As I was beginning my walk this morning I received some “intel” that a Hawker Hunter from ATAC (Airborne Tactical Advantage Company) was stopping by KEFD for a gas-n-go. Boy was I stoked as I’d never seen one before and theirs had been on my radar for quite some time. Upon my arrival I looked in the usual places along the fence line to see where she was parked. Ah, there she was right over by Landmark Aviation taking on fuel. So, I drove around to get the best angle I could. Although the sun was out there were quite a few clouds (some gray) as well. What that equated to was trying to time the photos when the sun peeked through as I wanted to capture that beautiful two tone gray camo scheme under the gloss coat finish. After about 45 minutes or so I saw the pilot walk out so I knew he was getting ready to depart. I drove around to the east side of the perimeter fence along a service road waiting on him to use RWY 17R. A few minutes later here he came. He kept it pretty low before he started his turn and climb to the south east as he approached my position. WOW! what a sight and sound she was.
ATAC is company that provides contract air services to the US military (primarily US Navy) in a host of ways at costs per hour that are less then the theirs. More info about ATAC can be found at their website: http://www.atacusa.com/index.html
Article and Pictures by:
Bill Havel