USMC Photo of the Day: Message from a KC-130 "Hercules" to the challengers: Retire the SAMs--now!

United States Navy - Eye on the Fleet ^ | September 4, 2003 | LCpl Andrew Williams, USMC

[EnjoyingLife]

http://www.diam.unige.it/~irro/gallery.html

[EnjoyingLife]

USAF C-17 Globemaster III over South Carolina, USA on 2 February 2003.
Photographer: Staff Sgt. D. Myles Cullen, USAF
http://www.af.mil/shared/media/photodb/photos/030202-F-0193C-004.jpg

Details at http://chamorrobible.org/gpw/gpw-20041010.htm

See also http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1241860/posts

[PeoplesRepublicOfWashington]

The eagle or angel is from a previous salvo of flares.

[PeoplesRepublicOfWashington]

Actually, it's wingtip vortices that are controlling the shape of the flare smoke. Note the location of the tight curls. They can be traced to the wingtips.

Wingtip vortices from large aircraft can be very powerful. This is why a small plane doesn't immediately takeoff after a large one. You take you time to allow the big guy's wingtip vortices to disperse, and you don't lift off until you are beyond the point where the big guy did (assuming the runway is facing into the wind).

[EnjoyingLife]

Thanks for posting your video links, http://ronsworld1.homestead.com/files/jett.mpg (WSGilcrest in comment #26) and
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/2308/angel_decoys/ (FreedomCalls in comment #40). That display of "flare power" is awesome.

[EnjoyingLife]

In comment #60 yarddog said: "For a few years, a C130 would show up around dusk and circle my house for an hour or so. I always guessed it was from Hurlburt. Probably actually circling a nearby church. The sound of the engines is fairly distinctive although every now and then I think I hear one and it turns out to be some commercial aircraft.

I was thinking a few months ago, that I haven't seen one in over a year."

If something doesn't happen to cool down what appears to be an approaching nuclear-showdown between Iran and the Western powers, that C-130 and more U.S. military aircraft of the forceful type may become highly visible in the U.S. airspace all the time.

[RightOnline]

Just the effects on the smoke from wingtop vortices, folks. Nothing mystical, albeit a cool pic.

[Beckwith]

This is a flare "jettison". It is not a response to a missile threat. Makes a good photo.

What I enjoy most about FreeRepublic.com. Somebody out there knows the skinny on just about everything.

[EnjoyingLife]

What is a flare "jettison"? And how is that different than firing the flares in response to a SAM attack?

To Beckwith's observation about the depth of knowledge on FreeRepublic.com (comment #68): I agree. Do you know if FreeRepublic.com is required reading as part of a college or university course?

[yarddog]

Interestingly, I just got through watching one and it is bright daylight. I was out in the yard and heard one approaching. I got my binoculars and sat in the yard watching for some time.

He was not making cirles, although I guess that is what he eventually did because the plane kept coming back from roughly the same spot and repeated the same maneuvers.

All it was doing was banking slightly left then slightly right, then eventually cirled left and disappeared. Maybe ten minutes later he would reappear and do the same thing.

[EnjoyingLife]

The USMC LCpl. Andrew Williams September 4, 2003 photo gallery, starting with with 030904-M-7837W-001.jpg. Images 030904-M-7837W-001.jpg (#1, page 1 of 2) and 030904-M-7837W-013.jpg (#13, page 2 of 2) aren't KC-130 photos, so they excluded from the KC-130 image list below.

Gallery with descriptions and thumbnails, page 1 of 2
http://www.tecom.usmc.mil/ccm/IMU/galleries/MarForRes/03%20Submissions/Sept/Sept_03-4.htm

Gallery with descriptions and thumbnails, page 2 of 2
http://www.tecom.usmc.mil/ccm/IMU/galleries/MarForRes/03%20Submissions/Sept/Sept_03-5.htm

List of the gallery's KC-130 "Hercules" aircraft photos (they're large). Photos *10, *11, *14 are flare shots, and include the one under discussion.

