ThinkingAi

[Dylan Phelps - Centerline Images @CenterlineIMGs]

Always good to see aircraft get a second life. This ex U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk now flying firefighting missions with Trans Aero, equipped with a Helitak FT4500 tank. From troop transport to dropping water… hard not to appreciate that versatility.

Photo taken last month in Mount Pleasant, Texas.

#Aviation #Helicopter #AvGeek #N356AA #Blackhawk

[Dylan Phelps - Centerline Images @CenterlineIMGs]

I was able to scratch another aircraft off my bucket list during my visit to the Caribbean last year. Here's the mighty U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Lockheed P-3B AEW returning to Curaçao as MAZE69 after a long day of drug interdiction around the region.

Not many of these birds left in service!

May 2025 - Curaçao International Airport (Willemstad, Curaçao)

#Aviation #AvGeek #Curacao #P3Orion #N146CS

[LAXSPOTTER97 @LAXSPOTTER97]

POV: you are the prey.

[Dylan Phelps - Centerline Images @CenterlineIMGs]

UNPIN23 catching the last light of the day as it soars over the numbers.

E-6B Mercury caught from ~5,500 ft MSL in Class E while overflying the Oklahoma City area in a Cessna.

Photo taken March 2026
#e6bmercury #aviation #avgeek

[jadams @jadamzs]

It’s Happening!!

NASA’s New “Flying Laboratory” is on it’s way home to Langley Research Center.

It will now undergo a full interior revamp after having structural mods completed by L3Harris.

The Boeing 777-200ER was previously flown by Japan Airlines. Surprisingly it still has the rising sun and old reg on the right wing!

[willaviation93 @Will_aviation93]

Blue Camo MH-60 Blackhawk 160th SOAR "NIGHT STALKERS"

[TT-33 operator @Tt33operator]

The Qatar-gifted Boeing 747-8 aka the VC-25B (25-3300) as VADER01 landing at KGVT after a test flight.

[𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝕯𝔢𝔞𝔡 𝕯𝔦𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔦𝔠𝔱△ 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇺🇲🇬🇷 @TheDeadDistrict]

NT-43A operating as NASA522, training to support splashdown of the Orion crew module at the completion of Artemis II Spaceflight (4/2026).

The NT-43A "RAT 55" (Radar Aircraft Testbed) is a highly modified U.S. Air Force Boeing 737-200 (originally a T-43A) used to test the radar signature of stealth aircraft.

📸 Alex StinkJet

[Dylan Phelps - Centerline Images @CenterlineIMGs]

Always had a thing for oddball platforms and old-school bizjets, so when I heard the HALO (High Altitude Observatory) Gulfstream IIs were staging out of Santa Maria, California, I hopped on the next flight out of Dallas/Fort Worth. Knew the clock was ticking with their retirement around the corner.

These classics were operated by the Missile Defense Agency and were seriously modded—EO/IR sensors tracking missile tests across multiple spectrums. The gimbaled optics and that HALO-II cupola are just absurd in the best way. Straight up flying science labs.

They’ve been gone a couple years now, replaced by G550s. Impressive in their own right—but those Rolls-Royce Speys on the G-II… pure music.

October 2023

#Aviation #AvGeek

[Jonny @Jonnywithacam]

#RAT55 / NT-43A at KAMA on the RTB from helping with the Artemis II launch.
Is this the first photo of the interior so far?
📸: me 04/03/2026

[Brady Kendrick @BradyKendrick24]

What a day! 😀

[ᴅᴇᴡ @Remnantize]

B-52 Stratofortress, 2026

[Thenewarea51 @thenewarea51]

The Nuclear Emergency Support Team (NEST) Bell 412 is being retired at the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History in Albuquerque, NM after 30 years of service. ☢️👃🚁

📷 Jessica Baca

[Thenewarea51 @thenewarea51]

Almost 46 years later, the USCG is still flying the Gulfstream. 😎

[NASA Aeronautics @NASAaero]

Today, @NASA's X-59 aircraft made its second flight, kicking off a series of dozens of test flights in 2026. “Despite the early landing, this is a good day for the team. We collected more data, and the pilot landed safely,” said Cathy Bahm https://t.co/ddE7gO7HL5

[Air Superior @airsuperiorx]

I have published an update to the P-8A Poseidon diagram to include new label sections and improvements on existing labels.

Full-resolution link in the reply below.

Thank you to @SR_Planespotter & @potettan620 for providing me photos to use for this diagram.

[浦島太郎 @Urashima_RODN]

2026.03.10 ROTM 普天間基地

シャコタン2世

[SPAR55 このRJTYの片隅に @SPAR655]

C-20B / N520NA（86-0206）
ＮＡＳＡアメリカ航空宇宙局ラングレーリサーチセンター所属機😉

[Thenewarea51 @thenewarea51]

New kid on the block, N432HC 😎

Aery Aviation’s Raven special-mission Gulfstream IV-SP has 16 hardpoints that can be fitted with swappable pods based on the mission for civilian or defense clients. The aircraft is availabe on a per-flight-hour cost basis—akin to air charter services.

Via AIN & @jefftvalois

[Airways Magazine @airwaysmagazine]

Today in 2003, the Boeing 777-300ER completed its maiden flight, departing at 10:00 a.m. local time and landing at Boeing Field in Seattle at 13:02. During the three-hour test, it climbed to 15,000 feet and reached Mach 0.50, launching its 1,600-hour certification program.