Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Boeing F-15E Strike Eagle

The 335th Fighter Squadron (FS), "Chiefs" fly the McDonnell-Douglas (now Boeing) F-15E Strike Eagle. The squadron provides worldwide deployable aircraft and personnel capable of executing combat missions in support of worldwide Aerospace Expeditionary Force deployments to combat areas as part of the Global War on Terrorism. The 335th was the second fighter squadron in the Air Force to receive the Strike Eagle. On 27 December 1990, the 335th deployed twenty-four F-15Es to Al Kharj Air Base in central Saudi Arabia. On the night of 16 January 1991, the 335th participated in the initial assault on Iraq during the Gulf War, hitting communications, power networks, and airfields around Baghdad. The 335th has returned to Southwest Asia several times; three times to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, and twice to Doha, Qatar, as an Air Expeditionary Force. In February 2003 the 335th again deployed to Southwest Asia for Operation Iraqi Freedom. During Iraqi Freedom and Operation Southern Watch the squadron deployed 24 F-15Es, and flew 1,500 sorties, totaling 7,000 flying hours. They dropped over 1 million pounds of precision and non-precision munitions on numerous targets such as key Iraqi leadership, command and control bunkers, artillery Republican Guard units and many others. The 335th FS is known as the "World's Leading MiG Killers" for destroying 218.5 MiGs in aerial combat. Limited Edition. Signed and Numbered prints are available directly from the Artist. See More.

Lockheed WV-2 Super Constellation

The U.S. Navy versions when initially procured were designated WV-1 (PO-1W), WV-2, and WV-3. Naval aircrews used the term "Willie Victor" based on a slang version of the phonetic alphabet and the naval version of the aircraft's pre-1962 designation of WV-1, WV-2 or WV-3. WV-2s served from 1956 to 1965 in two "barrier" forces, one off each coast of the North American continent. These barrier forces consisted of five surface picket stations each manned by radar destroyer escorts and an air wing of WV-2s that patrolled the picket lines at 1,000-4,000 m (3,000-12,000 ft) altitude in six- to 20-hour missions. Their objective was to extend early warning coverage against surprise Soviet bomber and missile attack as an extension of the DEW Line. The Atlantic Barrier (BarLant) consisted of two rotating squadron detachments, VW-13 and VW-15 home based at NAS Patuxent River, MD. and one squadron, VW-11, permanently based at Naval Station Argentia, Newfoundland. BarLant began operations on 1 July 1956, and flew continuous coverage until early 1965. See More.

Raytheon Beechcraft T-6B Texan II

Training Squadron TWO (VT-2), the Navy's oldest primary training squadron, was born from Basic Training Group TWO and commissioned on May 1, 1960, at NAS Whiting Field. VT-2's mission is to provide primary and intermediate stage flight training to selected student aviators of the United States Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and several allied nations. Training Squadron TWO graduates approximately 210 students each year. Logging nearly 2,000 flight hours each month VT-2 has flown in excess of 1,800,000 flight hours and trained more than 19,000 students since its commissioning. Signed and Numbered by the Artist. See More.

Beechcraft T-34C Turbo Mentor

The current Red Knights of Training Squadron THREE (VT-3) picked up the torch lit by their predecessors on May 1, 1960 and continued the legacy of "Training the Best for America's Defense". By the end of 1968, VT-3 had flown almost 110,000 instructional hours and trained 902 students in the basic prop-training course for that calendar year. VT-3 remained at South Whiting Field for thirteen years until 1973, when the squadron joined VT-2 at North Whiting Field to make room for newly formed helicopter training squadrons at South Field. In April of 1977, VT-3 began the official transition from the T-28 Trojan to the T-34C Turbo Mentor. In addition, the squadron began to utilize extensive simulated flight instruction and introduced the Cockpit Procedure Trainer into the training syllabus. The first student completed the new T-34C syllabus in Aug 1978. The Red Knights continue to provide the highest quality training to student aviators from the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Air Force, and several allied nations. Signed and Numbered by the Artist. See More.