Відео

I encountered a B-52 G Instructor Pilot when I was a young B-52G 1Lt Copilot. My Aircraft Commander, Major G.D. H and I had been flown to Barksdale AFB for recurrent sim training in 1980-81. My AC’s previous base had been Barksdale and both he and the Instructor Pilot were well acquainted with each other. As our debriefing proceeded to wind down for some reason or other perhaps in response to something the IP began to talk of his B-52 shoot down over Hanoi on LB II. “ we were level, saw the glow of a SAM lighting up the clouds as the EWO called out the warning gear… a lot of radio calls , a lot of beacons on Guard….then I remember a big orange flash filled the cockpit. The next thing I remember, I was sitting my copilot seat and it was really, really quiet. Then I noticed the loose ends of my seat shoulder straps were dangling in front of my face…I’m there upside down, there AC ejection seat is gone…all the windscreens are spider-webbed (shattered) as were all my instruments and except for the sound of the wind blowing through the cockpit it was just so damn quiet. So I thought it might be time to get out of here and I ejected…” My AC, a Major like the IP was pretty much silent though all this. Afterwards on the way to our quarters my AC told me he had known the IP for years at Barksdale and he never heard his squadron mate talk about any of it in all that time.Although my AC wanted to ask him about it, he didn’t want to press him. For some reason he opened up about it. I guess I just had/have that kind of face. Sadly I can’t find the IP’s name in my Qualification History anywhere.

WM-S, checkin' in.

Had my dollar ride in the 38. Insanity with 300 knot patterns compared to the T6! Absolutely love it.

I lucked out and got a ride in the back seat of an F 105 F. Just chute and helmet. No G suit. I must have G loc’d 10 times. Saw 6+ and 3- on the G meter. He remarked how he almost made himself sick. It took me a while to recover. I talked to other 105 pilots after that. “That guys an a.. ho.e”. Just my luck. 😵‍💫😵‍💫

“If they ask you what’s the time…don’t build them a clock !”

Laughlin also had a Royal Jordanian Air Force Exchange Officer, a Major Mohammed Said in the 1984-88 timeframe flying the T-38A. Major Said was a high-time F-5 pilot in Jordan. Laughlin also had a Royal Saudian Air Force pilot, but his name is lost to my memory. We had a small mix of foreign Air Force students in training., Thai, Turkish and Saudi. Basically the non-NATO students. The only name of a Royal Thailand Air Force student, a really young kid of maybe 19-20 years old was in “Mother” Flight while in the T-38 program. He was always addressed as Lt. Montree, his first name on his flight suit name tag and on the schedule board. Why ? Well his full name was 2Lt Montree Chocheeanachapal. Only flew with him once with him a guest-help and he was a hoot as #2 in extended trail talking to his classmate in the lead over our intercom, “Oh no, you not getting away from me with that move…I got you good now !…”. He was going back home to an F-5. On our recovery to Laughlin with us on the wing I was asking him if Korat or Ubon, U-Takao ot NKP we’re still open. He was surprised I knew any thing about his home. A good kid you couldn’t help but like. I hope he had a long and fruitful career back home. END.

I was an F 105 Crew Chief stationed at Korat. 44th TFS. I had the honor of meeting Col Vic and his sons a few years ago.

Had a good friend of mine I met flying for the airlines. This guy flew A-4's and flew over 400 missions of a carrier(s). When he exited the north, he flew right on the deck exiting a harbor. This caused Russian ships to fire on him, and in doing so, because he was so low, ended shooting at themselves. That's because he exited between two ships.Eventually the Navy caught on and was asked not to do that anymore. He has a wicked sense of humor too. Great guy and super nice. More than one way to beat McNamara. Remember the Edsel?

Columbus AFB, in 1979, prior to T-38A engine start my IP told me to look off our nose. The 14th FTW Wing Commander, Col. Winfield Scott Harpe was crossing the ramp with his student. My IP told me to note the 100-Mission North Vietnam F-105 patch on the left shoulder of his flight jacket. At the time Col. Harpe was the only wearer of that distinctive patch on the base. Followed his Thud tour flying F-86’s with the Royal Thai Air Force. Regretfully he lost his life flying his F-16 on a night training sortie at Zaragosa by that time a two-star.

The RAF Exchange officer I knew when going through PIT Sep,84-Jan,85 was F/L Alan Taylor who came to Randolph from a Blackburn Buccaneers. I believe he was raised in the Orkney Islands north of Scotland. Made Sqdn. Leader while in the U.S. In the 1990’s ran into a former-RAF pilot from the Queens’s Flight….the RAF is so small & tight knit a service when I mentioned Taylor’s name to him he told me he knew him.

