F-18C Hornet at Sunset 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

This shot of an F-18 Hornet at Sunset captures the beauty of flying and dream job these fighter pilots have.

Congrats to all you new widescreen monitor owners -- thanks to the holidays.

It's New Year's Eve and I wish you'all the best in 2010. Hopefully you have plans with friends and family. Be sure and ring in the New Year with someone special.

F-16C Mud Mission 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Today's widescreen wallpaper lets you fly along with a pair of F-16's on an air-to-ground (mud) mission. Pretty spectacular.

C-17 Globemaster 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Pretty amazing that the C-17 is able to operate off unimproved airstrips. I've practiced some soft-field takeoffs and landings off regular runways but never actually tried it (most won't let you due to insurance concerns).

Fun...

B-1B Winter Scene 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Just in time for the holidays, here's a pair of B-1B bombers sitting in the snow.

For those celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow, I want to wish you a warm and happy Thanksgiving with your family and friends.

SR-71 Blackbird Takeoff 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

I think the SR-71 is visually one of the most bad-ass planes ever designed. Menacing and ominous, the plane is legendary in every respect.

What a ride this plane must have been. Mach 3.2+ and >80,000 feet ceiling. Amazing plane.

Boeing X-32B Joint Strike Fighter 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

If you have an appreciation for aerospace engineering, you might look at the Boeing X-32B Joint Strike Fighter and find something of beauty beneath the obviously ugly exterior.

In case you don't recognize this plane, it's the one that lost the JSF competition to the X-35 (now F-35) JSF.

Not many good things were said about the X-32 and it suffered a few set-backs and technical challenges during the JSF competition.
I know I was quite happy when the X-35 was chosen.

Enjoy?

P.S. Here's a video of the X-32 is action with Western fanfare music....

Sukhoi SU-34 Fighter Bomber 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Here's a rare treat, an excellent photo of an SU-34. I received this picture from one of our site visitors named Marko R. Thanks Marko!

Japanese Air Defense F-15 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Sweet picture here of a Japanese Air Defense F-15 performing a full afterburner takeoff. Love the heat distortion.

German Air Force Torado 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Here's an aircraft paint scheme you don't see everyday. It's a German Air Force Tornado painted to celebrate 55,555 hours flying at the Flight Test Center at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico.

I wonder who designed it...

MV-22 Osprey Hover 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Here's an artistic rendering of the MV-22 Osprey. Part helicopter, part airplane, and some say the worst part of both. The fact that it flies is an engineering marvel.

B-1B Aerial Refueling 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Nice shot of the B-1B bomber refueling. If you love planes, being a boom operator must be the best job in the world.

The CH-46 Sea Knight 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

The CH-46 Sea Knight has been the backbone of Marine aviation since the 1960's. It's affectionately called "the Phrog" and there's a little over100 of them serving still today.

AH-64A Apache Attack Helicopter 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Great artistic shot here of a US Army AH-64A Apache helicopter. Definitely my favorite U.S. chopper. Anyone remember playing Jane's Apache Longbow? The good ole days.

Enjoy!

UAE F-16E Afterburner Takeoff 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

I love the F-16E. Can't believe we don't have a bunch of these in the USAF. This beautiful aircraft flies under the banner of the United Arab Emirates. Practically no drag penalty either for those over-wing conformal tanks. Bad to the bone.

F-18C Hornet Carrier Pass 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Great shot here for an F/A-18C Hornet doing a low pass over a carrier. I'd love to spend a day on a carrier getting great pics like these!

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

Nice shot here of an F-15E Strike Eagle. Always amazing when engineers turn a purebred A/A fighter into an A/G bomber. Just before I left Nellis, I worked on F-15E's. Sweet plane.

Enjoy!

Weathered and Dirty F-16C 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Here's a rare shot of a weathered and thoroughly sandy/dusty F-16C. It's obvious that the wartime turn ratios and priorities don't include a peace-time wash cycle. Still, it's not even close to some of the Navy aircraft I've seen. Check out the leaks down the sides and in the back.

