Flyin' around the sandbox.

[adrianspeeder]

Trip 235 Fall 2018

Time for another ride to get paid for staring out a window.



When you are at thirty-six thousand feet but the ground isn’t that far below you , the Coors Brewery gets its water Rocky Mountain fresh.



Fuel mileage be damned! Critical cargo load required hammer down big time at Mach .80, with not much more to go before overspeeding into the ketchup.



Woke up from a nap startled to see Cap’n smoke goggled up.



Well boys, we got a drag race. Comeon Cap’n, you can get 5 more knots out of ‘er! INT thrust set.



She’s pullin’ away.



Those skinny airliners always win not having a fat barn door front end.





Pretty like a picture.



Comeon FRED, hurry up out of our way, we have beer to go out and drin… I mean crew rest to enter.







Can't get a ride for 30 more minutes to the bars? Better uncork my private stock.



Load ‘er up and on to the next one.



Adrianspeeder

[36truck]

Always great & interesting pictures. Thank for the birds eye view of the world. Thanks for your service.

[adrianspeeder]

Trip 236, two years ago, Wheeling WV.


Two pieces of Boeing, ones cool, the other is suspicious.





Painted up pretty bird packed up tight in the Uber XL.





Get skinny!





Powerslide to parking. Coming to a stop on the closed runway, I asked the pilot to turn for the photo op.





Fill 'er up Friday. Stackin' banks while drainin' tanks! Well, just a token splash to cover the landing fee.





Adrianspeeder

[adrianspeeder]

Trip 237, two years ago, Tri Cities TN.

A great day to fly! Boss man needs to go to Tennessee.



Tri Cities.





Uber XL speedy delivery.



Fire ‘em up! We gotta go!



Adrianspeeder

[adrianspeeder]

Emergency Bravo alert to haul a stair truck to Tennessee. “Did anyone call to see if the Guard unit there has one? No? Ok. Let’s spend money!” Spoiler alert; They had a few and we never needed to go, but salvaged the day with some cool pictures.











Adrianspeeder

[adrianspeeder]

Trip 239, Fall 2018, Aurora CO

Chilly decent into the mile high CO.



Probe heat; On. Engine anti ice; On. Wing anti ice; On. Windshield heat; Norm.



Minimums. Go around.



Second try a short time later found the mark.



Quick turn fuel load and cargo change before the snow catches us.



“Chiefs up on ground for engine start. We gotta go Cap’m!” No deicer service here.



Barely made takeoff before it started sticking. Thank goodness, because now we can go drink Coors Light in California!



Sunny California dreaming.





KC-10 in the pattern.



Quick California pit stop for left side tires, wedge adjustment, and a splash of gas.



Didn’t know it at the time, but my last visit to Travis.



Back to CO to fill up with more junk in the trunk.



That brand new rebuilt used number 4 motor runnin’ tight!



Buckle up for our landing in Dover. She gonna be sporty!



Adrianspeeder

[adrianspeeder]

Trip 240, Tyndall AFB with Hurricane Michael

Had time to edit up video and time lapse footage of hurricane support mission to Panama City Florida. These are not flights I enjoy to count up, but I am proud to perform. Americans that have lost everything can look up to the sky and see a continuous line of C-17s bringing salvation. No other aircraft can load and haul mind boggling tonnage, fly to dark and small airfields, unload quickly, and reliably do it day after day from all across the country.



Little ducks learning how to run a poop truck. Whatever you do, don't hit my jet.



Emergency alert to New Mexico to pick up Civil Engineers and big ass 1MW generators.





“Keep ‘em flying”



And so begins the looong line of heavyweight airlift to move food/water/power/medics/materiel/life and whatever else anyone needs.



Not going to be able to get gas in Florida, so top up the tanks 35000 gallons. Stackin’ banks while dranin’ tanks! Fill ‘er up Friday!



Pilot hero shots.





Well you don’t see that every day. A contractor’s DC-3 that tests imaging sensors.



She’s gonna be a heavyweight takeoff. “180 at the end of the runway please, we’ll need full length.”



Full length, 585,000 lbs, max thrust, shitty fuel milage, hammer down big time!



Autothottles set. Hands off to do other things.



Watch out for that mountain.



Flooded Panama City FL.





Hurricane Michael swamped that big ass boat over.