I love your stories and reminiscing. Thank you for your service.

I always found the same in civilian checkrides. I finally figured out to just give the minimum required on the oral exams. If they want more, they will ask. If you act like a hot shot they'll bury you fast..lol.

That's he job in any profession. As an engineer, nearly every day was a "check ride", though usually less time/survival critical. But even in a countdown, when things are time critical, preparation is the secret to success...

Donald Conroy was living in Beaufort SC when he died in 1998. I'm guessing he was there because Pat Conroy lived there. Pat passed away in 2016 from pancreatic cancer and is buried on St Helena island near Beaufort. Pat was 70 yrs young

I think SAC must have counted every flight from Beale to Kadena as an incentive flight for the maintenance personnel we were carrying.

The '38 pic you used was a perfect example of how we knew we were in position. Wing-tip-in-the-star.

Last Incentive ride I flew we were 2 ship chasing towering cumulus out in the West MOA. Nothing crazy, following lead at no more than 4g and smooth. We'd just rolled over the top of a cloud at 19,000 when My incentive winner says" Colonel, Colonel- my bowels are getting a little loose........" which caused me some immediate concern. Assumed the lead, stoked up AB and speed of light back to RND. Initial sniffing on 500k, 6g break, park in front of base ops cause it was closest facility jump out, pin his seat, release his lap belt. He "penguins" into base ops - and he makes it😂😂 Felt sorry for him but the "penguin" to Base Ops among funniest things I've ever seen. Said he had a great time in spite if the "loose bowels".

I always made sure my incentives had prepped puke bags under their g-suit leg straps for easy access, help reduce some of their anxiety. Plus have them “fly” the aircraft as much as possible. Except for a retiring MSgt. He brought a big VHS camcorder for his incentive ride in the F-111E. I said that’ll interfere with him flying the jet but he replied this will be his second ride and he wanted to record this ride for prosperity. Ok, fine. After splitting from some formation flying I take him supersonic off the east coast of England. He’s filming me talking about reading Mach indications on the tapes when they jump slightly as we pass thru the Mach. At that time I start lip-syncing without voicing the words. He is filming while excitedly yelling about how cool this is that he cannot hear me 😂. After decelerating below the Mach I start voicing my words again. He repeated that he couldn’t hear me but saw my lips moving. I replied, my bad, I should’ve had us put our masks on since we were flying faster than the speed of sound. My voice was already trailing us as soon as I spoke. 😂😇. I was going to tell him after landing about pulling his leg but his family and squadron members whisked him away by the time I finished post flight inspection of the Vark, oh well.

Just a quick question, you refer to your love of flying, when did you last get any stick time? I am sad to say the last time I did was August 2017 in a Europa 2 seater - but I had fun. Take care

Good memories ! UPT-Cass 68-F

That was a great explanation of beginning formation flying. Your excitement came through!

I really liked the movie. Being around Marine Corps Aviators my whole life is how I learned about the movie. Some pilot's kid told me about it. I just reconnected with a guy my age who retired a full colonel in the Marines. He was always a Hornet guy. His father was a retired major general who flew a ton of combat missions in the F-4Cs and Js in Vietnam. He now has a warbird he keeps in Memphis as he flies for FedEx now. I would bet his father ran into Col. Don Conroy at some point. I never asked him as I would see him around town sometimes.

Classic!

Just found your channel. Amazing. Currently in UPT and have my dollar ride in the 38 soon. Keep up the great videos

I agree, Sir! I know that you're not referencing the politics, but most pilots seem to be conservatives. I hope that things get "reset." I appreciate your service.

Thank you for Your Service and thank you to all who have served our Great Nation!

Interesting and amazing we had such a close connection (me an IP in C flight who forwarded Capt "S pelt" to you)! He was not my student, I was the Flight Stan/Eval officer. I had heard and now I suspect it is incorrect that he was going to be an IP at another base but when he got the article 15, they rejected him and he was sent back to Vance. Do you remember what flight he went to: I don't?

Being a jerk shows what your character really is like. He got exactly what he deserved.

😮

There was a time when one had to do SOS in correspondence to be considered for SOS in residence! The Chief of Staff found out about that and put a stop to it. I was halfway through in correspondence, I stopped. Then I went in residence. I did ACSC in correspondence, have combat time, have a masters, was an FTU IP...passed over for O-5 twice so far. I'm told I'll get a third look but ehh whatever will be will be. When I retire in 34 months all my assignments will have been flying assignments, just the way I wanted my career to go.

