Subject: Re: USS Nimitz visit photo article
From: "Steve Bamford ARC" <[email-masked]>
To: "Horizon Modeltech" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2003 11:58:28 -0700

Gallery Template  13
Steve Bamford
Aircraft Resource Center
http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com
 
Live like there is no tomorrow;
Love like you've never been hurt.
Work like you don't need the money.
Dance like nobody's watching.
Sing like nobody's listening.
Live like it's Heaven on Earth.

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Horizon Modeltech 
  To: Steve Bamford 
  Sent: Monday, September 15, 2003 10:22 AM
  Subject: USS Nimitz visit photo article

  Steve,

  attached is my photo gallery article on my visit to
  the USS Nimitz. The article comprises of 27 photos,
  and I will use my Lycos email address to send it to
  you as it allows more attachments.

  Hope to see the article on ARC soon, some forummites
  can't wait!  :)

  __________________________________
  Do you Yahoo!?
  Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software
  http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  "Visit to the USS Nimitz (CVN-68)" 

  by "Mike Yeo, Horizon ModelTech"
  --------------------

        Steve Bamford will insert full sized version of photo 01.jpg here 

  On Saturday the 13th of September, I was privileged enough to be a guest of the US Navy, together with fellow Singaporean  ARC'ers Sebastian L, Jer Wei and YC, on the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68). She had stopped by in Singapore for liberty on her way home to San Diego following a WestPac cruise which included a tour of duty in the Arabian Gulf. Following a exchange of emails and phone calls to some local contacts, we were able to be invited up for a tour of the carrier while she was berthed at Changi Naval Base, which is the only berth in South East Asia large enough to accommodate aircraft carriers, according to the US Navy. 

  During the visit, our group was taken to the hangar deck, flight deck and bridge and this photo spread shows some of what we saw that day. Unfortunately, after the brilliant sunshine that came with the Republic of Singapore Air Force Open House the previous weekend, Mother Nature decided to even things up the following weekend with gloomy grey weather over all of Singapore on the weekend of the visit. This resulted in some pretty grey photos of the aircraft on deck, and I'll not be winning any photo competitions with my photos taken on the tour. But I suppose it wasn't a total loss, there weren't any of the heavy tropical thunderstorms that Singapore was treated to on the Sunday after our visit!

  For this cruise, CVW-11 was embarked on the Nimitz, with the following squadrons.

  VFA-14 Tophatters - Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet 
  VFA-41 Black Aces - Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet 
  VFA-94 Mighty Shrikes - Boeing F/A-18C Hornet 
  VFA-97 Warhawks - Boeing F/A-18A Hornet 
  VAQ-135 Black Ravens - Grumman EA-6B Prowler 
  VAW-117 Wallbangers - Grumman E-2C Hawkeye 
  VS-29 Dragonfires - Lockheed S-3B Viking 
  HS-6 Indians - Sikorsky SH-60F/HH-60H Seahawk 
  VRC-30 Providers - Grumman C-2A Greyhound

  The planes were looking pretty roughed-up, as you would expect from USN planes after a few months at sea. Definitely a change from my previous visits to USN carriers, where the planes looked fresh as I saw them at the start of their cruises. Almost all the planes on this visit had patches of grey "spot-primed" in several places, and all looked very weathered. A couple of planes had interesting schemes in addition to the usual colourful CAG schemes, with a F/A-18A of VFA-97 being finished in an Adversary-style Desert camouflage, with Tan/Green/Brown on its uppersurfaces over TPS grey undersurfaces. Another eye catching scheme was a HH-60H which had a grey wraparound camouflage pattern over its usual TPS scheme. Both planes are featured in the photo gallery below. Some planes had Operation Iraqi Freedom mission markings, including EA-6B 502 of VAQ-135 which had a KC-10 painted on its nose! We were told this was probably due to the Prowler knocking the KC-10 out of action for some time, probably by snagging its hose during a botched in-flight refueling.  

  Now, on to the pics!

  VFA-14 Tophatters - Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet 

        Click on images below to see larger images
       
        Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 03.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 03.jpg 

        Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 04.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 04.jpg 

   

  VFA-41 Black Aces - Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet 

        Click on images below to see larger images
       
        Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 05.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 05.jpg 

        Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 06.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 06.jpg 

       Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 07.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 07.jpg 

  VFA-94 Mighty Shrikes - Boeing F/A-18C Hornet 

        Click on images below to see larger images
       
        Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 08.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 08.jpg 

        Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 09.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 09.jpg 

  VFA-97 Warhawks - Boeing F/A-18A Hornet 

        Click on images below to see larger images
       
        Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 10.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 10.jpg 

        Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 11.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 11.jpg 

       Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 12.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 12.jpg 

  VAQ-135 Black Ravens - Grumman EA-6B Prowler 

        Click on images below to see larger images
       
        Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 13.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 13.jpg 

        Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 14.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 14.jpg 

  VAW-117 Wallbangers - Grumman E-2C Hawkeye 

        Click on images below to see larger images
       
        Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 15.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 15.jpg 

        Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 16.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 16.jpg 

   VS-29 Dragonfires - Lockheed S-3B Viking 

        Click on images below to see larger images
       
        Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 17.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 17.jpg 

        Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 18.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 18.jpg 

       Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 19.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 19.jpg 

  HS-6 Indians - Sikorsky SH-60F/HH-60H Seahawk

        Click on images below to see larger images
       
        Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 20.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 20.jpg 

        Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 21.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 21.jpg 

       Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 22.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 22.jpg 

  VRC-30 Providers - Grumman C-2A Greyhound 

          
        Steve Bamford will insert full sized version of photo 02.jpg here 

  Miscellaneous Pictures

        A view of the front end of the Nimitz's flight deck as viewed from the bridge showing the aircraft spotted on the starboard forward part of the carrier. In this view, can be seen F/A-18A/Cs, an F/A-18F and a pair of S-3B Vikings. The Singapore city skyline can be seen in the background despite the murk.  Click on image below to see larger image
             
              Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 23.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 23.jpg 

             
       
        A view of Hornets and Super Hornets from 3 of the 4 F/A-18 squadrons on board the Nimitz, again seen from the bridge. From Left to Right: F/A-18E of VFA-14 Tophatters, 2 F/A-18Fs of VFA-41 Black Aces and an F/A-18C of VFA-94 Mighty Shrikes.  Click on image below to see larger image
             
              Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 24.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 24.jpg 

             
       
        The Nimitz was accompanied into Singapore by the Ticonderoga-class AEGIS cruiser the USS Princeton (CG-59).  Click on image below to see larger image
             
              Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 25.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 25.jpg 

             

  Some photos of the artwork on a buddy pod mounted on an S-3B Viking

        Click on images below to see larger images
       
        Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 26.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 26.jpg 

        Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 27.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 27.jpg 

  Special thanks to COMLOG Westpac of the US Navy for making our visit to the Nimitz possible, and the men and women of the Nimitz who made the visit as fun as it was.

  Photos and text © 2003 by "Mike Yeo"