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Screenshots

Uh-Oh.. Ok, scratch that. :mixed-smiley-027:

I did not investigate 13243 *before* posting my query to the hair-splitting fussy fault-finding formalists aka rivetcounters amongst us including me. Sorry ! Stupid ! :stupid:

( i.e. it appears that a F-104G with Martin-Baker Q7 ejection seat in USAF livery *could* indeed very well have been seen flying above the US desert. Mainly to get German F-104 pilots familiar with it. Who knew ?! Apparently i did not. Again sorry.. :eek: )

Great job, Richard !
 
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Javis said:
Uh-Oh.. Ok, scratch that.

I did not investigate 13243 *before* posting my query to the hair-splitting fussy fault-finding formalists aka rivetcounters amongst us including me. Sorry ! Stupid !

( i.e. it appears that a F-104G with Martin-Baker Q7 ejection seat in USAF livery *could* indeed very well have been seen flying above the US desert. Mainly to get German F-104 pilots familiar with it. Who knew ?! Apparently i did not. Again sorry..

Great job, Richard !
Click to expand...

This is well noticed Javis. I should have added some info about this new texture.
It is indeed a German F-104G. So, here is some info.
I hope you don't mind me being off topic "Screenshots".


To my knowledge, the USA have never used F-104G in operational squadrons. They mainly used F-104As.


In 1963, the RFA and the USA signed two contracts for the training of German pilots.
These contracts take young German pilots to Arizona for a two-year course. Initial basic training takes place at Williams AFB on T-37 and T-38.
Graduates then move on to second advanced F-104 training at Luke AFB with the 69th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron.
To this end, a hundred Starfighters (F-104G and TF-104G versions) acquired by the RFA are detached to the base and display the colors of the USAF. The unit thus created is divided into several Combat Crew Training Wing (CCTW).
This training program will end in 1983 after several changes in the organization of the units.


The planes are delivered with a sober silver-finish colors with the USAF markings without distinctive signs of units.
The registration is only informed by the last 5 digits of the serial on the fin. A few aircraft also had the US-style fuselage registration as FG-XXX.
Sometimes a small touch of color on the auxiliary tanks or on the doors of the nose gear makes it possible to distinguish the unit.
Some TF-104Gs were painted gray.
Few aircrafts have a particular decoration.
among these we can cite:
- F-104G 13243 flagship of the 69th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron. The stabilizer is painted black as well as the tips tanks and quite discreetly some elements of the fuselage.
Touches of red and yellow colors are also added, thus referring to the black-red-yellow colors of the German flag, such as the pitot tube or the front gear doors. The 69th TFTS insignia is applied to the fin.
Several photos taken at different times show slight variations in this decoration. With or without insignia of the 69th TFTS or with different decorations on the tip tanks (entirely in black-red-yellow or special marking for the bicentenary in 1976) .
Rem. In 1982 she starred in the movie "The Right Stuff" with her sister ship 13269.
243.jpg

243a.jpg

243b.jpg

- F-104G 13251 of the 4510th CCTW. With the stabilizer and the top of the fin painted red. Tip tanks with bicentenary markings in 1976.
(I also just made this texture).
251.jpg

251a.jpg

- F-104F 13269 with the last two digits of the serial enlarged and painted in red to recall its membership in the 69th TFS.
- TF-104G 13076. This two-seater is well known for its colorful decoration during the bicentenary of the USA in 1976. (Our friend Jan Kees made this texture).
076.jpg
 
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Spent the day finishing flying and inspecting my collection of Fla airports, which I've been working thru for a couple of weeks.

Wimauma Airpark - FD77.


Coral Creek Airport - FA54. Several decades ago one of my jobs was maintaining this airport to a minimum after it was closed. Mostly keeping it mowed, the runway lights working, and making sure the little airport building didn't completely fall apart. About the only thing exciting that ever happened was while heading out there one morning, I just caught a B-24 taking off. I saw the guys at the Punta Gorda airshow that weekend and asked if that was them, which it obviously was. :) I forget why they said they landed there.


Everglades Airpark - X01.


Key West NAS - KNQX.



Forest
 
RichardLouis said:
This is well noticed Javis. I should have added some info about this new texture.
It is indeed a German F-104G. So, here is some info.
I hope you don't mind me being off topic "Screenshots".
Click to expand...

Well, i'd say as long as it as to do with additional info about a specific screenshot it's not that much off topic, is it ?...

