Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is home to the 197th ARS, 161st
ARW "Copperheads" of the Arizona Air National Guard. The squadron is
flying the KC-135R. The airport has three runways of which two are
located on the south side, runways 7R-25L and 7L-25R. On the north side
runway 8-26 is located. The Arizona ANG operates from the southeastern
side of the airport. On the south side the general aviation traffic is
handled as well as most of the visiting military aircraft.
No less than eight T-6A's from the 80th Flying Training Wing had arrived
for a night stop. The wing and its squadrons conduct navigation flights
throughout the United States. The T-6A's were a mix of its 89th FTS (red
fin tip) and 459th FS (green fin tip). On the same apron one of the five
Royal Canadian Air Force CC-150's (one VIP, two passenger transport, two
MRTT) of 437 transport squadron was parked.
On the other side of the parallel 7-25 runways a C-17A from the 305th
AMW was present. The USAF, Special Operations Command, operated the
C-145A (M-28 Skytruck) of which 17 were bought from the Polish
manufacturer PZL Mielec. Nine were stored at
309th AMARG at Davis
Monthan AFB, Arizona. Five of these were still stored by April 15, 2020.
Other found their way to civilian operators of which one was parked at
Phoenix Sky Harbor still wearing its former military registration. Two
have been sold to the Estonian
Air Force.
| United States Air Force: |
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| Wing |
Group |
Squadron |
Aircraft |
Tail code |
Nickname |
AFB |
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305th AMW |
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6th AS |
C-17A |
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Bully Beef express |
JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, NJ |
| 80th
FTW |
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89th FTS |
T-6A |
EN |
Sheppard AFB, TX |
Banshees |
| 80th
FTW |
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459th FTS |
T-6A |
EN |
Sheppard AFB, TX |
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| Royal Canadian Air Force: |
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| Wing |
Group |
Squadron |
Aircraft |
Tail code |
Nickname |
AFB |
| 8
Wing |
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437 Squadron |
CC-150 Polaris |
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Husky |
CFB Trenton, ONT |
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| Special marked 459th FTS T-6A Texan |
Due to the number of visiting aircraft and the special marked T-6A which
was placed as second on the apron we decided for an early visit the next
day. We arrived on time to catch the departures of the Texans and the
Globemaster. |