2. http://www.tecom.usmc.mil/ccm/IMU/galleries/MarForRes/03%20Submissions/Sept/Images/030904-M-7837W-002.jpg

3. http://www.tecom.usmc.mil/ccm/IMU/galleries/MarForRes/03%20Submissions/Sept/Images/030904-M-7837W-003.jpg

4. http://www.tecom.usmc.mil/ccm/IMU/galleries/MarForRes/03%20Submissions/Sept/Images/030904-M-7837W-004.jpg

5. http://www.tecom.usmc.mil/ccm/IMU/galleries/MarForRes/03%20Submissions/Sept/Images/030904-M-7837W-005.jpg

6. http://www.tecom.usmc.mil/ccm/IMU/galleries/MarForRes/03%20Submissions/Sept/Images/030904-M-7837W-006.jpg

7. http://www.tecom.usmc.mil/ccm/IMU/galleries/MarForRes/03%20Submissions/Sept/Images/030904-M-7837W-007.jpg

8. http://www.tecom.usmc.mil/ccm/IMU/galleries/MarForRes/03%20Submissions/Sept/Images/030904-M-7837W-008.jpg

9. http://www.tecom.usmc.mil/ccm/IMU/galleries/MarForRes/03%20Submissions/Sept/Images/030904-M-7837W-009.jpg

*10. http://www.tecom.usmc.mil/ccm/IMU/galleries/MarForRes/03%20Submissions/Sept/Images/030904-M-7837W-010.jpg

*11. http://www.tecom.usmc.mil/ccm/IMU/galleries/MarForRes/03%20Submissions/Sept/Images/030904-M-7837W-011.jpg

12. http://www.tecom.usmc.mil/ccm/IMU/galleries/MarForRes/03%20Submissions/Sept/Images/030904-M-7837W-012.jpg

*14. http://www.tecom.usmc.mil/ccm/IMU/galleries/MarForRes/03%20Submissions/Sept/Images/030904-M-7837W-014.jpg

[TChris]

Dostum first announced to the Taliban leader that “the United States has so little respect for you that they are using their women to fight you!” Then Dostum held his handset up and Allison would talk over the frequency, announcing that she had heard how badly the Taliban treated women, and she was here to give them a little payback. This was also translated to the enemy over their frequencies. The extreme gravity of the insult to an Islamic fundamentalist “holy warrior” cannot be translated.

ROFLOL!!! How sweet it is. :-)

[EnjoyingLife]

Link correction for *14:

List of the gallery's KC-130 "Hercules" aircraft photos (they're large). Photos *10, *11, *14 are flare shots, and include the one under discussion

[EnjoyingLife]

KC-130 Flare Salvos (2004), VMGR-234: Operation Iraqi Freedom Footage of two KC-130 Flare Salvos
http://www.Archive.org/details/Herc_Salvo2 (via http://chamorrobible.org/gpw/gpw-20051111.htm)

The date the event was filmed is unclear but it looks very similiar to the still images given earlier.

[EnjoyingLife]

Forgot to add that "2004" may be the date when it was submitted to archive.org (Internet Archive).

[Doe Eyes]

What is a flare "jettison"? And how is that different than firing the flares in response to a SAM attack?

They jettison the flares (rapidly fire all of them) when the aircraft is in an emergency situation. You don't want to have them on board if the aircraft catches fire upon landing.

They have special patterns of flares used to decoy missiles. Not nearly as many as shown in the photos.

[EnjoyingLife]

Photo is #11 from the list in comment #71.

Thanks Doe Eyes for the explanation.

[EnjoyingLife]

Source: http://www.galleryoffluidmechanics.com/vortex/mc130.htm and http://www.galleryoffluidmechanics.com/vortex/v_lift.htm ("wing tip vortices visualized by flares")

[EnjoyingLife]

Wow, all three USMC KC-130 Hercules aircraft flare photos (4 September 2003, Iraq) displayed at the same time: http://chamorrobible.org/gpw/gpw-20051111.htm

This is just beautiful camera work/photography. Our U.S. military photographers are g-o-o-d!

Current and former C-130/KC-130/AC-130/EC-130/HC-130/MC-130/WC-130 crew members are probably having a good chuckle over this attention to their aircraft.

[Lady Jag]

Yeah, the pics have been fantastic. Its appearance is symbolic in so many ways.