McDonnell Douglas FA-18 Hornet —

F/A-18E Super Hornet
A rare photo capture at NFL --- rare because departures from Runway 25-7 are extremely unusual. As we were told, the only time Runway 25-7 is utlized for takeoffs is when the wind shifts around and begins blowing increasingly strongly from the west, and when that occurs, the wind rapidly becomes so strong and gusty that, in the interest of safety, training sessions are soon suspended. As a result, no aircraft take off and after any aircraft that are already in the air are recovered, no more flying takes place.
During our visit, the wind did shift and begin blowing from the west. And the wind speed did increase and become rather gusty. However, it never became strong enough to hurl sand, pebbles and tumbleweeds at us (which HAS happened during past visits), and training sorties continued to be flown. We relocated our spotting location to the intersection of Runways 31L-13R and 25-7 --- almost in the middle of the runway and taxiway layout --- and from that location it was possible to get the Control Tower in the background as the warbirds were rotating and starting to climb away from Runway 25. 95v / 5h