High Flying Formation

[Jeff H]

This photo was taken on 15Sept2012 at 10:02 hrs. I was at the Guelph Ontario Airpark when these three C-17s flew overhead. Guelph is approx. 65 kms west of Toronto and the formation was heading due north at what I believe to have been in excess of 30,000ft. If these Globemasters were Canadian they represent 75% of the fleet. Not something one sees avery day around these parts.





Hope you don't mind me posting this here, I know they are not "warbirds" but I thought it was a neat photo to share.

Cheers,

Jeff

[myteaquinn]

Thanks Jeff it's a great picture.

[Steve Nelson]

Cool pic! I remember after Desert Storm looking up one day (here in Michigan) and seeing a half-dozen or so KC-135s cruising overhead at a similar altitude in a fairly loose "let's go home" formation.

SN

[JDK]

Neat photo, Jeff, and I got to wondering about the numbers of C-17s out there. It's interesting that C-17 users are one triple digit (US) and several single digit users.

USAF 200+, RAAF 5, RCAF, 4, RAF 8, and various others (Quatar, UAE, etc.) including India expecting to buy 10.

To drag in some C-17 history, I noticed the chap in the proper flying kit of a leather jacket among all the growbag wearers here on a very historic date, with a RAF, USAF and RAAF C-17 trio (my emphasis bold):

Date 4 June 2007
The 301st Airlift Squadron (U.S. Air Force), 99 Squadron, Royal Air Force, and 36 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, C-17 flight crews and aircraft maintenance personnel assemble in front of their C-17s on the flightline at Royal Air Force Brize Norton, United Kingdom, June 4. In the front row are the squadron commanders: Lt. Col. Stephen Rickert, 301st Airlift Squadron commander; Wing Commander John Gladston, 99 Squadron commander; and Wing Commander Linda Corbould, 36 Squadron commander, along with Col. Lloyd Neblett, retired commander of the 301st Troop Carrier Squadron, predecessor to the 301st. The crews met for the first time as sister squadrons, re-establishing a relationship with the British that goes back to World War II.

Larger image here:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... s_2007.jpg

The original ref is to the 36th Squadron RAAF - should be 36 Squadron. And looking at the high res, I think we have one Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm Navigator (rolled-up sleeves arms folded) as well as the USAF, RAAF and RAF people. But I'm afraid those people improperly dressed on airfield on the left as army types are probably RAAF. It's a bad habit that's growing.

Regards,