NAS Oceana: 1/9/2013-Hornets and CAG Jets Galore

Hello All,

For my first outing of 2013, I decided to head back down to NAS Oceana to get my fix of military jets before resuming classes. The base didn't disappoint. While the weather fouled up during the afternoon, it was a wonderful variety of squadrons, models of F/A-18, and colorful CAG and CO birds.

Now for the photos...


The morning began with some runway 05 departures

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8493/8...390844af_b.jpg


VFA-143's CAG Jet on departure

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8189/8...45b65eb1_b.jpg


The civilian Beech 1900 that operates out of Oceana

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8369/8...9873db89_b.jpg


And her Pilatus stablemate

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8079/8...b9d968a0_b.jpg


VFA-106 Super Hornet on departure

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8514/8...16e4ba89_b.jpg



A USAF F-15E Strike Eagle from Seymour-Johnson AFB was a nice treat

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8087/8...f6211708_b.jpg



Getting buzzed by a T-34 TurboMentor

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8220/8...ae842b76_b.jpg



VFA-106 on arrival after a switch to runway 23 Ops

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8096/8...b5184cb0_b.jpg



VF-11 jet sporting some newly applied tusks on the radome

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8326/8...efe26c02_b.jpg



The Civvies came back a while later...

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8364/8...b0aa0624_b.jpg



http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8224/8...53024244_b.jpg



As did the Pukin' Dogs' CAG Jet

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8358/8...b885b15a_b.jpg


We then took a break for lunch....

... And the clouds came rolling in.

However the jets didn't stop, and we kept shooting.


VFC-12 brought in their new Splinter camo F/A-18

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8238/8...7507fa82_b.jpg



VFA-15 "Valions" brought in their CAG Jet as well

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8466/8...49c6e52e_b.jpg



A nice Hawkeye from Norfolk

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8230/8...bc086158_b.jpg



VFC-12 "Omars" recently swapped jets with VFA-87 "Golden Warriors" leading to this dilapidated looking jet from VFA-87, still wearing it's old camo

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8229/8...3cac27cd_b.jpg

and her more cohesive looking partner

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8075/8...7cd224cb_b.jpg



The T-34 came back in as well

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8470/8...d263f174_b.jpg


And then came the CAG and CO bird party to finish the day



VFA-32 "Swordsmen" CO bird

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8051/8...efe25a54_b.jpg



VFA-136 "Knighthawks" CAG Bird

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8352/8...8fca2c88_b.jpg



VFA-105 "Gunslingers' CAG Jet

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8237/8...3c32dc38_b.jpg



And their CO Bird

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8325/8...f3e174c2_b.jpg



And last, but definitely not least, the F/A-18F that I have been chasing for as long as I have been a photographer



VFA-213 "Blacklions" CAG Jet, who even did a Touch and Go for me

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8052/8...44d1949c_b.jpg



http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8089/8...d0e71614_b.jpg



http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8047/8...6251a901_b.jpg




Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed, and please pardon the second half of the day, I wish it wasn't so grey :frown: Feedback and input is always welcome!


Nick

Wow, great collection of shots Nick! I like the Dogs CAG jet and the splinter camo jet.

If I may ask, for the runway 05 departures, where did you take those shots from?

Thanks

Isaac

Glad you got your fix. Great stuff.

Wow!! Excellent series of shots!! Love every one of them!

Thank you all.

Isaac, as I believe you are familiar with Oceana, you know doubt know of the spot off of Oceana Blvd. if you continue on Oceana Blvd away from the Wawa, Railroad tracks, etc to the next place you can turn left, that is where these photos were taken. It is a driveway into a gated dirt road. You can shoot departures if they extend a bit (vast majority will actually turn inside of you). Also, all of the sunny, blue sky 23 arrival photos were taken here as well, hence the more side on view, versus the belly shots at Oceana Blvd.


Nick

Love them, Nick!!!!! One question....Is the F/A-18E VFA-105 "Gunslingers" AC-401 BuNo 166651, right? I've shot this one at former Otis AFB in Cape Cod on August 25, 2007.

Thanks for sharing!!! :cool:

John

Nick, Thanks for the info. I checked out google maps and see where you mean. I will try that location in September ...

Excellent set

No F35? What a disgrace =P

this is epicness!! how long were you out there to catch all of that? I've seen the hawkeye once because approach descended me too early and we were within 500' of the guy on final when we were over the bay going into ORF. Sweet work!

Nice shots Nick! Having never been Oceana, I was curious and looked for the location on Google maps, I believe that I spotted the location that you are referring to. I am surprised that you were able to spend several hours there without being hassled. Does the base normally have so much activity?

You MAY get chased from that location - the Virginia Beach Police tend to use that location as a speed trap. They'll likely ask you to move on down to the usual spot.

Nice set of shots Nick, especially that Hawkeye

Thank you all!

Threeholer, all these photos were taken between 0900-1230, and 1430-1630 in one day

Joe-I guess you could be run out of there, but there is no reason why you couldn't park at the usual Oceaba blvd location and walk down to that area.