Goodfellow Static 3—Oh-Mi-Gosh! MiGs!

Two of the most unique Goodfellow statics have to be the Russian-built MiG fighters resting near the main school houses. Part of the training at Goodfellow involves recognizing our own military aircraft and especially the adversary’s aircraft. Our classes use the two MiGs as training aids, as you can see in the photos. The U.S. government obtained these jets after the Cold War ended and our ally, Germany, sold them to us from old East Germany’s inventory.

MiG-23 "Flogger" at Goodfellow AFB, Texas.

Hidden along Fort Lancaster street sits a green camo schemed MiG-23 Flogger fighter-interceptor. Russia, then known as the Soviet Union, began making MiG-23s in 1970. Like its adversary the United States, Russia has upgraded its jet fighters many times in the past 40 years. The “Flogger” does fly on, however, and has been sold to several countries who aren’t able to afford newer jets. These countries include Cuba, North Korea, Syria, and many more.

"Me & a MiG-23"

Read more about the MiG-23 at CombatAircraft.com (click here). And finally, take a look at (and a listen to) MiG-23s taking off. Click here for coolness!

The cockpit is made for shorter people.

Sitting closer to my school, the 315^th Training Squadron, rests a MiG-29 Fulcrum. The Fulcrum came into Soviet Russian service in 1983. The designers kept improving later models for several decades. Russia built and sold many copies. The MiG-29 continues to fly today for more than 30 countries including Russia.


The instruments are labeled in Russian (of course!)

You can read more about the MiG-29 at CombatAircraft.com (click here). And check out this very cool promotional video for the Fulcrum. The plane on display sports a stylish paint scheme and the videographers layered in shark video on a background of European techno-instrumental music (click here).

The MiG-29 is looking down
its nose at us.

And for the real aviation or military geeks, check out a Russian documentary series called “Wings of Russia.” It’s an English-translated version of a Russian-produced series about the many decades of Russian military aircraft. I appreciate listening to the Russian perspective on their own equipment and their opinion of American aircraft. The menu of Wings of Russia episodes can be found by clicking here. (The narrator’s Russian accent on English is priceless.)

A MiG fact for movie geeks: Tom Cruise, while playing “Maverick” the arrogant Navy fighter pilot in the 1986 movie Top Gun encountered a “MiG-28.” In reality, it was an American F-5 fighter painted black to appear like an enemy. It’s sort of a rite of passage to learn this factoid here at the school house and chuckle at those who don't know.

"I think I see a MiG-29!"

Russia remains a worthy adversary in developing jet fighters along with China. With some American innovation and a stronger economy, the U.S. will be able to keep pace. HF1

Some additional links to explore (click on each link)

Area51 hosted tests for “secretly acquired” Soviet Fighter jets (The London Guardian)

Goodfellow Air Force Base moves its MiG-29 to make room for Saudi training facility
MiG corporation begins testing new Russian navy fighterjets

Goodfellow Static 2—Trainer Birds!

Training. Training. Training. Goodfellow Air Force Base has always been all about training. It may be a runway-less base today, but it began as a pilot training facility in 1941 and continued to do so heavily into the 1960s. Today, Goodfellow has three well-preserved static displays of training aircraft that once filled the west Texas sky. Many other models flew here too. Let’s take a look at the statics. (click any photo to enlarge it.)

BT-13A Valiant

The earliest of the three to arrive was the BT-13A Valiant. This aircraft type almost exclusively flew at Goodfellow from 1941-1944 (much of World War II). More than 8,800 pilots trained in Valiants at Goodfellow, including a squadron commander, Lieutenant Colonel Leon Vance who would go on to give his life in the skies over France and be posthumously presented with the Congressional Medal of Honor.


Rare color photo of Valiants on the flight-
line at Goodfellow Field in the 1940s.

Check this 11-second video of a BT-13 Valiant passing by at an airshow in 2008.



The T-6G Texan began arriving at Goodfellow in autumn 1950 and dominated the numbers of training aircraft. More than 15,000 Texans were built from 1935-1950, with the “G” model being the last. The last T-6G departed Goodfellow in summer 1954.

A T-6G Texan in front of the base headquarters building.

Take a look at this 90-second recruiting video that uses footage of T-6 Texans to appeal to young men to join the Army Air Corps (the U.S. Air Force was not separated from the Army until 1947). This was shown in theaters before full-length movies during World War II.



The T-28A Trojan served at Goodfellow from 1953-1955 as the Texan was being phased out. This particular T-28A did not fly at Goodfellow, but represents those that did.

A T-28A Trojan static rests at Goodfellow Air Force Base.

Check this video of a hobby pilot starting up a T-28 Trojan and taxiing it to takeoff. Notice the optical illusion when the propeller spins. It looks like it's spinning slowly. In reality it's running at full speed. Imagine the sound of dozens of these planes flying all over the place when Goodfellow was running a full day of training.



