........

aleshanee said:
actually it;s the u.s. aircraft carrier ronald reagan.... cvn 76 ...
and it;s been here a few days already.... it;s taking part
in the rimpac exercises this year.......  8)


USS Ronald Reagan Arrival for RIMPAC 2014 at Pearl Harbor

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An outstanding president deserves an outstanding ship to bear his name and the CVN-76 does! Thanks for sharing the pictures and video. Got a a little misty eyed seeing the USS Ronald Reagan passing by the USS Missouri. Gives you an understanding of the immense size of the vessel and the awesome power it projects.

Happy Independence Day! May God bless America and may America turn from its current trends and bless God.
 
Beautiful ship.  We are far removed from my husband's 23-year Navy career, but I still enjoy seeing the ships.  Thanks for posting. 
 
aleshanee said:
several of these flew in here earlier this week too..........



if this airplane looks familiar it;s because it;s basically a civilian boeing 737.... hastily converted into an sub hunting plane by the military...
whose revelation that america still needed a long range anti-submarine aircraft... occurred to them at the same time they realized it;s fleet
of p3 orions....(which had carried out that mission for decades).... and for which the replacement.... (an even better and longer range
version of the p3).....had been cancelled over budget cuts...(on the false assumption that it;s mission of hunting enemy submarines was obsolete).
..  was so old and worn out that most of the them were no longer airworthy..... and the rest would be declared dangerous to fly in the very near future..... ::)

so the idea of the p8 poseidon.... using an airframe that could be rapidly acquired and retrofitted..... was born.....

the problem is.... the p8 poseidon... based on the 737.... does not have anywhere near the range or flight capabilities of the all weather super
durable p3 orion had in it;s prime..... even now the p3 can outrange the poseidon and fly in weather that grounds the p8...... but.. and there are still
several p3 orions based here and flying around these islands........ even the people who fly and work to maintain what;s left of the p3s say they are
so old and worn out they are literally falling apart...... so something had to be done... fast..... and the picture above was it..... ....



in addition to all the other ships and aircraft... a few extra submarines also came in for this years rimpac....




though now.... most of them are no longer on the surface....... but are skimming along at periscope depth like this one..... 8)



hard to see from shore..... or even from a boat unless you are very close to them....... but not all that hard to figure out where they are lurking
........ just look for where the p8s and older p3s are circling around......  ;)...... provided they can find them too.......  8)
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Nice posts and pictures. Your observations are absolutely spot on! Should we give your father the credit for such an excellent perspective on naval operations or is that something you picked up on your own?
 
When we lived on base at Jacksonville, FL, the P3s were active there.  Enjoyable aircraft to watch, but they were loud.
 
JrChurch said:
When we lived on base at Jacksonville, FL, the P3s were active there.  Enjoyable aircraft to watch, but they were loud.
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You were at NAS Jax? What year may I ask? I was there from 1979 to '83. One of my dorm mates was a "Batman" and was assigned to one of the VPs at NAX Jax to serve out his Reserve commitments. Always loved being able to go to the flight line when the P-3s were thick as seagulls on a beach. 
 
aleshanee said:
they are loud alright... especially when a whole group of them is started up all at once on the flight line.....  :o ....... but i didn;t realize until i started looking up information about them online just how long they have actually been flying around here......  :o

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It certainly seems like the P3 has been flying since the mid-19th century! I actually saw one flying over Tampa just a couple of months ago. The unmistakable sound of its turbo props made me look up and see it. Couldn't tell if it belonged to the USN or some other agency (or country for that matter) but it brought back the warm and fuzzies to hear and see one again.
 
Green Beret said:
JrChurch said:
When we lived on base at Jacksonville, FL, the P3s were active there.  Enjoyable aircraft to watch, but they were loud.
Click to expand...

You were at NAS Jax? What year may I ask? I was there from 1979 to '83. One of my dorm mates was a "Batman" and was assigned to one of the VPs at NAX Jax to serve out his Reserve commitments. Always loved being able to go to the flight line when the P-3s were thick as seagulls on a beach.
Click to expand...

We lived at NAS JAX (and went to TBC) 1986-1990.
 
Saw a lit of P3s when I was stationed at McGuire AFB. I think they were stationed at Lakehurst NAS.
 
I had to look up images of the reef runway.  The name gave it away as to what it was, but I had to see it. 

Cool!
 
I have a tender spot in my little heart for the F-15E. 
We have visited their squadrons many times.
 
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