Thursday, January 31, 2008

F-16C Formation Flight 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Here's a great shot two F-16C's from the 35Th Fighter Squadron (Wolf Pack) stationed in South Korea.

Those of you that are familiar with flight sims might recognize the tail marking (WP) since it was featured in a sim called Falcon 4.0.

Falcon remains one of my all-time favorite flight sims and it still lives on thanks to groups like FreeFalcon.com

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

F-16C Taxing For Takeoff 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Here's an F-16C with 3 bags (fuel tanks) in prep for takeoff on a cross-country flight (notice the travel pod on station 3).

For this shot, I desaturated and then applied a color filter (Sepia). I also off-centered the crop to add more visual interest. Should make a nice widescreen desktop if your icons are on the left of your monitor.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

B-52 Escorted by Royal Australian F-18Cs 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Nice shot here of a B-52 being escorted by three Royal Australian F-18C's. The shot comes from a joint exercise called Green Lightning.

Monday, January 28, 2008

B-2A Stealth Bomber Refueling 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Here's a great shot of a B-2A Stealth Bomber refueling. The ocean blues and clouds add the necessary texture to make this an outstanding photo.

Enjoy!

Saturday, January 26, 2008

X-35A Joint Strike Fighter 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Nice shot here of an X-35A prototype Joint Strike Fighter. This aircraft won the competition and is now in production. Over time, this aircraft is going to replace a ton of USAF, USN, and USMC aircraft.

Friday, January 25, 2008

Friday Video: Radio Controlled F-16



Talk about cool toys, check out this radio controlled F-16 model. I have no idea what one of these cost, but I'm impressed. Just as with the real F-16, landing the aircraft takes a huge amount of skill and you'll see in the video, lots of practice....

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Three Ship F-16 Falcon Formation 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Great shot here of a three ship of F-16s with excellent paint schemes. I'm really liking that arctic camo pattern.

Enjoy!

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

USAF B-1B Bomber In-Flight 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Here's a majestic aerial photo of a B-1B Lancer in flight. If I were a bomber pilot, I'd want to fly one of these. This shot will make a great wallpaper for your widescreen monitor.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

North American F-86 Sabre 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

The F-86 is a great Korean era jet fighter. The jet has great lines and I've always enjoyed taking photos of it.

I took this shot at the Nellis AFB 2007 airshow. You've got Sunrise mountain in the background adding a nice contrast.

Monday, January 21, 2008

B-1B Bomber 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Nice shot here of the B-1B making a bank turn over Edwards Air Force Base. It's amazing that this bomber has been transformed to the point it is able to perform the close air support mission.

Enjoy!

Sunday, January 20, 2008

F/A-18E Super Hornet 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Here's a shot with great composition. The aircraft is in focus and the sun angle makes the HUD glow green Excellent.

Saturday, January 19, 2008

A-10 Thunderbolt II 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Here's a tight shot of an A-10 performing a show pass. It's not a sexy plane but it sure packs a punch. It's often been said it was a plane built around a gun (in this case a 30 MM gun).

Enjoy!

Friday, January 18, 2008

Friday Video: F-16's



Check out this great video on F-16's.

Here's a really short second video showing an amazing high speed low pass. Heehhe, enjoy!



I have a few stories about when our squadron did a TDY to Wendover, Utah. Our F-16's did a simulated base attack on us at altitudes similar to what you just saw. It was the most incredible thing I've ever seen.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

P-51 Mustang Aerial Photo 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Here's a great archival photo of the P-51 Mustang. This shot was taken sometime in the 1940's. Check out the guns. The color scheme is pretty interesting as well.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Video: F-16 Engine Test



Check this crazy video out. These guys are standing next to an F-16 doing throttle transient engine testing. At the point these guys are standing, if they were to get into that exhaust plume while the jet is in afterburner, the wind velocity would be 1200 knots and temperature around 1500 degrees F.

How about the noise? Where they are at, it is about 110 - 135 dBa. Even with ear protection you are supposed to limit yourself to 5 minutes or less a day!

Airbus A380 Cockpit 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Contrasting with the Wright brothers first powered airplane, check out the modern marvel Airbus A380.

Fly by wire, keyboards, all glass, and cameras. I'd love to fly one of these babies. My hunch is that the flight control computers make flying this massive aircraft relatively easy.

Photo is attributed to naddsy and is used per creative commons license cc-by-2.0.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Wright Flyer 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

In December 1903, the Wright brothers did something that would change the world. This simple aircraft was the first powered flight airplane.

Since I love aircraft and flying so much, I feel a kinship with these guys. Even on my pilot's license there is a picture of them both.

So, here is the Wright Flyer widescreen wallpaper. I touched up the photo since it had some original defects and applied some post-processing to correct exposure and contrast.

