I was stationed at Kadena AB,Okinawa
which is one of the bases they fly out of.
They’re known by the locals as “The Habu”.
Which is a big black poisonous snake indigenous to Okinawa.
They use 2 V-8 motors to start those big jet engines up.
You always new when the Habu was gonna fly,cuz you heard the distinct sound of those V-8’s running wide open.
There were no vehicles on Okinawa with V-8’s on the island.
It was a traffic stopper whenever they went down the runway and took off.
They get to take off speed in a hurry and launch straight up into the air like a rocket lifting off in a plume of flame.
I was lucky enough to have my camera with me during one of those take offs and got some great shots.
@...ebayer:
Random Trivia: that’s where Tiki God was born, way back in ’80
SumoSnipe (#4452)
15 years ago
no they never did fix the leak problem. had to do with materials expanding with the heat of operation.
I was a kid when my Dad was stationed at Kadena. F-4s and F-15s were a normal sight, But I and my friends would pedal like mad to the hill overlooking the runway when we heard the sonic booms announcing that a Habu was on approach. What ebayer forgot to mention was the REAL thunder after the engines got up to speed. That roar on takeoff would rattle books off of shelves in the classroom. Heh our first week there my mom thought that it was an earthquake, not a jet taking off.
dammit! when I saw this, I thought it was going to be a post about the band SR-71…saw them in concert w/ Bon Jovi in Dallas, TX, they rocked!
(did you know the lead singer for SR-71 actually helped Bowling for Soup w/ some of their singles(and so did butch walker)? now you do!!)
Needs more fire.
@...token2k6: Nothing against the band, they are decent, but this plane is so fucking cool no one should be disappointed by it.
I was stationed at Kadena AB,Okinawa
which is one of the bases they fly out of.
They’re known by the locals as “The Habu”.
Which is a big black poisonous snake indigenous to Okinawa.
They use 2 V-8 motors to start those big jet engines up.
You always new when the Habu was gonna fly,cuz you heard the distinct sound of those V-8’s running wide open.
There were no vehicles on Okinawa with V-8’s on the island.
It was a traffic stopper whenever they went down the runway and took off.
They get to take off speed in a hurry and launch straight up into the air like a rocket lifting off in a plume of flame.
I was lucky enough to have my camera with me during one of those take offs and got some great shots.
@...ebayer: Submit those SR-71 pics!
second that.
Ebayer, did they ever fix the gas leaking problem? I’ve read several times that they leak fuel when not in the air.
@...ebayer:
Random Trivia: that’s where Tiki God was born, way back in ’80
no they never did fix the leak problem. had to do with materials expanding with the heat of operation.
I was a kid when my Dad was stationed at Kadena. F-4s and F-15s were a normal sight, But I and my friends would pedal like mad to the hill overlooking the runway when we heard the sonic booms announcing that a Habu was on approach. What ebayer forgot to mention was the REAL thunder after the engines got up to speed. That roar on takeoff would rattle books off of shelves in the classroom. Heh our first week there my mom thought that it was an earthquake, not a jet taking off.
@...FlyingMantisShrimp:
I’ll try and find them
It’s been about 25 years and I’ve moved 3 times since then.
I’ve tried submitting photos here before and haven’t seen them posted.
Not sure what I did wrong.
so the tiki god was born from a night at Sam’s by the Sea? Rock.
@...FlyingMantisShrimp:
@...ebayer:
I’ll raid my parents photo albums, see what I can find.
If only we could get the A-10 and Sr-71 to mate..
the resulting offspring would be full of awesomeness.
Deploy the choots!
@...mld: that could get ugly, outrunning your own bullets…..