LC-130 takes off for Operation Deep Freeze

Posté le 30 octobre 2010 de Toni G.

Master Sgt. Joseph Sinatra checks the air spring pressure on an LC-130 Hercules during a stop Oct. 18, 2010, at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii. The springs are used to absorb the shock of landing the ski-equipped aircraft on the Antarctic ice. Sergeant Sinatra and the rest of his LC-130 aircrew stopped at Hickam while en route to Antarctica to support Operation Deep Freeze, the Defense Department’s logistical support to U.S. research activities at the southernmost continent. Sergeant Sinatra is an LC-130 crew chief assigned to the New York Air National Guard’s 109th Airlift Wing at Stratton Air National Guard Base, N.Y. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Kerry Jackson).
US Air Force Link (www.af.mil) courtesy

LC-130 taking off with JATO from Greenland – Photo © Søren Wedel Nielsen (Copyright 2005)

Jim Zwayer and Bill Weaver took off that day – January 25th, 1966 !

Posté le 25 janvier 2009 de Toni G.

SR71 Blackbird – USAF photo by Tech SGT Michael Haggerty – Source: www.af.mil

This unbelievable test flight happened in 1966, and remained top secret for decades given the constraints of the Cold war at that time. You can read this breath-taking story in browsing into Google. Type – SR-71 Blackbird breakup at Mach 3.18 – (or click on this link, then on the first webpage of the Google list proposed). Plant yourself firmly in an armchair, then you can start to read the most amazing aeronautical report I have ever read!