Your favorite post-war aircraft

[FLYBOYJ]

Sometimes we had gusy come back frm TFR missions that had tree branches sticking out of the intakes. No s**t! One hell of a plane, if you could get it off the ground without an IFE.

I guess that's why it was sometimes known as the "WONDER LEMON"

[evangilder]

Yep, when we went to Red Flag, once all the planes left, you could tell where the 111s had been. They were like Harleys, leaving puddles everywhere! They suffered alot from hot brakes at Lakenheath. Between that and compressor stalls, it was always interesting.

Flashback: I was driving along the runway loop road one afternoon during normal flight ops. As I drove along, I heard one of the 111s taking off, then heard that familiar pop,pop,pop of the compressor stall. I looked over to see the F-111 at about 10 feet, inverted!!! I thought "Holy ****!". To my amazement, the pilot had the presence of mind to push forward on the stick instead of yanking back, rolled it right again, and brought down to catch the last barrier. Best bit of flying I ever saw. But I bet that pilot needed to change his shorts!

[FLYBOYJ]

I BET! What Squadron were you with. I think my brother-in-law was there in the early 90s

[evangilder]

I was actually a comm guy, 1979 Communications Squadron. Although I think it is now the 48th Comm. I worked in the security sensors in the TAB-Vs, WSA and Victor Alert. We also did the ATC radios and SAT-COMM gear, Base PA and Wideband stuff. One of the guys that I rented a house with in Hockwold was with the 495th TFS "Green section".

[FLYBOYJ]

I found out, he was at Upper Heyford with the 55th FS.

Sounds like you had an interesting AF stint!

[evangilder]

Yep, it was. My last year was doing basically combat comm, working on have-quicks. That was interesting and quite an education. The first three years were actually kind of fun. There were 111s at Heyford as well. I think they had the F-111E models up there.

[plan_D]

Amazing story, evan. There's a lot of amazing stuff that happens in the military than no civie ever hears of. Some of the stories I've heard about the Lightning when my dad was with 11 Sqd. are awesome, scary and outrageous.

[FLYBOYJ]

Oh, gotta say, the Lightning (BAe) is another jet I would love to fly!

[evangilder]

It's funny, you see so many things and experience things that you don't think are that interesting, yet when you tell people about them, they actually do find it interesting. My wife said I should write a book with my anecdotes. Who knows, maybe someday I will. Some of the things I saw and did have to remain in my memory for now. I know that I can't write about some of it due to OpSec, so unless I see something else written about those times, I will just keep it with the funny/fascinating bits.

[plan_D]

My dad could do the same.

Lightnings being scrambled with screwdrivers in their engine, one landing on his trim alone after losing all flight controls, one only trained on F.3s flying an F.6 and having to eject over Cyprus, one losing his under-carriage and ditching it in "The Wash" (loads of aircraft have been ditched in this one place, it's like an aircraft graveyard), one coming home with it's jet pipe burst and landing while on fire...there's many more but one I really like is one of a Lightning being scrambled to intercept a foreign plane in the middle of the night. It couldn't see it but hit something while he was flying, he turned around and went home, next day they found the whole under-side scratched and scraped to ****...and nearby where he flew a Cessna 150 had crashed! They figured they were drug smugglers 'cos they'd turned off their RADAR ID.

[FLYBOYJ]

On the other side of the coin:

My wife recalls when her dad wore a flight suit all day and thought those were the only clothes he had. They were stationed at Minot North Dakota and my father-in-law way flying B-52s at the time. She also remembers being left in the base exchange with an ice cream cone and a dollar because the "horn blew."

[Nonskimmer]

Good reading guys. Thanks.

[cheddar cheese]

Yeah some great stories

[evangilder]

Yep, everyone has stories. Some frightening, some funny and some just crazy. Speaking of the horn blew, I was walking into the PX at Lakenheath one morning as the alert siren went off. As I reached for the door, out came an alert pilot in an obvious rush. We didn't see each other and he bowled me over. I was picking myself off the sidewalk as he turned around while running and said "Sorry!". It was pretty funny, then and now, a light little airman (I was all of about 130 pounds at the time) getting literally bowled over by a pilot that was about 6 feet tall and 180 pounds. I didn't stand a chance! I got up, brushed myself off and went about my business.

[cheddar cheese]

Haha Just one thing though: Its a pavement over here, not a sidewalk