Thanks a lot for this info, Richard ! Very interesting ! :encouragement:

I think i may call myself an F-104 fanboy. Mainly because they were operational here in the Netherlands from 1962 until 1984. Many of the F-104G and TF-104G types were build by Fokker, others also by Fiat. One thing that set them apart from the other G's that were used by Nato countries like Germany and Italy was that the latter used the Martin-Baker Q7 ejection seats while the dutch G's used the original Lockheed C-2 seats (Stanley AC).

It struck me as rather peculiar to notice the MB-Q7 seat in your screenies of 13243. Of course i didn't know anything about the German pilots instruction program so i thought i cought a nice boo-boo here... :playful:

One thing in particular about the MB-Q7 seat that is still shrouded in mystery pertains to the 'green box' just underneath the headrest and the main object to distinguish it from the Lockheed C-2 seat. Ever since i build the 1:12 Italieri model of the MB-Q7 seat( loooong time ago) i have been under the impression that this particular box contains an inflatable survival dinghy. Makes sense because the German Stafs were also used by the Marines and Italy is even surrounded by sea. USAF Stafs had not much to do flying above the Atlantic or Pacific, hadn't they...

A great website about ejection seats however claims that the 'green box' of the Q7 seat contains the parachute....

I'm still sticking to an inflatable dinghy sitting there in that green box (what would be another reason for that additional box compared to the C-2 seat ? Who'd need a dinghy above the desert and mountains ?..) still would love to know which it really would turn out to be.... :rolleyes:

Btw, particularly with your amazing dusk screenies of the 104 here above it remains difficult to distinguish them from real photographs ! :applause:

Thanks again, Richard !
 
Thank you Jan and Collensr. This flight with the two P-38s was done using the freeware Flight Recorder module from Flightsim.to. The flight was done around Middlesboro, Kentucky, which is Glacier Girl's old stomping grounds, where it was restored and where it was flown from until it was sold to Rod Lewis in 2006. In 2004 and 2005, the Planes of Fame Air Museum flew their P-38 all the way from California to fly with Glacier Girl at Middlesboro, so this sort of recreates that (though the POF P-38 had a different paint scheme back then). As Glacier Girl's test pilot, Steve Hinton, once commented, Middlesboro is quite a unique and somewhat challenging location to fly a warbird, especially on a first test flight, with the city and airport located right within the basin of an ancient meteorite crater. Both of the repaints pictured, for the FlyingIron P-38, were done by the very talented Marty Fallon, and both are also available on Flightsim.to.
 
Javis said:
Well, i'd say as long as it as to do with additional info about a specific screenshot it's not that much off topic, is it ?...

Thanks a lot for this info, Richard ! Very interesting ! :encouragement:

I think i may call myself an F-104 fanboy. Mainly because they were operational here in the Netherlands from 1962 until 1984. Many of the F-104G and TF-104G types were build by Fokker, others also by Fiat. One thing that set them apart from the other G's that were used by Nato countries like Germany and Italy was that the latter used the Martin-Baker Q7 ejection seats while the dutch G's used the original Lockheed C-2 seats (Stanley AC).

It struck me as rather peculiar to notice the MB-Q7 seat in your screenies of 13243. Of course i didn't know anything about the German pilots instruction program so i thought i cought a nice boo-boo here... :playful:

One thing in particular about the MB-Q7 seat that is still shrouded in mystery pertains to the 'green box' just underneath the headrest and the main object to distinguish it from the Lockheed C-2 seat. Ever since i build the 1:12 Italieri model of the MB-Q7 seat( loooong time ago) i have been under the impression that this particular box contains an inflatable survival dinghy. Makes sense because the German Stafs were also used by the Marines and Italy is even surrounded by sea. USAF Stafs had not much to do flying above the Atlantic or Pacific, hadn't they...

A great website about ejection seats however claims that the 'green box' of the Q7 seat contains the parachute....

I'm still sticking to an inflatable dinghy sitting there in that green box (what would be another reason for that additional box compared to the C-2 seat ? Who'd need a dinghy above the desert and mountains ?..) still would love to know which it really would turn out to be.... :rolleyes:

Btw, particularly with your amazing dusk screenies of the 104 here above it remains difficult to distinguish them from real photographs ! :applause:

Thanks again, Richard !
Click to expand...

Thank you Javis, it's always a pleasure to share and thank you also for your information.
I admit I don't know the contents of the green box on the Q7 ejection seat but I remember the 1/12 scale model very well,...wasn't it Esci?
 
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