Looking at this scene, you wonder if they had any idea what their success would lead to? I wonder what they would think if they saw an Airbus A380 or an F/A-22.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Navy F-14B Tomcat Formation Takeoff 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Here's a great shot of a two-ship F-14B formation takeoff. Formation takeoffs were one of my favorite things to watch when I was in USAF. These guys are great pilots.

Saturday, January 12, 2008

You Won't Believe What Your Computer Reveals About You

Maybe you're like me. I'm concerned about how much personal information and history is on my computer. I typically flush my web browsing history, cookies, and temp files every few days. I've been thinking I'm doing a good job until yesterday.

Free Evidence Eraser Trial

I came across this software called Evidence Eraser and it claims it can find and delete tons of personal info off your computer that you aren't even aware is available. I installed the program and let it run. Here's what it found:

When I looked through the findings, there was personal history in the Start Menu, Log Files, and Run Command. There's also an amazing about of personal info in the Windows registry that I had no idea was there!

And this is just in the Windows section!

I won't even mention what Evidence Eraser found in my browsers and other applications.

If personal security is in any way important to you, YOU NEED TO GET THIS PROGRAM.

If that's not enough, there is another feature that makes this a MUST buy. Evidence Eraser comes with a personal file shredder that meets and exceeds the US Dept of Defense specs for file security. You might not be aware of it, but when you "delete" a file in Windows, most of the time that file could be restored by forensic software used by various police agencies.

With the Advanced Shredder, when you delete something, it is really GONE.

Seriously, don't fool with personal security. Your computer has personal information and history virtually everywhere.

Do yourself a favor and go download it. Once you see what's on your computer, buying this program is a no-brainer.

Free Evidence Eraser Trial

Ok, back to widescreen wallpapers!

-- JT

USAF F-15D Eagle 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Nice shot of an F-15D in a rare camo pattern. Don't see these every day!

The F-15 family (A-D) had some trouble lately after one crashed due to a structural failure. They've been inspecting the rest and found that other F-15s have similar fatigue cracks. Hopefully they'll find an engineering fix so the Eagles can continue to serve.

Friday, January 11, 2008

Artistic: Starlight 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Well, it is Friday and I've been experimenting with some effects with Photoshop lately. You'll either love this or hate it, but hey, it's free right? I've called it starlight.

Let me know your thoughts.

Friday Video: Farewell to the F-14 Tomcat



Happy Friday. In keeping with the Top Gun theme, here's a farewell video to the fighter jet star in the movie: The F-14 Tomcat.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Navy Super Hornet Carrier Takeoff 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Here's another great carrier launch shot for an F/A-18F Super Hornet. Anybody notice the different colors in the afterburner flame from the F/A-18C models?

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Super Hornet 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Here's a great sunset shot of an F/A-18E Super Hornet getting a cat launch off a carrier in the Persian Gulf.

For this shot, I added a deep yellow color filter and adjusted the contrast. I think it turned out well.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

USAF F-15E Strike Eagle 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Nice shot of an F-15E Strike Eagle taking off. I like the motion blur effect. A buddy of mine used to work on these aircraft and I've been in the cockpit. Nice plane!

Don't know if any of you remember Jane's F-15E, but I was a beta tester for that sim and loved it. The whole Jane's brand was excellent.

Monday, January 7, 2008

Heritage Flight New York City A-10 F-15C F-16C and P-51D 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Excellent shot of a four-ship Heritage flight over New York city. The P-51 is still a marvel but it is amazing to see how far aircraft design has progressed in 40 years.

Enjoy!

Saturday, January 5, 2008

AH-64D Apache Longbow 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Great shot of an AH-64D, one of the most feared helicopters in the world. Anyone remember the computer sim named Longbow? I miss it.

Enjoy!

Friday, January 4, 2008

Friday Video: Best of Top Gun



In keeping with the Top Gun theme this month, check out this video that includes some great footage from the movie. If you haven't seen the movie, do yourself a favor and get it.

Thursday, January 3, 2008

AV-8B Harrier 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

If you've ever seen a Harrier perform at an airshow, you know it is a thriller. There's just something about raw thrust and vertical takeoffs (not to mention hovering).

Enjoy!

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

F-14A Formation Cockpit 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Here's a older cockpit shot of a fourship of F-14A Tomcats. This shot took a lot of Photoshop work but the end result is pretty good.

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Navy Battleship Wisconsin 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Happy 2008! Let's start this new year off with a BANG from the Battleship Wisconsin (BB-64). What's amazing is that this ship was active from 1944 through 1991, even participating in the Gulf War.

I also want to say a special thanks to all of you. This site started in August, 2007 and in December we had over 12,000 unique visitors, 26,000 page views, and over 1,100 repeat visitors.

Let's see if we can double those numbers this year! One way you can say thanks and help us out is to tell your friends about the site. You can also help by submitting the site to social bookmarking sites like Digg, Stumbleupon, etc.

If any of you have suggestions on how to make the site better for you, please post a comment or write me an E-mail. I'd love to hear from you.

Here's to a great 2008!