First operational F35A delivered to the Netherlands

a reply to: Zaphod58

Yeah great!, i can only imagine the thrill of standing close under the pathway of these kind of machines. Although this neighborhood is occasionally being buzzed.
I'm waiting for the F35... But now i learned about the foam.. it can take a few days ; )

Is Luke the same as Star Wars Canyon?

The Photographer who was invited to take the F35 shots got a little bonus and was given a fly trough the Canyon.

a reply to: EartOccupant

No, Star Wars is in Death Valley. Luke was the primary F-16 training base for multiple countries, and now has over 100 F-35As from something like 6 or 7 countries, with more on the way. Pretty much everyone that buys the A model goes to Luke for training before taking them home.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Ah, ok, i see. Well still sounds like very impressive!

a reply to: EartOccupant

It's a great opportunity for photography, because you sit right off the end of the runway on either end. You can get them taking off, or landing. You're close enough that you have to pull a 300mm lens back to get all the aircraft, and can read the names painted on them.

a reply to: Zaphod58

That would be awsome!

We have an airbase here ( Volkel) and the public road is just nearby. Fun spot for spotters.
Here @3:09 the pilot invites the spotter to ride along

a reply to: EartOccupant

I'll warn my friends there....

a reply to: EartOccupant

Luke (I'm fairly sure there's at least one Netherlands bird in here):
imgur.com...
imgur.com...
imgur.com...

Jedi:
imgur.com...

a reply to: Zaphod58

Great pics!!

a reply to: EartOccupant

The second album has F-004 and F-007 landing at Luke.

The video of them from the road you posted, the first F-16 with the AZ on the tail was at Luke for awhile.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Well its a small world after all.

originally posted by: JIMC5499
a reply to: Zaphod58

That's why I loved AFFF. I had to inspect and clean a helicopter that got too close to an aircraft that was on fire. They used protein foam to put it out. Want to talk about a crappy smelly job.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Oops

So, another interesting bit of trivia, F-35A 17-5035 was delivered and flew in full USAF Luke AFB markings. She's in at least one of the pics in the albums I posted. Some time after delivery she went into the paint barn, and came out with Netherlands markings, as F-006, and was handed over to their crews.

a reply to: Zaphod58

I still not have seen the F35 flying over, but i'm not looking up all day. And his home base is the north of the country. We mainly get flyover from Volkel in the south, and they are home to the F16.

I did however spot a F35 for the first time flying in the NL on ADS-B.

I noticed it is US registered. Do you think "our" F35 is still US registered? Or It could be just a visitor.

a reply to: EartOccupant

The transponder is still coded for a US aircraft. There are a couple RAF B models that are the same way. It'll get changed when they go in for scheduled maintenance most likely.