Willow Grove FG-1D repaint

[skyhawka4m]

Seems I'm back into my repaint ways......more on this in a seperate post......

Something I've always wanted to do was paint some of the planes that used to fly out of NAS Willow Grove over the years and this was always top of my list. I did one for FS9 using the Aeroplane Heaven aircraft but with this one I'm using the Aircraft Factory plane, this will be in late NAVY Reserve markings with the bright orange band on the fuselage..........I am hoping to do a Texan also using the Virtavia plane. I'm also hoping to do an NADC F8F Bearcat if I can figure out the Vertigo paintkit.

Attachment 54623

[jojohnson9]

Hey, that would be cool. I spent four of my 20 Navy years at Willow Grove in the mid '70s. Did they ever close WilGro...thought it was BRACed.

[skyhawka4m]

Yes they did sadly. I was part of a large group of people who tried to keep it open but sadly....the local goverment had its mind made up (pockets lined) so now we will have more business buildings and homes.....that won't sell and be vacant.


I was also stationed there from 1984 to 1996 in VP as aircrew on SH-3's, SH-2's and both VP units. Miss may days there and in the NAVY.

[Railrunner130]

The Grove was a good place to do Pro work.

http://www.166aw.ang.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123258272

[skyhawka4m]

a bit of an update...still alittle to do on it but very close.....

Attachment 54813

[stansdds]

Coming along nicely.

[skyhawka4m]

thank you sir....its too bad that this is the only FSX game i town. I love the plane but I would really love to see and F4U-4 and later variants at some point, like the 5N.

[VP-64 Condors FSX]

Hey, that would be cool. I spent four of my 20 Navy years at Willow Grove in the mid '70s. Did they ever close WilGro...thought it was BRACed.

Yes BRAC did close NAS JRB WillowGrove but the airforce and army national guard is still stationed their. VR-64 "Condors", VR-52 "Taskmasters" and Heavy Marine Helicopter sqaudron 772 were relocated to McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. VR-52 got destablished when they moved to McGuire.

[falcon409]

Late 2001 Our F-16's deployed to Al Jaber AB, Kuwait. As we were being bused around to our Maintenance Hangar back in the boonies we came upon some A-10's bearing the Willow Grove Fin Flash! Great guys and an equally terrific Commander. Hung out with us around the hangar from time to time tellin' War Stories, lol. He was also fond of one A-10 joke. . ."Ya know. .he said. . .the A-10 is the only Jet in the Air Force Inventory to ever have taken a bird strike from the rear". . .then he'd just laugh and walk off, lol

[VP-64 Condors FSX]

Seems I'm back into my repaint ways......more on this in a seperate post......

Something I've always wanted to do was paint some of the planes that used to fly out of NAS Willow Grove over the years and this was always top of my list. I did one for FS9 using the Aeroplane Heaven aircraft but with this one I'm using the Aircraft Factory plane, this will be in late NAVY Reserve markings with the bright orange band on the fuselage..........I am hoping to do a Texan also using the Virtavia plane. I'm also hoping to do an NADC F8F Bearcat if I can figure out the Vertigo paintkit.

Are you including the P-3 Orions from NADC and WillowGrove. Some of the NADC Orions were stationed at WillowGrove because NADC had a lot of Orions but they couldn't store some of them at NADC so they moved them to NAS WillowGrove. I have someone who is going to make the NADC Orion textures for the KBT P-3C V3.2. I know there is a VP-64 texture but it is in the all gray. I'm wanting a VP-64 gray and white Orion texture and two VP-66 texture which would have one Gray and White Orion and one all Gray Orion. I am trying to make a texture pack with aircraft textures from NADC and WillowGrove.

(NADC):http://www.vpnavy.com/nadc_aircraft.html
(NAS WillowGrove):http://www.vpnavy.com/naswillow.html

[llanning08]

Have you considered Milton Shupe's freeware F8F-2 Bearcat in lieu of the Vertigo payware? I have both and are both quite nice. Milton's has recently upgraded the Alpha Bleu Ciel Bearcat to FSX native standards and has developed a new paintkit.

He also has a nice recently "restored" native Beech C-45 (that also flew out of Willow Grove in the 50s- & 60s). He has also created the S2F Tracker series and the Lockheed PV-1 Ventura and PV-2 Harpoon. I recall seeing the PV-2 Harpoons on the Willow Grove ramp in the 1950's. The S2F Trackers were flying with the VS squadrons when I flew in the Neptunes.

The Marines flew F8U Crusaders and A-4 Skyhawks.

Virtavia's SP-2H Neptune 7W liveries would be a nice addition (I was a Neptune aircrewman and flew out of Willow Grove with VP-934 from 1965-69).