Goodfellow is a very different base today. The runway effectively closed in 1975, but remained ready if needed. The runways were last used in the early 1990s when cargo planes delivered equipment for the firefighters’ training school that moved here from a base that closed in Illinois.

Dozens of BT-13A Valiants lined up at 1940s Goodfellow.

But Goodfellow Air Force Base is still all about training. Training. Training. Intelligence and cryptological specialists and firefighters from every branch of the military make up the thousands of students that pass through each year. The planes on base now forever “rest” as the base mission presses on. HF1

Goodfellow Static 1—Predator & Global Hawk

The Global Hawk's "BB" stands for Beale AFB, California where this aircraft was once stationed.

UAVs. Drones. Breakthrough technology. Murderous death machines? There are many words, positive, negative, and neutral when talking about unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The first part of the series “Goodfellow Static” takes a look at two of the most interesting displays on base: the RQ-1 Predator and RQ-4 Global Hawk. I’ll take a neutral approach and tell you what these can do and why they are seen as valuable and terrible, depending who you talk to. (Click any of the photos to make them larger for viewing.)

RQ-4 Global Hawk static display at sunrise.

These unusual aircraft require no onboard pilot, which reduces a tremendous amount of space and equipment needed to support a pilot’s survival. Instead, drone “operators” sit at work stations far away—sometimes on another continent—as they control the drone from a video-game-like console.

The drones, while using far less fuel than a regular plane provide a large amount of surveillance, which is a steady visual monitoring of a specific area. The R/MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper (not located at Goodfellow) carry missiles in addition to their sophisticated cameras. 

RQ-1 Predator looks toward the BX.

Critics say that the drones are just weapons of murder used to terrify the population in the areas that they are used. Anti-war activists who supported President Obama’s campaign in 2008 often lament that he has ordered far more drone strikes than President Bush ever did. For people living in areas where terrorists live and hide, the drones are indeed grim symbols of a constant possibility of attack. But drones have provided countless examples of helping to warn US and allied troops on the ground about the dangers around them.
 



It's not Wi-Fi, stand back!

But let’s stick to what goes on at Goodfellow. Students train to learn the capabilities of these aircraft and will work with the visual information that drones send back to control centers. Some airmen will eventually use images taken by these aircraft to make judgments about what the enemy is doing and give assessments to commanders who need that information. You can watch a short video interview with a young airman who does that, by checking the links at the end of the article.
 

I already mentioned the Predator which started as a camera/sensor aircraft in the 1990s. In 2002 it was fitted with missiles that could strike enemies spotted while scanning the landscape. The RQ-4 Global Hawk UAV drone is for observation only. It carries no weaponry. It is designed to fly very high for long periods of time, taking all sorts of imagery in areas of interest.
 

RQ-1 Predator underbelly sensor.

When you get down to it, the UAV/drone has assisted the US and allied nations in keeping enemies on the defensive in an era of shrinking military budgets and lower loss of pilots’ lives. However, the unchecked use of drones by a country’s leadership can lead to poor relations overseas and collateral damage and death. I believe that as long as responsible citizens in a republic like ours continue to hold Congress, the President, and military accountable, their rights will be safe. It’s up to Americans to demand that their leaders use this technology responsibly. Whether someone thinks that isn’t happening or everything is fine, you’ll have to be the judge.

 

You can read the Air Force’s unclassified site links at the end of this post. Let’s take a look at some photos.

RQ-4 Global Hawk static display.

Fascinating links (Just click on the words)
MQ-1/RQ-1 Predator US Air Force Fact Sheet
RQ-4 Global Hawk US Air Force Fact Sheet
Young USAF airman describes her mission as UAV operator
Drones becoming more controversial as possible spy tools
Slate online magazine’s interactive map of US Drone strikes
See how the Air Force delivered the retired Global Hawk to Goodfellow in 2011
Private citizen’s drone flies through abandoned buildings in Detroit

"Goodfellow Static" -- a blog post series

Greetings from comfortable Goodfellow Air Force Base! This historic base boasts a collection of about a dozen and a half static display vehicles from aircraft to fire engines. What is a “static display?” Glad you asked. A static is a vehicle or aircraft that isn’t expected to be used again. It’s purely for public interest, enjoyment, and in some cases to train personnel to recognize specific features.

The static displays at Goodfellow represent the types of training that have gone on here since 1940. Some models were once flown here. Others represent individuals who graduated flight or intel school here and went on to perform heroic service in World War II and beyond. Two aircraft are Russian-built MiG jet fighters brought here for intel students to study. And two more don’t even require pilots. To top it off, Goodfellow even boasts a Russian tracked surface-to-air missile system and a collection of runway fire engines from throughout aviation history to honor the firefighters’ school on base.

Through the end of November, I’ll highlight these statics. Hopefully you’ll get a better understanding of the Air Force mission and Goodfellow Air Force Base’s role in it. Stay tuned Thursday evening for Goodfellow Static Part 1: Global Hawk & Predator. HF1


A static B-25 Mitchell bomber aircraft at Goodfellow's Jacobsen Gate.