the Fulda Gap (traditional lowland route of attack through the Rhone Mountains).
Glad to se someone else on the board has heard of Fulda!!!!
(Sorry to digress, but this is really exciting!!!)

Small world Rick. I was stationed in Germany from 77-80. 1/6 Infantry 1st AD. I was attached several times to 11ACR for reconnaissance on the Czech border as a scout (11D20) in charge of a section including ground surveillance radar (GSR) and tons of night observation equipment and ammo. I actually have a border scroll from them for some observations that they eventually sent some people from the DIA in Washington to figure out what was happening. You probably also remember the Badder-Meinhof gang who were also active at that time. My avatar still displays my sergeant stripes and the crossed Cavalry swords in my trucks back window. Have to look close, but they are there.

Pamola is correct. As I remember two rates of fire, selectable, for the 30mm cannon 4200 and 2100 round per minute. When they fire it sounds more like a burp, then what most people think of when a gun goes off.

Keith

 

[Kevin Rooney]

It's been my observation that while the military has regs about what is OK training behavior it is not always followed, and unless the infractions are continuous, not much will be done about it ("boys will be boys ...") For example - in the early 70's I was stationed in southern California, and would occasionally drive north thru the Mojave desert. F-4 Phantoms stationed at Edwards (now closed) would routinely buzz your car (there was very little traffic back then), sometimes 100-200' off the deck. It was so close that occasionally the jetwash would rock your car. Even today - if you're driving across Death Valley and happen to be driving down one of the mountain ranges and can see across the valley it's not uncommon to see an F-15, 16 or 22 (sometimes with a wingman) out of Nellis AFB 'targeting' a vehicle many miles ahead on the valley floor. This happened to my wife and I one time - we saw it happening to a car and joked about how noisy it was going it was going to be those those poor buggars, only to have them do it us about 30 minutes later when we were in the same spot!

And yesterday, while I was descending the Mt Whitney trail, an F-22 came up that canyon, rather low and accelerating in order clear the Sierra crest. To say it was deafening would be an understatement.

 

[Mr. X]

I love it, eveything about it. Gets my heart pumping. Little Bear also left out the glider that was buzzing us. I though that was cool too, our flag pole that day was almost his demise!

 

[Sheomet]

I love seeing the A10 and fighters flying low, they go over my house a couple of times a month. A couple of years ago I saw them doing training manuevers over the farm I was working on, it was really cool to see them flying right over the tractors and doing sharp turns, like they were bombing us.

 

[snowbird22]

The A10's and F 16's operate in MOA's (Military operations area) There are two of them in White Mountains called Yankee one an two. Usually from the Sfc to 9000' They are scattered all over the country and offshore. Typically the F 16's are the green mountain boys ANG.

 

[Tom Rankin]

Last year we were buzzed quite closely during Flags on the 48 memorial flag fly 9/11.
I suspect they know we will be there again this Saturday 9/9 and perhaps they will perform another outstanding and thrilling fly-by!

Yeah, bring it on!

 

[darren]

As long as we are talking guns, it is hard to see the gatling gun from the other picture, so here is a close up of it:

But then it is tough to get the scale of the gun, so here is the full weapon:

Hoo-ah!

Tank shredder.

- darren

 

[king tut]

The green mountain boys are fantastic! They were practicing a few weeks ago for their airshow in Burlington, and were buzzing the buildings downtown. I climbed onto the roof of our downtown building and watched them fly overhead. It was very cool. I had my own personal airshow as I looked out my window for 2 days as they practiced flying over Lake Champlain.

 

[Rick]

Darren - that is ABSOLUTELY STUNNING - I big Greenie for you, my Friend!! (that is as soon as I can spread around some more reputation....)
Pamola, thanks for bringing in actuals, I couldn't really recall the rate of fire, but it is definitely quicker than I could count using both fingers and toes

Keith, I was fortunate to not have to really do much other than be at the airfield 4 days a week either 6A-2P or 2P to 10P.I still remember the tank crews outside every morning (on my late days doing PT and then when the Cav would head out of the caserne to wildflecken or Graffe, You could hear and feel those rows of tanks for miles. I really wish I could go back and relive those times.