A-7 Corsair II 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

I was recently digging around some of the archives and found this beauty. It's a shot of the A-7 Corsair II. I'd like to say that I know what variant it is, but I don't. It's probably an A-7E but who knows?

Anyone remember the acronym for this little, under-powered jet?

SLUF: Short Little Ugly F----R

The A-7D version (for the USAF) had the distinction of being the only aircraft to ever make my eyes tear-up from the nearly toxic jet engine exhaust. Trust me, you never wanted to be stuck behind a bunch of these aircraft on the flightline.

When I was at Nellis during the 80's, there were a bunch of A-7s stationed there to train the F-117 pilots out at Never-Never Land (Area 51). Most of us knew they were a ruse, but we didn't know what for until the F-117 was declassified.

European Trip Report

Hopefully things were pretty normal while I was gone. I just returned from a 20 day vacation to Europe and had a blast. My wife and I visited Paris, Venice, Florence, and Rome. One great thing about our visit to Paris is that we were there for the Bastille Day ceremonies.

We actually got up early and made it out to the parade route. The highlight for me was the fly-over of nearly 100 aircraft and helicopters. :)

I put together a brief video for family and friends. I figured I'd post it here for some of you to enjoy. My life is pretty busy these days with travel (both business and pleasure). Next week I'll be in California again and then over in Birmingham Alabama. I've spent more time away from home that at home over the last three months.

Thanks again to all of you that visit the site. None of this would be possible without you.

F-35A Test Aircraft 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Now that the F/A-22 Raptor is canceled, get ready to see a million of these F-35s coming to the skies near you. It may not be the sexiest fighter in the air, but it's quite technologically sophisticated.

F-16C Aggressor Side Shot 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

This shot will make a great desktop wallpaper. Love it.

Pair of Belgian F-16s in Formation 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Beautiful pair of Dutch F-16's flying in formation. Great shot.

(edit-- thanks all for the comments. Being American, I'm not always familiar with the markings of other European countries. I've correct my comment above.)

Fokker Triplane

Here's Pieter again!
Last week, I went to the Biggin Hill airshow.
I've seen Eurofighter Typhoon, F86 Sabre, Avro Vulcan, Lancaster, Spitfire, Hurricane, P51 Mustang, Messerschmitt Me109J, P40 Kittyhawk,...

This picture is from a Fokker Triplane. I'm sure you've all seen the movie Flyboys and you'll recognise this airplane.

Anyone has a request picture?

A380-800 at Paris Airshow 1680x1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Hello!
Here's Pieter from Belgium.
2 weeks ago I went to the Paris Airshow.
I've seen Rafale, Eurofighter, F18, F16, C130, C27 and the A380-800!
This was the highlight of the show.
Due to the great distance between the airplanes and the audience, I couldn't take decent pictures of the fighters with my 200 mm lens.


If you want to know how big the A380 really is, imagine an appartment building that is doing a low speed pass at 1000 feet.

Last weekend I went to the Biggin Hill airshow near London, I'll post some pictures soon.

F18C Hornet Over Afghanistan 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Up close and personal here with the F/A-18C Hornet on an air-to-ground mission over Afghanistan. Excellent shot.

When I see a great shot like this, I get inspired to do more photography.

C-17 Short-Field Landing 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Being a pilot myself, I can certainly appreciate the skill needed to do short-field landings. If you throw an unimproved landing strip into the mix, that's quite a task for both plane and pilot.

The C-17 was designed with this type of landing in mind, but it's still amazing to behold.

F-16C Up Close and Personal -- 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Great shot here of the F-16C Fighting Falcon. Nothing like this fighter jet in the world. Hard to imagine that one day the USAF will be all F-35s and these beautiful planes will be history.

I've done a little more enhancement/artistic stuff with this shot so I'm putting it in the artistic category.

