Veterans Day Salute

It's Veterans Day, and in honor of our Veterans I'll show you some of them in action as they've passed through LAX. With the exception of the Coast Guard helicopters based here, we don't often get military aircraft into LAX; with all the military bases in southern California, there are easier places for them to operate in the LA area.

The most recent military operation we've had was over the weekend, when a flight of T-38's spent the night here after performing a fly-by for the Veterans Day parade in LA. I didn't get any shots of their arrival as it was after sundown and busy at the time. These shots are of their departure the next day:

I apologize for the poor quality of these photos, but maybe these next few will give you an idea of what I was up against, shooting from the catwalk of the tower twenty stories up:

Wind 29 knots, gusting to 38!Whitecaps!

Sandstorm on the approach end of the south complex

Here are a few other military ops I've seen here:

After the Coast Guard helos, this is the most common military aircraft seen at LAX, often in tandem with a VIP movement: a C-5A Galaxy arriving on runway 24 right, as shot through the tower window and shades.

A rarity anywhere in this country: A Royal Airforce (callsign: Ascot) VC-10 departs LAX.
At first glance, it's a DC-9 or B727, but bigger than either and has four engines on the tail.

I'm used to seeing C-17's flying out of Long Beach, where they're built, but here's one at LAX. This one was also flying for the British Royal Airforce.

This F/A-18 is Canadian.

Sadly, not all of our veterans make it home unscathed. LAX periodically sees the arrival of a Fallen Soldier:
My thanks to all of our veterans - You're all heroes in my book!