The Phoenix area offers the opportunity to visit multiple airports /
airfields during the weekend. Phoenix
Mesa Gateway Airport attracts most of military flights but also
Phoenix Sky Harbor
International Airport handles flights of visiting aircraft. Arizona
Air National Guard 197th ARS, 161st ARW and has its home at Sky Harbor
operating the KC-135R.
Scottsdale airport is a general aviation airfield in northeastern
Phoenix. The aprons for the general aviation traffic are located north
of its 03-21 runway and has a taxiway on each side.
Three F/A-18D (legacy) Hornets from VMFAT-101 (Marine Fighter Attack
Training Squadron) "Sharpshooters" arrived a day prior to our visit.
VMFAT-101 is assigned to Marine Air Wing 3, Marine Air Group 11 and is
stationed at NAS Miramar, California. It operates the F/A-18C and
F/A-18D conducting pilot training on the Hornet for the USMC.
Two of the Hornets departed as a flight with the third aircraft
departing as a solo flight roughly one and a half hours after its
colleagues had departed. After they left we headed back to Phoenix Mesa
Gateway Airport. |