C-130 Pilot at Sunrise 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

I suppose it doesn't get much better than to be flying early morning and catching a beautiful sunrise. The only way to improve upon it is to be in an F-16... But hey, somebody has to fly cargo. :)

Planet Earth From Space -- 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Here is absolutely stunning Planet Earth wallpaper. The original was taken from the NASA archive from the most recent Space Shuttle mission to fix the Hubble.

The original was great, but with some Photoshop work, I think it went from great to stunning. I've got it on my desktop and just stare at it mesmerized.

Be sure and pass the link on to your friends.

Jordan Dutton -- F-16C Photo 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

This excellent shot was sent to me from a photographer who visits this site named Jordan Dutton. He sent me some of his best stuff and wanted to share it with the rest of you.

He's got a site where he posts more of his photography. Be sure and visit Jordan Dutton Photography.

If you like the wallpaper, leave some comments here for him.

As always, if you have some great shots you'd like to share, please shoot me an E-mail.

F-16C CAMO Fighting Falcon 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Yeah, I can't get enough of the camo F-16's. Some of the sweetest fighter jets I've seen. Nice backdrop too (over Alaska).

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

This is a great shot of the F-18F Super Hornet from the Navy's VFA 103 squadron (Jolly Rogers).

Gotta love the grime on Naval aircraft...

C-17 Globemaster III on Ramp 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Check out this shot of the C-17. Great framing with the taxiway and sky. Love it.

Just read today that the F-15 Eagle demo team completed their final demos ever. Can't believe it. Guess it's time to the let the F-22 do the heavy lifting now.

Seattle Museum Of Flight 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Last week my wife and I went and visited the Seattle and Vancouver BC area. If you haven't been before, I definitely recommend taking a trip there. You won't be disappointed.

While we were there, we visited the Museum Of Flight. This is one of the best aviation museums you will find in the US. The aircraft displays were awesome and they even had an Concorde you can walk through.

I made a widescreen wallpaper out of one my photographs. Hope you enjoy it. With Seattle being the home of Boeing, you'll find a ton of aviation related adventures to enjoy.

We also took time and went on the Boeing Everett Factory tour (where they build 747s, 767s, and the new 787 Dreamliners). Seriously, if you're up here, take the tour. My wife thought it was the best tour she's been on. I ended up buying a Boeing T-shirt and a 787 1/200 scale model. Sweet!

Off to Seattle and Vancouver

Hey all, quick note. I'm off for an anniversary trip with my wife. We'll be heading from Florida to Seattle WA. I have two aviation related things to do there. I'm going to visit the cool aviation museum and tour the Boeing facility. Woohoo. After Seattle we are heading up to Vancouver BC.

It's my first time in the Northwest area so I'm really looking forward to it. I'll be back May 3rd. Have a great week.

French Mirage 2000 Fighter 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Here's a shot of a French Mirage 2000 fighter jet that flew in for a Red Flag Alaska exercise. Enjoy!

Space Shuttle Discovery Prepares To Dock 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Sweet shot of the Space Shuttle Discovery as it prepares to join up with the International Space Station. Even though the shuttles are old will soon be retired, what they do is still as amazing as ever.

Thunderbird Headshot 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Clean shot of a Thunderbird F-16C head-on. Who knows why they don't paint the radome?

Diamond Back F-18 Hornet Cat Launch 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Wouldn't you want to be there right now? I know I would. Well, at least the wallpaper helps you get a little closer to being there.

As a side note, I got moved into the new house. There are still boxes everywhere, but life is slowly returning to normal. I'm just now catching up on E-mail so I'm sorry if I haven't responded yet.

Personal Update

Hey all,

Wanted to give you an update. My wife and I bought our first house and we are moving in this weekend. I'm going to be away until next Tues (assuming we get everything set-up by Monday night). My Internet connection will be cut tomorrow night so I'm offline until next week.

Catch up with you then,

JT

F18 Hornet Full AB Catshot 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Great shot here of an F/A-18C Hornet getting a full afterburner catshot off the carrier.

This wallpaper is in the artistic category since I've significantly modified the original with multiple processing effects. Hope you enjoy it.

