Strike Fighter Ball 2011

Very cool video commemorating the Atlantic Fleet's Strike Fighter Ball 2011. Has a very nice Centennial of Naval Aviation flavor to it, paying homage to the lineage of the participating squadrons. It's a shame that there are dozens of attack and fighter squadrons that have been previously disestablished because of budget cuts, and their heritage doesn't appear here. Oh well, that's for another video ...

The good humored stab at the Reservists of VFC-12 is pretty funny, even if they are considered some of the most professional and best trained aviators in the Fleet.

Thanks to Outlaw13 for the heads up ...

Airshows Can Be A Dangerous Business

On April 6, Lt. Nathan Hollingsworth and Lt. Matthew Lowe, United States Navy, lost their lives when their F-18F crashed a mile from their home base at NAS Lemoore, CA.

Assigned to VFA-122, the Navy's west coast Super Hornet training squadron, these gentlemen were the demo team assigned to fly the F-18F at airshow demonstrations this year. They were practicing their demonstration when the plane went down.

They were flying F-18F BuNo 165877, assigned to VFA-122, coded NJ-122.

Godspeed gentlemen ...

Flying airshows can be dangerous. Even flying practice for airshows can be dangerous.

These photos are of 165877, seen during a 2006 training detachment to NAS Ft. Worth. Coded NJ-141 at the time, it was one of several VFA-122 aircraft flown by fledgling Hornet pilots against home based VFA-201 in air combat training exercises. Photos by yours truly.