War Party

With their Squadron radio call-sign 'War Party' - US Navy McDonnell-Douglas F/A-18A Hornet 164657/AJ405 of VFA-87 'Golden Warriors' - from the Aircraft Carrier USS John F. Kennedy lined up with another squadron machine plus several other 'Air-Wing' stablemates at the RNAS Yeovilton 'Air Day' on 13th July 1996

 

Yeovilton's static park looked more like a scene from 'Top Gun' that day as there were no less than:

4 x F-14 Tomcats,

6 x FA-18 Hornets,

3 x S-3 Vikings and

2 x E-2 Hawkeyes all holed up here due to their 'Mother' ship 'allegedly' being fog-bound in the Irish Sea when they tried to get back aboard her!

A great excuse if ever there was one as the most any British Air Show could attract was maybe one or two items form our friends in the US Navy.

 

Mind you, with 15 of their aircraft at the show, that still left some 40 plus aircraft on board of which 25 we saw that evening as by then she was moored up in Stokes Bay, off Portsmouth, being replenished and then waiting for her 'chicks' to return when the moment was right once heading back out in the Western approaches.

 

 

More of these beauties to follow.

 

35mm transparency scanned with an Optek 8200i.

 

Best on black too by pressing the L key

Done