Cleared to land by AFSOC combat controllers. Not a building was left with a roof on it.





Interesting bit of TACC shenanigans on this trip trying to get out of Tyndall.

“We don’t have a place for you to go next, but we will need you tomorrow. Go somewhere nearby. We are too busy to flight plan you at the moment.”

“Uhhh… What?!?”

Called Keesler, but they were mogged out. Copilot remembered that Stennis International in MS had a good FBO with snacks from her flying T1 days. VFR'd our way over, and spent the night with some classy service!



Fill ‘er up Friday. Stackin’ banks while dranin’ tanks. Did one more run of some equipment, then headed home.



Adrianspeeder

[adrianspeeder]

Trip 281: Load up for a ball buster of a long trip to Paris, Iraq, and California. First stop ran into an ole Jersey friend.



Love a short first day with a 20 minute flight, and then put the jet to bed for wild Virginia night.



Rally up early next morning for a full load of fuel.



Stackin’ banks while drainin’ tanks!



“Hey Cap’n! Where are we?” “I have no idea.”



New copilot signed off on escape rope use. Q1.



Crusin’ in over the beaches of Normandy.



Weathered in. No drop. D-Day Delayed.



Second time seeing the Eiffel Tower. First time from the air.





“50”. Landing crew. Paris–Le Bourget Airport



I think we are parking over there.



Hero shot.



These boys work fast.



Better shot.



Both are technical achievements, but only one is cool.



Tag team haulin’.



“So, you want me to squawk 7500?” “Uhhh... Yeah.”



Frenchy controller let his buddy take off first.



Fluffy grounds crew.



Heading out of France, we didn’t get to stay.



Late night landing in Germany. These suck for a few reasons. Don’t have enough time to get in trouble downtown, don’t have anywhere on base to go, so it’s just drink in the room.



Words of wisdom from a wise loadsmasher.



Next thing that sucks after trying to sleep through the day, is an 2200 alert to take off the next night. Chilly smoky startup!



Headin’ into Iraq. This combat entry checklist calls for combat cake!



No problems in and out of Iraq, so we are forever chasing the sun for another evening in Germany.



German twilight.



Team Dover all over the world!



Flyin’ Crew Chief emergency supplies.



Made it to a Maineiac morning for a Bangor gas stop.



Stackin’ banks while drainin’ tanks!



Holding for this guy to get his checklists together. In the thickest Maineiac accent, “We need a minute.” Check your rearview mirror bud!



Southwest 737 makin’ money.



Are we there yet?



Can’t recall if I’ve seen the golden gate bridge before.



Pretty like a picture.



Spending the night in the land of Google.





Fill ‘er up Friday.



“Chief you got those fuels balanced perfect.” “Hell yeah brother!”



If you’re lost, they’ll come find you.



You want maximum rate time to climb? You got it!







My camera is squawking 7500!



On to the next one...

Adrianspeeder

[adrianspeeder]

Quick trip to the Pacific with a new guy that we screwed with his luggage.











Adrianspeeder

[adrianspeeder]

Trip 243, Winter 2019, Bagram

131 – Didn’t know it at the time, but this would be my last trip to Afghanistan. First night stopped in New Hampshire, but when we tried to get snacks for the next day’s trip, the boss wanted Trader Joe’s. Where is all the junk food?!?



132 – Bit of snow fell, and that always drags out the launch sequence.



133/135 – Fill ‘er up Friday: Stackin’ banks while drainin’ tanks!






136/140 – Deice ops going smoothly until the extended reach deicer died while above the T tail so we couldn’t lower him manually.
“The mechanic is an hour away.”
“We ain’t got time for that, bring me that tug and we’ll pull the airplane away.”
“I don’t have a C-17 tow bar.”
“Can you tow those 767’s over there?”
“Yeah.”
“Bring me that tug and we’ll pull the airplane away.”











141 – Lets ride! Dude was still stuck up in the bucket as we were taking off.



142 – Good morning Turkey.



143 – Brought another first time’er dollar ride mechanic on this trip to show him how things are done. Preflight minion deploy!



144 – Last ride to Afghanistan.



145 – Loaded up with junk in the trunk no problems. Time for a nap.



146 – 4 AM Turkish pizza while hammered.



147 – Slept all day and ready to ride!



148 – Nighttime ocean crossing with cabin pressurization workin’ on point.



