Tori Mae Fontana
@LensOfMae • 3,996 subscribers
Pilot wife living under the KNFW pattern | @gfontana767 ✈️
Shorts
Videos
When you see a tanker show up at the base, and you know there’s an important delivery from Lockheed Martin coming up based on the news… For the last few days we’ve had the tabletop scanner sitting in our bedroom waiting for the call. Yesterday morning we finally heard what we’d been hoping for. RUMMY01 (KC-46) and RETRO61 flight of 3, the Polish F-35s, requesting clearance. We raced to our spot, and thankfully the overcast skies meant location on the field didn’t matter too much. Right as the F-35s departed, just before 8am local time, a light rain started moving in. I still need to edit the photos, but for now here are the takeoff videos. This will probably be the last time I get to see them for a while. Hopefully one day I’ll make it over to Poland for another air show.
Tori Mae Fontana160,383 views • 2 months ago
Would you believe it if I said another aircraft made today’s trip to the base totally worth it? This is an F-35B test flight on a slow roll, with the “toilet seat” open, before taking off again. But can you spot what made me sprint across the street back to my car to grab my camera? 👀 Hint: It’s something I’ve never personally caught before!
Tori Mae Fontana857,827 views • 1 year ago
Barksdale AFB Air Show brought something I had never witnessed in person before! As part of their performance, they showcased a B-52 Scramble Alert demo, highlighting the airmen’s readiness in case of an alert. The only thing missing from this demo was the launch of the BUFF! That would have made this show an even more jaw-dropping experience. I’ve had the opportunity to see an E-4 scramble, and it was up in the air in less than five minutes. For editing purposes, I did speed up the beginning of the video to 1.8x to capture the full sequence. Have you ever gotten to see a scramble alert?
Tori Mae Fontana830,024 views • 1 year ago
One perk of living close to the base? Hearing a B-52 take clearance back to Barksdale on the scanner at home, and making it to the spotting area in just eight minutes. Even though this was once a B-52 base, it had to taxi back on the runway before taking off on 36 at NAS JRB Fort Worth yesterday.
Tori Mae Fontana254,802 views • 7 months ago
12 Days of Top Aviation Moments in 2025! Day 2 of 12. February is for lovers…of F-35s! It was Nightmares kind of morning with six F-35s from VMFAT-502 taking off the runway at NAS JRB Fort Worth. This was on top of our local Spads and the Lockheed Martin test flights. So as you can imagine, it was a day filled with F-35s! Video below! What’s your favorite moment from this past year?
Tori Mae Fontana150,926 views • 7 months ago
Since y’all loved the Nightmares roar from this morning, here’s another from the same day. Fort Worth has quite the view from the Walmart parking lot. On a north flow day, it’s hard to beat having the jets right there with you. Add a few visitors in town, and suddenly the lot turns into an unofficial spotters meet-up. Who else loves a solid parking lot spotting session?
Tori Mae Fontana147,210 views • 7 months ago
Christmas might be this week, but this ZOMBIE viper clearly didn’t get the memo. BANDIT, a QF-16, made a quick fuel stop at NAS JRB Fort Worth before departing early this afternoon. Huge shoutout to our local spotting community. I’d been tied up at home, but the heads-up on this bird’s arrival got me out the door just in time to catch his departure. Moments like this are why that community is everything.
Tori Mae Fontana134,540 views • 7 months ago
The Night Stalkers. 160th SOAR. Before I share everything, I want to say, we were super respectful while we were out there tonight and stayed out of their way. To our surprise, the spot where we parked, was exactly where they staged. They came right next to our vehicle and did not say a word to us. They saw that we were taking videos and allowed us to continue. We did not approach them as we did not want to distract from their mission.
Tori Mae Fontana209,464 views • 1 year ago
I flew all the way to Rome years ago chasing my first F-104 and ended up stuck with pneumonia instead Today at SUN ‘n FUN, she showed up anyway Starfighters Inc brought in their F-104S for static and the entrance alone was worth every second of the wait Some moments really do come back around. So excited to be here.
Tori Mae Fontana44,232 views • 3 months ago
Good morning, Lockheed Martin! I love this house, so much. A Japanese F-35B doing first flight checks right above the house, I’ve got chills! Sometimes I wish I’d been around when it was still Carswell. I can only imagine the sound of B-52s and F-4s echoing across Fort Worth.
Tori Mae Fontana36,511 views • 8 months ago
Last night we celebrated the 4th of July in the best way possible—an air show at golden hour. 🇺🇸✈️ A rain delay cut the schedule short but gave us something even better: dramatic vapor trails and glowing skies. We had the Viper Demo Team flying the YF-16, Randy Ball with not one but two MiG-17s, the Osprey Demo Team, and Titan Aerobatic tearing it up with their T-6s. Absolutely electric as the sun set. Here’s a quick video I pulled together—just a taste of the magic. 🔥✨
Tori Mae Fontana38,186 views • 1 year ago
I wasn’t planning to go over budget, then I realized this estate belonged to a Thunderbirds pilot… Last night, I was scrolling estate sales to make sure I hadn’t missed anything for the weekend. One listing had just added photos, and it was well worth the wait. The estate belonged to Robert Jackson, a former USAF Thunderbirds pilot who flew left wing from 1970–71 during the F-4 Phantom era. The first thing that stopped me mid-scroll was the Toppings models. I went a bit over budget, but walked out with some incredible finds: 1.Toppings YF-16 model AF 01-568 in two-tone Blue (damaged but still beautiful) 2.Toppings Blue Angels F-4 Phantom model 3.A-7D Corsair model 4.Toppings T-38 model 91605 5.Toppings Lockheed F-104 Starfighter model 6.Thunderbirds Wives Cookbook, a surprisingly special piece featuring recipes from the wives of the team at the time There was one more item I picked up, but I’ll have to wait until tomorrow to share it. It’s a gift for my husband.
Tori Mae Fontana16,306 views • 5 months ago