NEW WEBSITE!

PLEASE GO TO WWW.131STFIGHTERWING.WEBS.COM FOR ALL THE PICTURES AND INFO ON 131ST, I HAVE NOT DECIDED IF I'M MOVING MY BLOG THERE YET...

AND DON'T FORGET ABOUT

MYSPACE.COM/131STFW- ADD ME/THE UNIT!

AND

YOUTUBE.COM/131STFWFAN FOR ALL THE LATEST VIDEOS!

FIRST WEEKEND OF THE MONTH, THIS WEEKEND DRILL WAS...

I have to say it was alright. I got some good videos in and they are all at youtube.com/131stfwfan.

There are around nine or ten jets left out of the 20 we had at the unit. I would say six or seven of them still have the SL markings, two for sure are bare. They did not fly on Sunday because of the wind conditions and there was an upcoming ice storm, which hit stl hard later that night. The confirmed date for them to be leaving is late July 2009 however i think the aircraft will be gone a few months before that.

That picture of the flightline shows them in July 2008, the base don't look like that anymore...

It is November 1st and 2nd, You Know What That Means AGAIN...

Alright So This Time I Came 100% Prepared so No set backs would happen. And for Sat. it really helped, I got some of the best videos I have ever gotten of them. Then on Sunday, Well The Unit Switched There Runway Operations, and I missed the total combat takeoff's after staking out the end of the runway for nearly 15 min. Overall after a half tank of gas, lots of almost driving accidents, and 5 videos later, I would say this weekend was worth it. I just wish I would of gotten those total combat take offs.

CHECK OUT THE VIDEOS ON THE YOUTUBE PAGE, I AM SAVING ONE OF THEM THOUGH BECAUSE I ONLY GET TO DO THIS ONE WEEKEND A MONTH, SO I NEED SOMETHING IN BETWEEN THEN TO POST.


I need a new camera though, but by the time i get one, there will only prob be a bout 8 jets left. Maybe a Scanner, so I know which runway there going on? Either way this guess and check thing is always a risk.

Farewell 131st Fighter Wing... (At Least the Name)

Although We Still have 11 jets left (10 after the end of this week) the air force/ANG has officially announced that the 131st Fighter Wing is now the 131st Bomb Wing.

In a press release issued this week...

10/5/2008 - Lambert IAP -- The 131st Fighter Wing formally recognized it's transition to the 131st Bomb Wing in a ribbon cutting ceremony held Oct. 4 at Whiteman, AFB.

The ceremony celebrated the first official drill for traditional guardsmen at Whiteman and the grand opening of building 3006, the 131st Bomb Wing's headquarters there.

"We are proud of our members and proud of our lineage as we transition from an Air National Guard Fighter Wing to a Classic Associate Bomb Wing," Col. Robert L. Leeker, 131st BW commander, said.

Brig. Gen. Craig D. McCord, Missouri Air National Guard commander, explained, "This transition will serve as a template for the future of Air Force and Air National Guard integration."

Congressman Ike Skelton described how this integration between the Air Force and Air National Guard is a "dream come true" for the Air Force, Air National Guard and himself. The Missouri Air National Guard and the Air Force will come together and "like a marriage their two hearts can beat as one."

"Today signifies the coming together of one of the finest Active Duty bases and one of the finest Air National Guard bases in the Air Force," said Brig. Gen. Garrett Harencak, 509th BW commander. "You will join us as brothers and sisters and no enemy of America will have sanctuary anywhere in the world."

Members from the 131st FW have been transitioning to Whiteman since the summer of 2007. The 131st has about 10 B-2 pilots fully qualified and over 80 personnel currently working at Whiteman.

"The 509th BW and 131st BW are a premier team," said Colonel Leeker. "And together we can hunt down and destroy America's enemies."


Well at least that flying with the eagles took my mind off of them leaving for good for a week or so.

St. Louis will never be the same. Ima have to move to Montana where those F-15's are going.

NEW ANG 131ST PROMO PICS!

In a Picture Article Called "Flying With The Eagles" The ANG takes us and shows us a mission with the 131st Fighter Wing. They are all stunning and some of the best 131st pics ever taken. You can find them on the ANG website, or just go to youtube.com/131stfwfan, i made a video with all of them in it. The pictures Include A Training Mission, Flying Over STL, Bush Stadium and Lambert Airport/There Base.

I POSTED A LITTLE PREVIEW ABOVE, THIS IS NOT EVEN CLOSE TO HOW GOOD SOME OF THE OTHERS ARE.

