ADW trip recap

[SengaB]

Greetings,
For those who are interested.
I just got back from a fairly successful trip to the DC area (ADW). The highlights of the trip were the following.


Polish Air Force TU-154 (101) (my reason for going)..I can rest now...
Unfortunately I had to leave before the sun was right.



United Arab Emirates 747SP (A6-SMR) (Flying as Royal Jordanian RJA001 for King Abdulla)

I was eager to see what exactly what 747SP flew in instead of the A340! was quite pleased.

E-4B (747-200)
73-1677
73-1676

Glad to finally get a shot of one of these!

Senga

[PhilDernerJr]

Geat shots! This is the Senga I remember!

[SengaB]

Whaaaaaaaaat? oh Phil... You have fogotten? But why did you forget?
I am glad to have reminded you :)


Senga

[tipek]

Great shots Senga! Next time you should pick weekend when you plan on coming to DC :)

Rafal

[Matt Molnar]

Is the E-4B the "Doomsday" plane? I think it needs more antennas. :)

[moose135]

Nice shots, Senga.

The E-4 brings back memories - when I was flying KCs at Grissom AFB, we used to get the E-4 in from time to time to sit alert, depending on where POTUS was. They had their own alert facility on the other end of the base from ours, their own fleet of response vehicles, and the right-of-way over everyone, including our alert vehicles, when responding to a horn. I did get a tour one time - the outside, and limited parts of the interior.

God, I miss the Cold War...

[cancidas]

senga, i love you man..... great pic of my fav bird!!!!!

[SengaB]

Thanks for the kind words guys!
"Doomsday"plane?. Yea I'd Definatly say its that as well!
Check out this first paragraphs from FAS.org about the destcription if the plane.
http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/c3i/e-4b.htm

John, I didnt know these planes had "priority" when operating at airports.
I recall seeing it fly out of ADW in the base from a distance and never could think of what kind of 747 iit was.
Yea I thouight about you Matt when I was getting the pxi of the plnae. I knew if get a kick out of that :)
Its too bad it dint stop into NYC. It went to Chicago witch has a heavy Polish community.

Senga

[Steven Holzinger]

Wow... pictures from Andrews AFB when it wasn't airshow weekend!

[moose135]

Back in the "old days" the E-4 was known as the National Emergency Airborne Command Post (NEACP, pronounced "kneecap") I don't know how much the mission has changed since the end of the Cold War, but I'm sure it's somewhat different.

Back then, they didn't really have priority over other traffic in normal operations, but when on alert they did. Not that they would all be on alert at the same place, but if the horn went off, the priority was the E-4, EC-135, B-52, KC-135. Of course all non-alert traffic would have to stay clear.

[PhilDernerJr]

Very interesting info, Moose. :) Thank you.

[Matt Molnar]

Back then, they didn't really have priority over other traffic in normal operations, but when on alert they did. Not that they would all be on alert at the same place, but if the horn went off, the priority was the E-4, EC-135, B-52, KC-135. Of course all non-alert traffic would have to stay clear.

Interesting. How often did they go on alert?

[SengaB]

I have several VIP shots from ADW some are on JP.net. Its a great airport to stock up on good stuff.

Senga

[moose135]

Interesting. How often did they go on alert?

There is always an E-4 on alert - back when I was at Grissom, (mid to late 80's) they would come in once a month or so for a few days, depending on where POTUS was at (They needed to be within a certain flying time).

We had EC-135s that pulled alert with us - they were PACCS (Post Attack Command and Control System) aircraft, and acted as radio-relay aircraft between the various command centers, the "Looking Glass" airborne command post, and units in the field.

We didn't have B-52s at KGUS (thankfully!) but we always had a bunch of KC-135s on alert. The EC-135s, B-52s and KC-135s had birds on alert around the clock, and the crews pulled alert 7 days at a time, rotating between 3 sets of crews, so you normally pulled alert one week out of three.

Back in the early 90's, President Bush (41) stepped down the bombers and tankers from day-to-day alert, and moved the "Looking Glass" from 24-hour airborne alert to strip-alert status. Although I was out of the USAF by that time, I was still shocked and amazed when it happened!