Stealth sighting from the Citabria yesterday

Diana

Diana

Final Approach
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Diana
We flew the Citabria to Denver yesterday and saw something interesting as we departed Salina. We were near a restricted area and in between two MOAs. A Stealth fighter or (bomber) flew by us. We shot a picture of the second one as it followed the first. The second one wasn't as close, but you can still see it beneath our wingtip. It was exciting watching them. Otherwise, low and slow across Kansas with a humongous headwind was rather uneventful (and took FOREVER!).

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there are actually 3 in that picture, but the other two have their invisible shield turned on :)
 
JRitt said:
It prob turned off the cloaking device to save power
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You know they can't deploy weapons without turning off the cloaking device! :):hairraise:
 
I am glad the Citabria is well again.
I called Wal-Mart and cancelled the Duct Tape order.:)
ApacheBob
 
Riding the Katy trail between Columbia and Rocheport, MO, several years back I saw a B-1 Bone zipping along about 200ft agl. Couple of years later I was trying not to die (laying on a picnic table gasping for breath, Gatorade, and a cool breeze--not that August in mid-Missouri has cool breezes), and what before my baby blues appears, but a B-2 Bat, about 5,000 I would guess, silent as you please--until about 10 seconds later, when a low, deeeeeeep rumble, quiet yet pervasive flowed over me.

A-h-h-h-h-h-h...the sweet sound of freedom and security.

But an F-14 in full zone 5 'burner is still my favorite!
 
What, the Citaberrie is back in the air? Did I miss your posting of this historic event? Pics, Diana, pics. With step by step commentary, if you please.
 
Steve said:
I vote for B-2.
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The reason I doubt it was a B2 is that it looks to be in a pretty steep bank and IIRC the flight computers won't allow anything past something like 60 degrees. I learned why when I tried a slow roll in the sim. The thing just yaws out of control since there's no ventral fin. I did manage to do a roll ballistically, something my IP said he'd never tried.
 
The shape of the B-2 makes it hard to tell its bank angle when seen from another plane. Here's pictures of both a F117 and B-2 under similar conditions. The clouds act as a frame of reference for bank angle.
 

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Richard said:
What, the Citaberrie is back in the air? Did I miss your posting of this historic event? Pics, Diana, pics. With step by step commentary, if you please.
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Richard, thanks for asking. It has been a stormy time and a bumpy road to getting the Citabria restored and back home. We still have things we need to do to it to get it right. Plans are for parts of the Citabria to get repainted in December. We are still tweaking the rigging. Now that it is back home, we are enjoying it. I love having the extended breather tube (less oil on the wings and fuselage), the new Hooker Harnesses (less slipping and sliding in the seat doing acro), and the PTT on the stick is soooooo much easier to use when communicating. It is truly like flying a different airplane and we need to get used to the new feel. The ASI is reading differently than the “feel”. The mix still needs to be adjusted.

My favorite thing to do in the Citabria is giving acro rides, and I’m finally back to doing that again. So far, long trips are working out OK. Low and slow is a harder way to fly, and not for everyone. But we both enjoy the journey together. We aren’t just getting somewhere, we are looking down at the land and how people live, and have plenty of time to contemplate the landscape and the scheme of things. We make several stops on long trips and meet some interesting people along the way in doing so. And, sometimes we get to see a Stealth fly by…did he just happen to be going by us low and slow in a practice run of some kind, or was he trying to get a look at us, or did he even know we were there? Who knows. I know we enjoyed the experience.

We are still in Colorado and I don’t have access to my computer with photos of the Citabria other than those we took at the airport at Erie after landing a few days ago:

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She is looking sweet Diana. Let me know when you come around Warsaw again.

Dustin Smith
 
Steve said:
I vote for B-2.

B-2
NORTHROP_B-2.png
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Yea, I think it was a B-2 after studying the photos. The first one that passed by us was a lot closer and looked much more like the B-2 than the F-117. Also, one of the military guys from the red board emailed me and said it was the B-2.

Maybe we'll get lucky and see it again on the way home tomorrow. :yes:
 
Dustin said:
She is looking sweet Diana. Let me know when you come around Warsaw again.
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Thanks Dustin. We'll be sure to give you a holler if we get up that way. :)
 
...and of course we're exchanging rides at Gaston's, right? :yes:

She sure looks sweet!

Kaye
 
Kaye said:
...and of course we're exchanging rides at Gaston's, right? :yes:
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Absolutely! I'm holding you to that. :yes:

Kaye said:
She sure looks sweet!
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Thanks Kaye. She still needs a lot done. At this point she looks much better from about 50 feet away.
 
Diana said:
Thanks Dustin. We'll be sure to give you a holler if we get up that way. :)
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Cool! That would be great. It has been a while since I have talked to anyone, so tell me how those hammer heads are.

Dustin
 
Richard said:
Pics, Diana, pics.
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Richard, now that I'm home, here's a picture up closer. The gentleman in the photo is a dear friend of ours, and this is just after his acro ride. He's a CFI and did a little bit of acro years ago in flight training. We had a GREAT flight! And, like every other CFI, I have ever flown with, after the aileron roll, he said..."That was fun! Now, let's do one to the right." :D
 

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its great to see that you are back doing what you love diana
 
I was in the practice area south of CRG once, and after finishing some turns about a point, I was climbing back to altitude for some stalls. I began my first clearing turn to the right and just then I saw two S-3 Vikings pass directly under me perhaps 3-4 hundred feet below heading west. It was pretty neat. I had never seen a military aircraft below me before!
 
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i got passed by a couple F-16s once. I was headed towards an MOA, they were coming home. Thankfully Des Moines approach pointed them out, opposite direction 2000 feet above me. otherwise i never wouldve seen them.
 
tonycondon said:
i got passed by a couple F-16s once. I was headed towards an MOA, they were coming home. Thankfully Des Moines approach pointed them out, opposite direction 2000 feet above me. otherwise i never wouldve seen them.
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I used to fly near NAS Norfolk a lot and get flight following from them. I'd always get, "Grumman 641, company F-14 at your six O'Clock." My response was always "Well his Grumman is faster than mine, what do you want me to do about it?" :)
 
haha. i bet he has a shorter takeoff distance than you though! :)
 
Yesterday the wx was great for flying here. I made a 2 hr round robin. At one point a T-1 went directly under me 500' below my 5500' altitude. We were both talking to Memphis Center at the time. It was so clear I could see the T-1 for a very long time coming and going. A little eerie to be in all that open sky and cross paths like that.

On the way home I had a C-17 overfly me on its way to landing at its home base in Jackson, MS. The visibility out the IAR is great and it was fun keeping visual contact with the -17 as he went overhead and turned to final as he descended below my altitude. Jackson Approach advised me on possible wake turbulence, but I was headed south about 90 degrees to the -17's flight path. And he crossed over about 1500' above me, so I never felt a bump. I tried to take a picture, but didn't do too well...and no, the -17 is not in a nose dive!

Where's Barney?...lol
 

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tonycondon said:
its great to see that you are back doing what you love diana
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Thanks Tony. And, I'm glad things turned out OK for you with your gear problem. Stuff happens. You kept your cool and dealt appropriately with the situation. Ya did good. :)
 
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