Lockheed P-3 Orion (N769SK)

A pic worth a thousand words!

The P-3 used to be the fastest turboprop ever built, I'm not sure that's still true but I saw a Navy version at an airshow at Moffet Field, near Mountain View, CA and it gobsmacked me. I used to work them in my pattern at KMCC all the time, they would come up for pilot proficiency. Base ops would always call us at the tower and complain because they would turn their crosswind leg well short of the end of the runway overflying the depot maintenance facilities. So we would tell the pilot and they would say "sure" and just keep doing it. MM, wherever you are, we still love you!

The mighty Orion for everything. As an naval aircrewman on the P3C, I must say, it’s an aircraft that earned its respect as a top aircraft in the history of our military.