CH-53 Refueling With A C-130 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Great shot here of a CH-53 catching fuel from a C-130. You can see the drogue chute middle left. Check out the airspeed -- it says 90 knots. Even with full flaps, that's got to be real close to the C-130's stall speed.

F-16C Pilot 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Growing up this is what I used to dream about. Just me and a fighter jet flying through desert canyons. Best seat in the house.

F-16 Break Turn 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

This is what it looks like to sit in the back of an F-16 Falcon when your flight lead makes a break turn. Pretty amazing if you ask me.

CH-47 Chinook Cockpit 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Fly along with the power CH-47 Chinook helicopter. Check out the toy car and air freshener! Go figure? Pilot on the right is checking the flight chart. Great stuff.

Blue Angel Cockpit Shot 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Warning: this wallpaper might cause dizziness...

Seriously, check out this shot over San Francisco. That's Alcatraz prison to the bottom left.

Try this one on your monitor and let me know how it makes you feel...

Blue Angels over San Francisco 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Here's your chance to fly with the Blue Angels. Sit with #4 as you fly over San Francisco with the Golden Gate bridge in the distance. Outstanding.

Fly With A C-17 Crew 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Here's a great high-res shot of a C-17 Globemaster III cockpit. I particularly like the Heads-up displays and joysticks. Wish I was there...

WC-130J Weather Recon Cockpit 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

With all the hurricanes going on the Gulf of Mexico, these guys are pulling hard duty flying weather recon missions. This WC-130J aircraft is specially modded with extra fuel tanks so their missions can last 11 - 14 hours!

They do a great job so hats off to them!

F-16A Cockpit 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Over the weekend I flew with my wife to Ohio. Besides doing fun things like visiting King's Island theme park, eating great food in Cincinnati, and overall having a blast, we made a stop on Sunday at the National Air Force Museum in Dayton, OH.

I brought my camera thinking I would get a million photos. What I needed to bring was a tripod since the aircraft are in darkly lit hangers! Oh well....

I was able to take a few decent shots like this photo of an F-16A Falcon cockpit.

The Air Force museum was incredible and a worthy rival to NAS Pensacola's Naval museum. Not only do you get to see an amazing variety of aircraft, you will also see historically famous aircraft. The Cold War display alone featured the B-2, B-1, F-117, EF-111, F-111, A-10, Tornado, F-16, F-4, F-15, Mig-29, and more.

If you love aviation, this museum is a must-see. Next time I'll remember to bring a tripod.

X-29 Cockpit 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Mystery cockpit widescreen wallpaper!

I know we've got some smart people here so let's see which one of you can guess which aircraft this cockpit belongs to.

Leave your guesses in the comments. When you get it, I'll post the winner!

UPDATE: Congrats to Marc who was first to correctly guess the X-29! Kristof came in a close second. You guys are good!

F-14A Tomcat Cockpit 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

It's the next best thing to sitting in one, here's a shot of the F-14A Tomcat cockpit. Take a look around and you'll find the wing sweep indicator, engine tapes, AOA indicator, and many other interesting gauges.

B-52 Bomber Cockpit 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Here's a rare photo of the B-52 bomber cockpit. In case you didn't know, this bomber has eight engines and that means eight sets of engine dials and throttles.

What's amazing is that this old-timer is still flying.

F-18C Hornet Cockpit Formation 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

This shot doesn't need a lot of comment. I like cockpit shots and this one puts you directly into action. Imagine yourself flying in a F-18 with your wingman on your left side just above the clouds. Free like a bird!

It reminds me of a quote I found in a book.




"Suddenly the Mach needle...went up to .995 Mach - then tipped right off the scale... We were flying supersonic. And it was smooth as a baby's bottom."

General Charles "Chuck" Yeager, on his first supersonic flight in the Bell X-1.

I will post some quotes from famous aviation pioneers this week...Hope you like it!

Pieter

U-2 Dragon Fly Cockpit 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

The U-2 has a nicely updated glass cockpit. This aircraft routinely flies at over 70,000 feet and looks a lot like a glider.

The Navy P-8 MMA (Modified Boeing 737-800) Cockpit 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Showing that I take feedback seriously, one of the first responders to the survey wanted to see more cockpit photos, so here ya go!

This is from the P-8 MMA aircraft. The aircraft itself is pretty amazing and I love the cockpit. This will make a great widescreen background.

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.

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.

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

Hi everybody! Here's a wallpaper of an F/A-18F cockpit view. This pilot looks out the canopy of his F/A-18F Super Hornet as he conducts a low pop-up maneuver above Panamint Valley near China Lake, California.
I love in-flight pictures!

Pieter

F-16C Cockpit 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Breathtaking in-flight shot of an F-16C pilot above the clouds. This is one of my favorites and my current desktop wallpaper.

F-15D Eagle Refueling 1680 x 1050 Widescreen Wallpaper

Come along for a ride in the backseat of an F-15D Eagle while catching some gas from a KC-135. I love pictures that put you right in the action. Only wish I was there for the ride.