Boeing JE-3 Sentry (LXN90454)

Hello "iFlyGr8". At the end of the runway there is a small road. The rest my camera did with 400mm-1/1600sec-f8-Iso 320-and full frame. And photoshopping after. Thanks for the compliment!

Great shot, we don't see these in Australia!

The problem with them is: they are dirty and noisy, but they do a great safety-job! Geilenkirchen airbase is about two hours and a quarter by bycicle (35km) from my home in Maastricht (The Netherlands). North/East from here, just on the other side of the German border. Thanks Alan for your reaction.

Peter, the noisier the better, the smoke is part of the experience in my opinion. These aircraft are diamonds amongst those newer computer driven fuel sensitive aircraft currently being introduced but for me, no matter how noisy or smokey the engines, I would willingly pay for them to remain in service over and above any of those silent fuel efficient aircraft and those pollution or climate change ecomentalist windbags!

I am going to assume the "LXN" indicates the plane belongs to someone other than the USAF, right? Although it could be a real old picture, I didn't think the USAF still had E-3s with P&W fans like this.

Jennifer,

You may be too late. The USAF began converting these planes to the CFM-56 fan jets over 20 years ago. They are MUCH quieter and burn MUCH less fuel. But the 707 airframe is a beautiful site to behold for sure.

The LX- means this aircraft is Luxemburg registrated. The N indicates it is an NATO aircraft. And ...... fortunately they are still flying. I took these pictures the first two weeks of october 2013 when I visited Geilenkirchen airbase three times. Thanks for all your reactions!

Peter,

I didn't doubt they are still flying. I just doubted that they were USAF aircraft, which many of us assume they are, and wrongfully so in this case. Thanks for the registration info.

More info at: Geilenkirchen NATO Air Base - Welcome at 'Frisbee' - Webs