149/150 – Snowy touchdown at DAFB. One more done, with only a few trips to go.

[adrianspeeder]

Trip 244, Winter 2019, Cuba

151 – Let’s take some Navy junk down to Cuba. Leaving a cold Delaware day.



152 – Best job I ever had!



153 - A cold sunny Virginia day.



154 – Tasty.



155 - Fancy hotel. Let’s hit the bar!



156 – Coors Light time.



157 – Cold raining preflight.



158 – Somehow my rain pants are no longer in my bag. Gonna be a wet fill up.



159 – Double pumpin’ fill ‘er up Friday stacking banks while drainin’ tanks. In the rain.



160 – Hang up the flight suit to dry for this next leg of the journey.



161/162/163/164 – Club Gitmo!









165 - Killer jelly fishes.



166/167/168 – Nice beach.






169 – First time I’ve been here in the daytime.



170 – Ended up having a drag race with another Dover jet on approach. We beat them on the landing, turned onto the parallel taxiway, but they landed long, and beat us to parking by rolling down the runway faster. ATC was not amused.

[adrianspeeder]

Trip 245, Winter 2019, South America

171/172/173 – Interesting trip that took some extra planning ahead of time. Going to be lots of training mixed with a stop that we CAN NOT fail at. Pilot calls me and says, “I’ve requested you for this mission. Make sure we do not get stuck.” Well, I brought a ISU 90 of all the parts that are single point failures.







174 – Plane crackers. No flavor.



175 – Let’s ride!



176 – Good safety RACM, SEND IT!



177/178/179/180 – Mile high mountains.









181/185 – Time to dive down into Eagle County Regional Airport for low approaches and a few touch and gos.










186 - Nice view.



187 – Full send.



188 – Hang on LT, we gotta go!



189/190 – You bring us in nice and pretty and we’ll have a kick ass night in Denver.

[Anthony]

glad to wee you are still safe and posting pics Buddy.. thank you for your service!

[adrianspeeder]

191 – Stop in Denver for a splash of gas.



192 – Fill ‘er up Friday mile high style.



193 – HA! Karma’s a bitch when a pilot changes the game mid mission for who’s buyin’ first round. He played himself!



194 – Puerto Rico.



195 – Pilot called me up to the front after smelling magic smoke. Well, when you pull 360+ amps, 400hZ, 3phase, through stainless steel 2/0 cable for years and years, things get toasty. The book limits 10 mins of max loading when running on a single source of power. Otherwise, no time limit with the load split between the onboard auxiliary power unit and a ground power unit or running engines with integrated drive generators on line. I cut off all four of the 60 amp hydraulic pumps, and we pressed on by not running the hydraulic preflight test until after engines were running turning the gear driven pumps.



196 – Morning comes, and with a ground power cart to assist, we are ready to ride.



197 – Next stop the odds were against me to “win” buying the round, but this isn’t where we are crew resting. Suck it! Off to the next stop.



198/200 – Starin’ into the sun for Central America.





200 – Lizards chillin’ by the runway at Tocumen International Airport.



201/206 – Costa Rica low level.













207 – A shadow somewhere on a beach.



208 – Go buzz the boat!



209/210 - Costa Rica low level.

[adrianspeeder]

glad to wee you are still safe and posting pics Buddy.. thank you for your service!

Thanks friend. These are a few years old now. I have a desk job.

Adrianspeeder

[Anthony]

Desk job might just be where you need to be.. you never know.. I had my military years all planned out and went for my military physical in Beckley WV back in 1985.. I found out there that I have sugar and have been on an Insulin pump for over 25 years now and get up every morning and head out to work instead of being retired out of the military.. I have the deepest respect for you and your friends that are serving.. May God Bless you and always keep you and your friends safe buddy.. I do Electrical work at the local Hospital and that wireing just blows my mind.. good thing you were there..

[adrianspeeder]

It's what I do!

211/214 – Costa Rica gas stop.









215 – Pucker factor 10 of ten. “ALL STOP ALL STOP ALL STOP, REACH 232T GO AROUND!” “On the go. Reach 232.” Positive rate, gear up…. Some yahoo was moving unauthorized. P&W power and a sharp controller saves the day.



216 – Leaving Costa Rica.



217 – Somewhere on a beach.



218 – Quick hop across the Gulf.