1st Weekend Of The Month Again...

This Month Was Great! I got some really good videos since this is about the only time I am able to Film Them. Saturday Morning Brought Seven Jets Into The Air For A Morning Flight, and Then Four More For An Afternoon Flight. Sunday Brought Four In The Morning And Four In The Afternoon. Both Days Had At Least Two Jets doing paired landings, then one of the jets would to a touch and go. It was a pretty good weekend.

Out of all the jets two were bare without the "SL" Tailcode and Missouri Banner On Them. The Next Jet Will Leave On October 23rd followed by two more on December 12th.

Check Out Some Of The Videos I Got At Youtube.com/131stfwfan

The Cards Final Weekend...

Not a good season for them this year.

Above: An F-15C For The 131st Fighter Wing Is painted in Cards Livery. However it did not last long, because they got into some legal troubles with the team, so after a few months, it was changed from the Cards F-15 to the St. Louis Blues F-15. Ill post that sometime later.

So Last Weekend...

I was right. There was more flying. I attempted twice to film them, both were just misses. Guess ill wait til next month. This week however there was a glimpse for two days of the old amount of flying they used to do. It was great to see. But now that we have Ike coming our way it looks like flying will be at a super low for the next few days. But hey they only fly one weekend a month anyways so I guess it don't make a Difference.

First Weekend of the Month, That Means...

That there will be lots of flying. Actually the flying in the weekends now is about the same as it used to be every day. We get about two jets a day now (if lucky) and then about 4-8 Jets 1 Weekend a Month. It used to be about 4-8 Every Day and 8-12 On Weekends.

The Base Is Also Very Empty, I only counted six Jets, but I know there is more because only 8 have left at the max so far. So there should be 10 left.

Lets Hope the flying increases just a little bit.

On August 29th...

Friday was a rare because for once in a long time there were four F-15 Fighters that took off all at once from Lambert. Now in days the unit only flys about 1 or 2 jets a day. Yea you can definitely tell they are shutting down. I'm hoping to film them if they fly again soon and upload it to the youtube account.

Check it Out, Youtube.com/131stfwfan
And Add The Unit As A Friend At Myspace.com/131stfw

CHECK OUT...

The 131st Fighter Wing Youtube Page at youtube.com/131stfwfan

And Myspace.com/131stfw

Vintage 131st Fighter Wing: F-100

Sitting on the ramp.
Above: As The F-100 Lands, F-4's Are Being Built By MD.
Above: Flying Over The Gateway Arch

The St. Louis Arch

Just a Few Pics Here Of the St. Louis Arch on the F-15's over the years. Apparently it was the original livery at first, but eventually they Just kept like 2 of them with the arch a few months later, I really don't know why though it looks better that way I think. (If you notice the top picture the Missouri Tail Band, as I call it was on top of the tail as part of the original livery.

F-15's Depart Part I

Out of the 18 F-15's Stationed At Lambert (We did have 20, but 1 crashed in May 07 and another crashed in November, that led to all the F-15's being grounded at one point) We are currently down to 15.

First One Left To Nellis AFB In Early June.
The Next Two Left On August 15th, to the 120th Fighter Wing.
Two More will be going there On August 22nd.

So by the end of next week our count will be down to thirteen, then things should slow down a little bit, because we are not supposed to loose the last F-15 I Believe Until Jan or February 2009.

Either Way Its sad.

The Image Above Is The Two F-15's that left to the 120th, on the 15th.

Intro

OK, so I just basically created this blog for anyone who is interested in F-15's or other military aircraft. More Specifically For the 131st Fighter Wing, Missouri Air Guard. They are stationed in Bridgeton, Missouri a Northern City of St. Louis.

BRAC voted in 2005 to shut them down because the costs were to much to operate the unit at Lambert St. Louis Airport. To keep it nice and short, the F-15C's will be going to Nellis AFB and the 120th Fighter Wing, Most Pilots Going to Whiteman AFB to fly the B-2 Spirit and the maintenance crew will be also going to Whiteman to form the 131st Bomb Wing, a joint unit of the 509th Bomb Wing, that fly's the only squadron of B-2 Stealth Bombers.

Anything Anyone would want to know about this unit I could probably tell you, I live nearly 1/2 a mile away from the runways at Lambert and have been watching them/learning about them forever.

The Boeing Plant At Lambert is also a plus for military aviation around here.

So The Posts I will be doing will be about news of them leaving, and other past news such as crashes and stuff. I also got a LOT of pics Of F-15's, F-4's, F-100's so ill be posting them from time to time to.