During my trip with 4Aviation we spent the afternoon of 20 March and most of the day on 21 March at the parking lot of the Yuma County Fairgrounds. This spot put us in the landing of both main runways. However since you find yourself in the middle between the runways you have to walk back and forth all the time since both are in use.
The weather was excellent on both days with clear blue skies and very agreable temperatures.
1. Ticket to the tropics
C-130_168067_USMarines_01 by René Klok, on Flickr
2.
C-130_168067_USMarines_02 by René Klok, on Flickr
3. The west side of the base is the civil airport. It is not very busy but sometimes nice traffic comes in.
Falcon20_N820CK_KalittaCharters_01 by René Klok, on Flickr
4. Nice colors on this CAG bird of VMFA-211
F-35_169621_USMarines_01 by René Klok, on Flickr
5. A HC-130J from nearby Davis Monthan
C-130_19-5947_USAF_03 by René Klok, on Flickr
6. A visiting Army Lacota
UH-72_13-72287_USArmy by René Klok, on Flickr
7. A setting sun made for nice light
F-35_170058_USMarines_02 by René Klok, on Flickr
8.
F-35_169592_USMarines_01 by René Klok, on Flickr
9.
CH-53_162481_USMarines by René Klok, on Flickr
10. The CAG bird of VMFA-211 showing sparkling colors and the squadron motto: Mach Altus.
F-35_169611_USMarines_01 by René Klok, on Flickr
11.
F-35_169611_USMarines_02 by René Klok, on Flickr
12. A relatively rare CH-53K King Stallion
CH-53_170003_USMarines_02 by René Klok, on Flickr
13. It returned only 20 minutes later and right over our heads
CH-53_170003_USMarines_03 by René Klok, on Flickr
14. Just when we were about to pack and go to the hotel, this nice surprise showed up. Former Bulgarian Airforce and now operated by the Cold War Air Museum.
Mi-24_NX118NX_ColdWarAirMuseum_01 by René Klok, on Flickr
15.
Mi-24_NX118NX_ColdWarAirMuseum_02 by René Klok, on Flickr
16. The next day this was the first aircraft to show up.
A320_N278GX_GlobalXAirlines by René Klok, on Flickr
17. Quickly followed by another one from the same company but still clearly showing the marks of Alaska Airlines.
A320_N289GX_GlobalXAirlines by René Klok, on Flickr
18.
F-35_169925_USMarines_02 by René Klok, on Flickr
19. Two Marines F/A-18s visiting from Miramar.
F-18_164722_USMarines_02 by René Klok, on Flickr
20.
F-18_164674_USMarines_01 by René Klok, on Flickr
21. This old EC-130H from Davis Monthan was doing various touch-and-goes.
C-130_73-1594_USAF_08 by René Klok, on Flickr
22.
F-35_169610_USMarines_01 by René Klok, on Flickr
23.
F-35_170063_169927_USMarines by René Klok, on Flickr
24. It took a while but finally five F-5's showed up.
F-5_761579_USMarines_02 by René Klok, on Flickr
25.
F-5_761576_USMarines_01 by René Klok, on Flickr
26. The CAG bird from VMFA-214
F-35_170056_USMarines_01 by René Klok, on Flickr
27.
F-35_169164_USMarines_03 by René Klok, on Flickr
28.
F-35_169913_USMarines_03 by René Klok, on Flickr
29. The STOVL approach makes for quite a lot of noice.
F-35_169796_USMarines_02 by René Klok, on Flickr
Hope you like this selection.