Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport (AZA, KIWA, IWA) "Willie"

[David Loera]

Beech (Raytheon) RC-12 Guardrail s/n 810516 United States Army

[Jay Beckman]

Nice shots Dave.  Amazing (and frustrating at times) what a difference of just 90-100 degrees can do to the quality of the sky.

[David Loera]

Tell me about it. the frontal had all the clouds in the background, and the other one didnt.

[jslugman]

V-nice, I do like them "lumpy and bumpy" and this is perfect!

[Joe Copalman]

Seems like any time a Whiteman T-38 is at Willie, the only glare-free shots I can get are from the rear-quarter.

[redsox223]

Question for Frequent Willie Spotters. I need to be out by IWA tomorrow and was wondering if it would be worth my while to spot by, say around 4 to 6 ish tomorrow afternoon. I dont know what the traffic is usually like and thought I would see what others thought.

[Joe Copalman]

Mitchell, tomorrow would be a great day. 

[redsox223]

Alright, and where exactly is the gazebo that everyone seems to go to.

[Joe Copalman]

From Power, take Ray Road east until it curves to the south toward the airport.  When you see a white T-38 mounted on a pole on the right side of the road, the gazebo will be to your left.  Hard to miss.

[Joe Copalman]

C-17 Weapons School is at Willie again.

[Matt Ottosen]

McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C Hornet
Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 323 (VMFA-323) "Death Rattlers"

Here's another AzAP exclusive, you will not find this photo posted anywhere else!

[Joe Copalman]

Kind of a cool twofer at Willie yesterday:

[Joe Copalman]

Rule of thumb at Willie - if you see some nondescript mutli-engine aircraft with no markings except for an N-number, take a picture of it.  Three Brits who couldn't be bothered to shoot some boring civilian stuff missed their chance to get arrival shots of this ex-Horizon Air DHC-8-200, which is now assigned to the 524th Special Operations Squadron out of Cannon AFB.

[jslugman]

Well there's a Homer moment for you. 

[Joe Copalman]

The sad part is that their flight to the UK left this afternoon, so if this wasn't a quick gas-n-go, they missed it going out as well.  They even made fun of me when I suggested it might be military from seeing it from far off - they said something like "Oh, what is it, Ugandan Navy?" or something like that.