Mirage F-1 at Luke Air Force Base 2023 - Peter Busby
NAF El Centro, MCAS Yuma & Luke AFB visit in 2023
Whilst State-side, apart from
5 days at Nellis (Exercise Red Flag 23-1), I also visited El Centro, which is a Naval Air Facility, and hosts various squadrons, throughout the year, for training over the nearby ranges.
The weather was not playing ball, with cloud, and spots of rain, however, the visiting RCAF CT-155s made up for that, especially, with the special paint job, on one of their Hawks !
It was then onto Yuma Marine Corps Station. With similar weather to El Centro, I just managed a few shots, really quite dull !!
With the forecast of better weather, it was on to Luke AFB, a different story altogether. Sunny periods, and (almost) continuous flying for the few hours that I was there. If you like F-35s, Luke is THE PLACE to be ! There were many USAF F-35s, as well as a RDAF, and RNAF F-35 flying, also Singapore F-16s, I also managed to photograph one of the aggressor Mirage F-1s, this being ex, French AF !
Naval Air Facility El Centro
Naval Air Facility (NAF) El Centro is a United States Navy Naval Air Facility located approximately six miles (10 km) northwest of El Centro, in Imperial County, California.
It serves both as temporary homeport to military units conducting air-to-air and bombing training, and as the winter training home of the Blue Angels aerobatics display team.
Marine Corps Air Station Yuma
Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Yuma is a United States Marine Corps air station and is two miles from the city of Yuma in Arizona. It is the home of multiple squadrons of F-35B Lightning IIs aircraft.
MCAS Yuma shares airfield facilities with Yuma International Airport and occupies approximately 3,000 acres, most of which is flat desert.
Luke Air Force Base
Luke Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force base in Maricopa County, Arizona. It is located 7 miles west of the central business district of Glendale, and 15 miles west of Phoenix.
Luke AFB is a major training base of the Air Education and Training Command (AETC), training pilots on the F-16 Fighting Falcon, which are now being replaced by the F-35 Lightning II.
Article & Photographs by Peter Busby.
Mirage F-1 at Luke Air Force Base 2023 - Peter Busby
