NASCAR’s biggest race, the Daytona 500, takes place this
weekend. And in racing, nobody wants to see a red flag before the checkered
flag. But in the realm of aviation, it’s a different story.
From late last month into February, Nellis Air Force Base in
Nevada has hosted one of several major exercises that take place every year
under the name Red Flag. With thousands of miles of airspace on hand, Red Flag
offers pilots, crews, and many other personnel the opportunity to hone their
skills under realistic air combat conditions.
While there are Red Flag exercises restricted to United
States military only, the iteration that has just concluded brought together
international partners to team up with our aviators. Which means our skies
hosted a number of aircraft rarely seen in the United States. Yesterday a
flight of four Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft and a large
Airbus Voyager KC tanker/transport plane took off from Las Vegas headed home on
the long flight back to England.
Fortunately, these planes took a break after flying across the US, landing at Dover Air Force Base late yesterday. And with Dover located just down the road from Aerospace Perceptions headquarters, I made it a point to be on hand to welcome these special visitors to Delaware as the sun set. I hope you’ll enjoy the photos.
All photographs: Frank Moriarty/Aerospace Perceptions
For more on Red Flag visit: https://www.nellis.af.mil/About/High-End-Training/Red-Flag-Nellis/
For more on Eurofighter Typhoon visit: https://www.raf.mod.uk/aircraft/typhoon-fgr4/
For more on Voyager KC visit: https://www.raf.mod.uk/aircraft/voyager/
In a stroke of luck, in the moments between the Typhoon
flight and the Voyager landing, a beautiful Boeing 747-400 on a freight mission
for Atlas Air also arrived on the scene. I can’t let that majestic sight go
undocumented!
