Spangdahlem Air Base 14-05-2022

[Krazy]

Nice weather, and still plenty of activity on Spangdahlem in the weekends because of the based Growlers and F-35s. (The F-16s will not fly in the weekend) Time to give it another go. Runway 23 in use so we got up the hill at the Kapelle, and hoped for luck.
It didn't really pay off. From the 4 F-35s that took off in the early morning only one kept it a bit low. None banked.
17-5280/VT F-35A 134th FS/VT ANG

The two Growlers that followed 1,5 hours later didn't seem to do much better, but we already drove towards the RWY23 end of the base anyway. An attempt to capture the Growlers on the runway was ruined by a lot of heatwaves.

The missions of the F-35s and the Growlers can be 6 hours in length, so the waiting began. Hoping for some heavy traffic, and it didn't take long until we spotted a C-5M making its way towards Spangdahlem:
83-1285 C-5M 436/512 AW Dover

Then all of a sudden the two Growlers came back. Seemed they went for a more local mission, which didn't even last 2 hours:
168767/NL-532 EA-18G VAQ-134

168259/NL-534 EA-18G VAQ-134

The 4 KC-135s that were on Spangdahlem last week have left, and have seen to operate from Incirlik now. Its seems the replacements are 3 KC-10s. The first dropped in from Mildenhall as Nacho 220H:
79-1712 KC-10A 305/514 AMW McGuire

4 F-35As left for a mission just after 12:00. They hadn't returned when we left at 15:15, but just before that, we got the 2nd KC-10, and a C-17. Nacho 221H:
87-0119 KC-10A 60/349 AMW Travis

The first 4 F-35s returned around 15:00, but the light was so terrible that those shots were almost a waste.
All in all still a very enjoyable day.
Hope you like them!

Regards,

Bram

[Key]

Many thanks Bram, very useful report and what you did catch seems absolutely worth it!

Erik

[Trabanti]

Nice! A bit of luck too, without the Extenders it would have been a bit boring.. You sure those were the same 2 Growlers you saw taking off? Could be those 2 returned from a long early morning mission and the 2 you saw depart returned after you left in the afternoon? Otherwise indeed a local mission, or they lost tanker support and were forced to come back early..

Anyway, thanks for sharing! No problems parking the car at the end of the Saalhozstrasse?

Bart

[Krazy]

Nice! A bit of luck too, without the Extenders it would have been a bit boring.. You sure those were the same 2 Growlers you saw taking off? Could be those 2 returned from a long early morning mission and the 2 you saw depart returned after you left in the afternoon? Otherwise indeed a local mission, or they lost tanker support and were forced to come back early..

Anyway, thanks for sharing! No problems parking the car at the end of the Saalhozstrasse?

Bart

It were the same two. The heatwaves on takeoff were bad, but it didn't hide the codes

We parked the car in the forest, the furthest you can go with a car currently. It's a small clearing with a cross and a bench, just before the last right hander in the road when you follow the fence. We walked the rest. Be aware, this is officially already forbidden. The sign at the end of the Saalholzstrasse says that only forestry personnel is allowed to drive passed that point. I have heard that several people were fined by the police last week, with fines up to 50 euros. If you don't want to take a risk, the end of the Saalholzstrasse is the legal spot. The clearing is here, don't try to go further, unless you don't like the paint on your car

[Custard Gannet]

Did F-35A > 18-5339 / VT fly on this day ?

[Krazy]

Did F-35A > 18-5339 / VT fly on this day ?

Hello,
I posted the log just now: https://scramble.nl/community/messagebo ... 7#p1028427
One VT slipped through because my ladder wasn't big enough. Others read it, but I didn't write it down. If my memory is correct, that was the 18-5338, not the 39.

[JPS]

Did F-35A > 18-5339 / VT fly on this day ?

No it did not.

[JPS]

Did F-35A > 18-5339 / VT fly on this day ?

Hello,
I posted the log just now: https://scramble.nl/community/messagebo ... 7#p1028427
One VT slipped through because my ladder wasn't big enough. Others read it, but I didn't write it down. If my memory is correct, that was the 18-5338, not the 39.

Correct, the 5338