A backpack moment that has probably scared me the most (besides a tumble into the Niagara Gorge) was when backpacking in Joshua tree in 1997. As I approached a 4-mile wide bowl that was about 1,500 or so feet deep, I kept hearing this continuous roar, but never saw anything. As I got almost up to the lip, a huge shadow came over me and I hit the deck hard, knowing not what it was - suddenly there was a loud earth shattering roar and I buried my face in the sand momentarily before I realized it was a jet. He had come up over the lip of the bowl and had to be flying close to the speed of sound, because he flew over me just before I heard him. I believe it was an f-18, but am not sure as i was several seconds before I could stand up and stop shaking, but I saw a V-notch tail and it definitely wasn't stealth.

 

[DougPaul]

The A-10 has been described as an airplane wrapped around a gun...

Doug

 

[amstony]

The best one I saw was a B-52H flying nap of the earth (approx 100 feet from the ground), come up over a hill, fly over us and keep on trucking at 100 feet or less. That was in 1990, You could hear them coming, but couldn't see or locate them until it was on you. The whole place shook when they flew by!

Another one was four AH-64 Apache helicopters that came over a hill in formation, buzzed us and dissapeared over the next hill!

 

[forestgnome]

The military jets are the one non-nature sound that I don't mind while hiking. Each time I've experienced them, they've only been around for a short while, then they're gone.

I thought they were NHNG. Any more confirmation that they are not?

Happy Trails

 

[SAR-EMT40]

I thought they were NHNG. Any more confirmation that they are not?

Happy Trails

I believe they could be. We also have them stationed at Bradley and I believe Pease has them as well. Pease now also has some F-16's but I'm not sure for how long. I know that some A-10's are/were stationed in NY as well. There is all kinds of stuff a Westover from fighters to cargo aircraft. Some permanent and some transitory. Its too bad the A-10s in Jenifers picture are banking so hard. Often the states two letter ID is on the vertical stabilizer for guard and reserve units.

Wildflecken or Graffe, You could hear and feel those rows of tanks for miles. I really wish I could go back and relive those times.

Boy, I used to spend plenty of time in those places. Some of the best times of my life doing something I really enjoyed. Artillery impacts on Graffe could be felt for miles. I believe that is also the place I was FO for our units 4 deuce platoon when they ordered us to halt fire and I was still in position and had some A-10's come through and do strike on some tanks in the impact area. This was when they were very new around 77,78. What a sight.

Can anyone confirm GlennS's comments re the various national guards? and anyone have any contact info for them?

I have no problem w/ them flying outside of Wilderness & support the military, but would like to give them my feedback re: flying within Wilderness. I saw two fighter jets the morning/afternoon of Mon Aug 14 flying between West Bond & Owls Head.

I don't know what GlennS said so I can't respond. If you want to lodge a complaint (certainly your within your rights), or get more info most local guard/reserve units are located in the blue pages of most phone books in the US government section. I would look for the commanders office or the public relations office if one is listed, otherwise the main number of the unit you want to talk with. Even if its not them they may be able to point you in the right direction.

Keith

 

[GlennS]

Most of the State Air National Guards have websites. Most units do as well. There is usually a phone number listed on their sites.

I realized in my previous post I left out the A-10 units. The 104th Fighter Wing of the Massachusetts Air Guard operates the A-10. The 103rd Fighter Wing of the Connecticut Air Guard used to operate the A-10. I think the latest round of base closures may have done them in.

As a point of reference, I retired from the Rhode Island Air National Guard in January 2001. At that time, there were no fighters (of any kind) operated by either the Maine, New Hampshire or Rhode Island Air National Guard.

I personally love the sound of a jet kicking in afterburner. It brings me back so many years to places I will never see again. I miss it all very much.

Glenn