219/220 – For all the times going to Panama, I’ve always hauled ass as fast as possible through customs to get on with the fun outside the airport. Only fitting that on the trip before my fini flight, one of the last minute crew additions didn’t make the visa paperwork correctly and ground everything to a halt. Worst case, I’d take her back out to the jet and she’d spend the night pretending to be a Raven. A few embassy calls she was good to go, and I killed time with the camera to remember something from my top five crew rest locations.





221/222 – Upper wing inspection good to go.





223 – Wise words.



224 – Good safety and send it. Last time being in Panama.



225 – Full stop at Dover AFB. Only one more mission known as the fini flight up next.

[Anthony]

love seeing these Adrian! thanks for your service and the trips around the world while I sit here safe.. you have a GREATHolliday Season and and don't forget to put Christ in Christmas.. <3

[adrianspeeder]

Trip 246, Spring 2019, Romania

The last trip. The fini flight. By this point in time I’ve already been reassigned to be the lead technician of Dover’s avionics shop. Teaching 10 brand new airman how to crawl, walk, then run. Guiding 8 other qualified mechanics how to be better, smarter, and safer. Being responsible for and speaking for everyone else’s mistakes. Standing up to stupid decisions and ideas that will do more harm than good. Lastly, and least favorite, going to daily meetings... I had been in the 736th AMXS for 12 years, but with 8 of them flying not a lot of people had really known me. Well, they found out real quick that I spoke my mind, and backed it up with knowledge from the books and real life examples from the road. This doesn’t always make friends but keeps airplanes bolted together. Three months into this job, my old boss came and said, “We are short. Can you do one more flight?” “My bags are in the truck.”

226 – Fitting that we are broken right out the start of the trip for a bad display unit. Easy install with one on the shelf from supply, but it had the wrong software version. This is the contraption we correct that with. I have airmen that are younger than when XP was discontinued.



227 – The low bid adapter box to make everything work.



228 – Good safety RACM from the last takeoff of KDOV runway 01.



229 – Beautiful day to fly.



230 – Am I happy or somber? Hell yeah to both.



231 – First stop.



232 – Load up some Army junk.



233 – While the loadmasters finish chaining down shit in the back, let’s get these motors fired up for a quick departure.



234 – Not sure if this trip is going to have 25 hours to bump me over the 3500 hour mark.



235 – All safe to send it!



236 – Climbing a stairway to heaven.



237 – Gas stop in Canada with the friendliest FBO agent that always brought us out a pizza, handed me my $100K fuel bills, and came out to my jet for the last time to say good bye!



238 – These Army pax were smart and done this before. They brought their own ladder to set up the hammock hanger for the ocean crossing comfort zone when the seat belt sign is turned off.



239 – Last Atlantic crossing going east.



240 – This trip is cool for another reason. Way back when I was the only Dover airman at Thumrait Oman, my squadron had mass deployed to Romania. I’m busting my balls sweating in the heat, and all my friends are on the beaches of the Black Sea every other day off. Anyway, this trip to Romania will be the last new country I check off the map at number 68.



241 – I see this country also has a surplus of electricity that they have to burn off in giant fans to make wind.



242 – It’s gonna happen!



243 – Made it. Now get your junk off my jet!



244 – Hero shot!



255 – Let the shenanigans begin!

[adrianspeeder]

246 – Party bus heading downtown.



247/248 – Hotel views.





249 – Ok, I think I blacked out from the booze, but the next morning, we are ready to ride.



250/251 – High speed dual motor simultaneous start!





252 – She’s a drag race boys!



253 – We’re heading out just to have another come on in.



254/255 – Hey! It’s a small world with two Dover tails high fiving, but that’s the way it goes sometimes. See ya!





256 – Good safety RACM. Send it!



257 – To think at one time we were afraid of those clunkers.



258 – Aluminum overcast.



259 – Next stop the desert. Last time here.



260 – Next jet rolled in and it’s an ole Dover friend. Always a small world in C-17s.



261 – Last stop in the desert. Last view of the land of sand.



262 – Hopefully it will be a very long time to never until I’m back here.



263 – No problems on the minimum ground turn, so let’s get the Hell out. Didn’t get the aperture right, so hide it with black and white.



264 – Light weight take off, motors runnin’ mint.



265 – No need for crazy angle of dangle today.