Luke Air Force Base, Arizona |
On Wednesday, April 12, I visited Luke Air Force Base, Goodyear Airport, and Sky Harbor International Airport. Luke Air Force Base is home to the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcons of the 56th Fighter Wing and the 499th Fighter Wing. Many retired airliners are stored at the Goodyear Airport.
Send a message to Brian. Go to home page of the Goleta Air and
Space Museum.
1970s
Luke Air
Force Base in Arizona is near the place that I grew up. I
have made a habit of photographing the fighters flying in the
vicinity of the base. The first page of this series features
pictures that I shot in the seventies, when U.S.A.F. pilots were
training in McDonnell-Douglas F-4C Phantom IIs against aggressor
pilots in Northrop F-5E Tiger IIs. Luftwaffe pilots in Lockheed
F-104G Starfighters flew more hours at Luke AFB than any other
Luftwaffe base. The first McDonnell-Douglas F-15A Eagles were
being introduced into service.
In December 1979, Luke Air Force Base
hosted a collection of jet fighters, clustered
around the main gate. Several of these airplanes are still on display at
Luke AFB Airpark.1980s
Pictures of fighters and trainers
in the pattern at Luke Air Force Base
near Phoenix, Arizona from the 1980s. During that decade, the
Century Series fighters were retired; the McDonnell-Douglas F-4
Phantom II was phased out; the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting
Falcon and the McDonnell-Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle entered
service in the squadrons based at Luke. August 2004
The Luke Air Force Base
Air Park display has been updated with photographs taken in August 2004.April 12, 2006
F-16 Fighting Falcons at Luke AFB
US Air Force fighter pilots have been training in General Dynamic F-16 Fighting Falcons at Luke Air Force Base since 1983. Luke is home to the 56th Wing. Elements of the 56th Fighter Wing include the 62nd Fighter Squadron Spike, 308th Fighter Squadron Emerald Knights, 309th Fighter Squadron Wild Ducks, and 310th Fighter Squadron Top Hats. Pilots of the Taiwanese Air Force 21st Fighter Squadron GamblersGamblers and the Singapore Air Force 425th Fighter Squadron Black Widows also train at Luke.
Cactus Starfighter, December 15, 2010
On Wednesday, December 15, 2010, the 310th Fighter Squadron Top Hats at L:uke Air Force Base sent an unusually large number of its General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcons aloft at the same time for the Cactus Starfighter training exercise. A Boeing KC-135R of the 97th Air Mobility Wing based at Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma and four McDonnell-Douglas F-15C Eagle aggressors of the 57th Wing based at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada staged out of Luke in support of the operation. Marine Corps Northrop F-5E Tiger aggressors from Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, a Boeing E-8 joint surveillance target attack radar system aircraft from Warner Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, a Boeing E-3 Sentry airborne warning and control system aircraft from Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, and a Boeing RC-135 Stratotanker rivet joint aircraft from Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska also participated in the exercise.
Luke AFB Exercise, January 28, 2011
Luke Air Force Base hosted an aerial and academic exercise on Saturday, January 28, 2011. Locally based General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcons were joined by F-16s from Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, and Des Moines Air National Guard Base, Iowa, Northrop T-38 Talons from Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma and Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, McDonnell-Douglas F/A-18 Hornets from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, California, a Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker from Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma, and a Lockheed-Martin F/A-22A Raptor from Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida.
Luke Air Force Base Airshow, March 19, 2011
Luke Air Force Base hosted an airshow over the weekend of March 19-20, 2011. It featured flight demonstrations of Fairchild-Republic A-10A Warthog 80-0238 of the 355th Wing, Curtiss P-40N Warhawk NL85104, Nanchang CJ-6s of the Deer Valley Warbirds, Canadair CT-133 Silver Star N933GC Acemaker, McDonnell-Douglas F/A-18E Rhino BuNo 166972 #210 of VFA-122 Flying Eagles, McDonnell-Douglas AV-8B Harrier BuNo 165002 #09 of VMA-311 Tomcats, McDonnell-Douglas QF-4E Phantom II 72-0140 of the 82nd Aerial Target Squadron, Lockheed Martin F-22A Raptor 05-4098 of the 49th Fighter Wing, Twin Beech C-18S N9109R Magic by Moonlight, and General Dynamics F-16C Fighting Falcons of the US Air Force Thunderbirds.