Space Shuttle Discovery On Launchpad 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Beautiful night shot of the Space Shuttle Discovery sitting on the launchpad at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

I rotated the image to give you a sweet looking desktop wallpaper (along with the standard enhancements).

Enjoy!

Since we are on the Space note, you have to check out the new Star Trek Movie trailer. This movie is going to blow you away.

F22 Raptors In Vertical Stack Formation 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

I had some fun with this shot. I hope you like it.

Last week I had to travel to San Francisco again and I caught a pretty bad cold. I'm getting better but it's been a rough few days.

Enjoy!

A-10s In Formation 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Desktop Wallpaper

Funny thing about the A-10, back in the day (late 1980's) everyone was saying "The A-10 is going to be retired". Well, here it is 2009 and it's still flying.

Anyone remember when they made a version of the F-16 called the A-16? Yeah, they had a bunch of those testing at Nellis during the 80's. It would be neat if I could find a picture of those I could use for a wallpaper.

The A-16's were camo green and quite interesting. They were supposed to be replace the A-10. Not sure what happened but they never worked out.

F-15E Strike Eagle Popping Flares 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

This great action shot is from a suggested photo by another loyal visitor Collin Taylor.

The Strike Eagle is an awesome plane.

F-22 Raptor Show Pass 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Check out this amazing high-speed show pass by the F-22 Raptor.

This amazing photo was taken by a long-time visitor to our site named Mike Brennan. Mike is currently a senior at the University of Maryland and will be commissioning in May 2009 as a 2LT, Field Artillery, US Army.

Mike gave me permission to enhance it slightly, so I've performed the standard magic tricks.

If you like the widescreen wallpaper, leave a comment and say thanks to Mike!

F-16 EA-6B And B-52 Formation Flight 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Great formation wallpaper of a pair of F-16s, an EA-6B, and a B-52 Bomber. I so wish I was flying one of those F-16s.

I'm still working on that book I mentioned. I think it's going to be pretty cool.

F-22 Raptor Video: 5th Generation Aerodynamics

F-22 Raptor 5th Generation of Aerodynamics - Click here for more blooper videos

I'm always in the mood for a great fighter jet video... gets the blood pumping.

CV-22 Osprey Over the Gulf of Mexico 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Sweet shot of a CV-22 Osprey hugging the coast along the Gulf of Mexico. With all the troubles this tilt-rotor aircraft had, it's amazing it ever made it into full-time service.

I've seen a few static displays, but I've yet to see this baby fly. Maybe I'll catch it at an airshow this year. Anyone else seen one fly?

Soldiers Loading Into A C-17 At Sunrise 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Here's a great silhouette of US soldiers loading into a C-17 Globemaster III at Sunrise.

I love great photography like this. I find it simply inspires me and this shot makes a great widescreen wallpaper. Enjoy!

Earth As Seen From The Moon 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Here is a breathtaking photo of the Earth from the moon. This shot was taken by one of the Apollo 8 astronauts back in 1968.

If you've ever wondered what the Earth would look like if you were on moon, here's your answer.

It's both amazing and humbling at the same time. It also makes a great widescreen desktop background.

Flying HIgh in the F-22 Raptor 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Great clean shot of the F-22 Raptor.

Raptor pilot quote of the day:

Every pilot will like the engines. They produce a lot of thrust, even in military power. I was in military power the first time I went through Mach 1. In burner, the airplane reached Mach 1.2 real fast. It has very good acceleration better than anything I've seen. Though I wasn't plastered against the seat, I experienced the nice acceleration that comes from getting faster really quick. The movement of the airspeed indicator is most impressive. The Mach number clicks up real fast even above Mach 1.0. In the F-15, pilots have to hit afterburner and stay there to go supersonic.

F-16 Aggressor Formation Flight 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Sweet shot of two F-16 Aggressor squadron fighters in formation. I love the paint scheme.

Kitty Hawk Homecoming 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

After many years of service, the USS Kitty Hawk comes home to San Diego for decommissioning.

Who knows what "Kitty Hawk" refers to?