Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ Flightline 1977-1979

[Larry Wielgosz]

Here are some more photos I took back then. D-M was the 1st base to receive the A-10. D-M flew A-7 Corsairs prior to the A-10. In some of the A-10 photos, you can see A-7s in the background and vice versa.

1. A-10 flightline


2. A-10 from Myrtle Beach, SC


3. A-4M BuNo 160246


4. AC-130A 55-0029. This bird crash landed at Ubon Thailand in 1969 & was repaired.


5. A-10 Flightline


6. A-7D with shark mouth. The only one on the base painted like this.


7. F-5, A-7, F-5, F-15, F-106


8. F-111


9. F-111


10. T-38


11. F-4G Wild Weasel


12. F-4G Wild Weasel


13. TA-7C BuNo 154536


14. TA-7C BuNo 156800


15. SH-3D BuNo 154108 Beautiful!


16. F-5


17. B-52


18. B-52D Always liked the B-52s painted with the black.


19. F-104 The USAF trained German pilots at Luke AFB,AZ. German owned but USAF marked.
Taken at the yearly airshow. Lousy scan.



20. F-106


21. F-106


22. F-106


23. F-15 When they were somewhat new.


24. F-15 75-5081 When they were somewhat new.


25. F-105G 63-8296 Wild Weasel. Annual airshow. Poor scan.


Larry

[Pat Carry]

Kool shots Larry!

[Jerry O'Neill]

Great shots!
The first two F-106's are from Otis AFB on Cape Cod.
The second with the star/compass rose on the tail I think is Florida ANG.
Jerry

[The Inspector]

F-106 90108 was from the 318th @ McChord in Tacoma, WA. Swapped out for F-15's which then went to OAG @ PDX where they are still operating while joint base Lewis-McChord (how lame of a moniker is that?) now flies C-17 'Moose'

[Greg_in_Ohio]

Can you make out the serial number of the white bellied B-52? I am assuming it's an F model, as they were retired for good in 1978 as I recall. Nice pictures!

[67N20]

Really enjoying all the pictures you've been putting up for us to see. Thanks.

[dc8jet]

Jerry those F-106s are from the 48th FIS at Langley AFB.

[ripcord]

Great pictures. I think the F-105G was a GA ANG bird, right before they were swapped out for the F-4. You just don't see that kind of variety anymore unless its at a museum.

[Larry Wielgosz]

Thanks everyone for enjoying these photos. It makes it all the more worthwhile. They have been sitting in storage for years. A friend who is an aircraft buff scanned the negatives. It's great. Now others can view them. I find the variety of aircraft in the late 1970s was amazing. Even radial engine stuff. There is still a lot out there for the last 25 years but it's F-15,16,18. Back when I took most of these shots you had the older stuff going out and newer stuff coming in. A great time for me.

The white bellied B-52 s/n is 70165 on the tail. The 5 is hard to read due to the paint from what I can tell when I enlarge the photo. It's headed to the boneyard.

The F-105G could be from George AFB, CA. I think the letters GA on the tail stood for George AFB and if my memory works they had the Wild Weasel mission.

I'll keep em coming. I'm finding the picture posting system is very time consuming.

Thanks again.

Larry

[Nathan]

Really amazing photos.

[67Cougar]

Very nice photos - D-M has always had a very active Transient line.

The Sharkmouth A-7 is very interesting. The 23rd TFW at England AFB was the only unit authorized to paint sharkmouths on their jets in those days (due to Flying Tiger lineage). That is the first shot of a DM coded A-7 I've seen with the marking.

[viking73]

Another amazing set of photos Larry, thanks for sharing them.

Can you make out the s/n of the black bellied B-52D? I'm looking for any photos of 56-0660. She wasn't retired until 8/83 so I know it's a long shot. but just hoping it might be her.

Thanks again!

-Derek

[wendovertom]

Love it! I wish you would see those planes again; other than in a museum. great stuff!!

Tom P.

[Greg_in_Ohio]

Thanks for the additional details on the photos!

[Larry Wielgosz]

Derek

The s/n on the B-52D looks like 60513. Hard to read the 5. A little glare on that #. Red on black at that distance makes it difficult. I have great resolution on the photo. If I recall at one time there were B-52Ds coming in from Guam. Two a day on Tuesday & Thursday for several weeks. Not sure if this is one of them but I just thought I'd throw this info in.

Larry