Tyndall AFB Upgrade...

[stephen]

Im an electrician, and this week i've been replacing the lighting at Tyndall air force base... we have F-15's and 22's here!!!

Next week I work inside of a hanger that keeps 4 raptors permenatly at the ready, 24 hours a day..., and to tell you guys the truth im drooling at that thought..lol
The guy in the engine shop withheld a good bit of information about the pratt and whitney 119's they currently support for the Raptors, but MY GOD its awsome to be in the same area as so many cutting edge fighter planes... AND today I saw a Raptor with the radar dome removed.....!!!

I was invited to take a look at the newer engines, but I declined as it was obviouse to me that I would be raving about it online...

The Raptor is an AWSOME plane, and the sheer power of the thing obviously has never been reveald at any airshow.
My God im glad we live in america, the damn Soviets have no hope of reproducing the technology that goes into this plane, and im proud to be given even this small glimps into our armed forces potential...

Sadly the F-15's are being drawn down here, and by 2010 the last flight of eagles should be leaving...
The smell of JP-8, and the roar of f-100's and 119's fills my ears all the day long....,and dispite my bosses cackling...., I cant help but to rush out the door and watch them fly off the runway at full after burner.
Even have a drone squadron of F-4's here, and they are the loudest of all... Man I love my job, lool

[Kazaa]

Need an apprentice for a couple of days?

I dare you to try and sit in one.

[stephen]

I am the apprentice lol...

[iaqmya]

You ever think that the fact that a State side base has aircraft on alert, in a hanger, just might be on the classified side?

That it just might be something some people did not know about, but now might?

Just my two cents worth.

[Strip]

You ever think that the fact that a State side base has aircraft on alert, in a hanger, just might be on the classified side?

That it just might be something some people did not know about, but now might?

Just my two cents worth.

Thier have been planes on 24 hour alert for decades....

Not a small secret.

[Rino]

     Tyndall is the primary USAF Interceptor training base and has been for decades.
The alert birds may be for training.  The QF-4s certainly are 

[steely07]

Lucky bugger!!!!!

[shreck]

Thier have been planes on 24 hour alert for decades....

Not a small secret.

Air superiority fighters on alert in country? I don't think so, strategic assets in US on alert--> yes!
Tactical assets---> no!

When I was in pacific we had only 3 jets on 24/7 alert in Osan korea, and those were for protection of U2 and SR71!

[Strip]

Air superiority fighters on alert in country? I don't think so, strategic assets in US on alert--> yes!
Tactical assets---> no!

When I was in pacific we had only 3 jets on 24/7 alert in Osan korea, and those were for protection of U2 and SR71!

Yes tactical assets.....what do you think scrambles when we have planes that go in the wrong areas? At MacDill you can see some hangars from civil areas plain as day.

[Gary26]

The Raptor will be at the Air Show in Rockford, Il in August,
http://www.flyrfd.com/airfest.html

[MORAY37]

My God im glad we live in america, the damn Soviets have no hope of reproducing the technology that goes into this plane, and im proud to be given even this small glimps into our armed forces potential...

Soviets?  Did we time warp back to 1985 without my knowledge?

 As well, those jets are probably 45 minutes away from takeoff at any point, maybe more.

[spacer]

Stephen we should meet up!  I am retired from the AF here in Callaway.  I don't have any connections anymore at the base, its been too long.  LOL  The squadron I retired from deactivated several years ago.

[FiLtH]

 When I was in I was on a SAC base, and you really had to watch what you said.

[HighGTrn]

Awesome!

I had a pilot "slot" back in the days when I was an AFROTC cadet.  Got to take the stick in T-37s and 38s for two weeks at Euro-Nato Joint Jet Pilot Training at Sheppard AFB.  Then in my junior and senior year, got to have stick time in the Viper and 15E.  Of all of these, I really liked the 16 the best.  Man that thing can fly.  It does things which are absolutely amazing.  They say its like flying the broom because you sit so far out of the airplane.  I got real sick the first time I went up in one.

Now, as badass as the Viper is, the Raptor outclasses it in every way.  In the immortal words of Patton (at least from the movie).. "I actually feel sorry for those Hun bastards"... That is, I feel sorry for anyone who has to go up against one of our trained and very talented Raptor drivers.  I saw a documentary where it pitted a Raptor against a dozen (I think it was 12.. it was alot) jets ranging from the 15s to 16s.  The Raptor pilot killed everyone one without ever being in any danger himself.  Truly amazing.  Next time someone says that Asia or other countries are producing more technical kids than we are, tell them to go to hell.

[Agent360]

I live in Destin. About 60 miles west of Tyndall. Eglin AFB is here.

Yes they do have alert aircraft at Tyndall and here at Eglin. It's public knowledge. They scramble to keep civilian aircraft out of the missile test ranges and out of the closed airspace over the Gulf of Mexico. Tyndall has a missile test wing based there. Eglin used the range to practice dog fighting etc.

BTW, stephen if you see guys wearing black berets, driving blacked out suburbans and wearing no insignia its best to stay away from them. Those guys are different from the "security police". They guard classified areas. If you see any of them around an area you are working in or show up and just watch you it's best to NOT do anything but your work. Don't talk to anyone while they are there but your fellow workers. These guys can and will take you into custody (rather violently at that) and haul you off without ever saying a word to you. You end up being interrogated and held for at least 24 hours before they let you go.

I saw a civilian contractor smart off to one of them once. He was doing some construction work on base. Seems this guy didn't like them standing around asking some of the workers questions about what they were doing in that area. So the guys start ignoring them then tells one of them to get away from them. I think he thought they were just some dumb privates screwing with his crew.

Welllll they weren't privates. The snatched that dude around, slammed him on the ground, and cuffed him. Next thing you know a blacked out suburban screeches up and 4 guys drop out with rifles and immediately "secure the area"...as in everybody on the ground face down and they all got boinked in their head with rifle barrels. They yanked this guy off the ground, dragged him to the suburban and they all drove off just leaving all the other guys laying on the ground. I happen to be on the flight line at Eglin awaiting an airtransport patient (used to be a paramedic).

I have also run into them before near closed areas on the Eglin reservation while hunting. They didn't do anything to me other than roll up in the suburban and speak out of the siren and tell me to "leave the area immediately". So I just fig I was near a test site or something. I walked to my truck...the whole time they just sat there. I decide to drive off to another area and keep hunting. They follwed me the whole time. I stop they stop. I turn they turn. I got nervous and just decided to go home. They followed me the whole time until I got off the reservation.