I looked upon Professional Military Education (PME), at least SOS as square-filling. I recall that some wouldn’t put up your name for in-residence unless you had completed it already by correspondence. Think it was designed to get those junior officers who entered the service during the rapid expansion of WW2 and Korea and give a foundation to build upon. If you wanted to go the fast-track to promotion in the 1980’s the ASTRA (Air Staff Training) program was a highly desired ticket to be punched. But for reasons unknown to me it was shutdown, as it was a two-year staff tour. A tour as a General Officer aide gave a junior officer as much exposure to staff work. If you wanted to stand out from the crowd to a promotion board as a staff-weenie you could attend the U.S. Army Command and General Staff school at Ft. Leavenworth, the U.S. Naval War College at Newport or the Joint Forces Staff College at NAS Norfolk. I remember discussing PME with LtCol Loser and all the “unwritten laws”. He felt he was out of the running for O-6 as he had only completed Air War College by correspondence. As for Master’s degrees my Sqdn Ops officer said one Master’s is required for Major. Two Master’s will look better, but don’t get a doctorate…the powers that be will think you’re too much of an intellectual and you’re not serious about your AF career.

You did write a paper on the defense of nato. But you wrote it based on an angle that they weren’t interested in. Your idea would result in the splitting up the Soviet Union’s nuclear defenses. Hence forcing them into defending against an attack on two fronts. An attack from two different directions. Which would greatly benefit nato. I think it’s a brilliant idea. Along with writing on something different. Keep up the great work! 😁

SOS was just a management course of no use to someone that wanted to fly, as I remember. Your idea on missile fields in Australia had more merit that the 100's Nato defense papers.

You loved the flying. That's who you truly are. A pilot. Not some academic.

Hi Bob, Good to see you at QB recently, unfortunately we didn't have much time to talk. I like Barry and think he'll do a great job! Always good to see your latest videos - keep em coming! JD

Did y’all do any fam flight sorties with the SAC pilots transitioning from B-52’s and the KC-135’s to the FB-111 program ? I was going through PIT and bumped into a tanker pilot from my former-base, they were having a great time. The tanker guy didn’t complete -111 transition….he just couldn’t air-refuel behind a tanker though Plattsburgh did their best.

I bet an F-15 would be an incredible ride. Full burner, low transition and then 45 degrees nose up to 25,000 in about 15 seconds.

Did you fly for the airlines? If so, which one and what aircraft?

I got to meet General Yeager a couple of time and thought he was a great guy, but my story is about a different guy. In the mid 80s, there was a developing weapon system that was having trouble with the rocket motor being developed for it. Brig. Gen. Lester Lyles was in charge of that program and decided to have an independent group come together and review options to resolve the issue. I was part of the group. After the review was completed we were all sitting around while he did the standard, "Thank you for your efforts" briefing. He ended with, "Are there any Questions?" Being a smart a**, I stood up and said, "If you're going to select option XXX, please invite me to the first low temperature firing." He looked at me kind of funny… "Why is that?" "Because it's going to blow up and I want to watch!" Years later, Lt. Gen. Lyles was at my place of work. After his tour he was to give a pep talk, etc. As I walked into the conference room he excused himself from his ongoing conversation and walked across the room with his hand out, "Pete! Good to see you!" I was flabbergasted.

UPT academics at Reese back in 88, one of our instructors started the class with a “Reading from the book of Chuck” and would read a passage/paragraph from his copy of “YEAGER”.

USAF UPT 68-F here: I also got to meet Gen.Yeager at our annual T-28 formation clinic back in the nineties. We T-28 owners would meet at a certain private ranch with runway once a year to requalify or upgrade our formation certification for the upcoming airshows that we intended to participate in. Gen.Yeager would fly in our 4-ship formations and would then sign our Formation Cards. That certain ranch (near Cotulla) belonged to a retired Air Force Colonel who served with Gen, Yeager during his active service days. A steak dinner and quail hunt would follow the next day for those who wished to stay overnight. I cherish the impromptu photo of Gen. Yeager handing to me my Refresher Course Certificate and autographing my ball cap.He was a gentleman and treated us all as brothers. Name of ranch and owner withheld for their privacy.

This is great stuff. I of course never got to meet Yeager. But a friend of mines father flew him in an F-15E in the late 80’s. He thought the guy was a real ASS****. But, I laughed and asked, why do you say that? He said he would not listen to any of our safety briefs on how to egress from the airplane etc .. he just climbed in. Wouldn't even let the crew chief strap him in, he did it himself. And then as soon as they were airborne he wanted control of the aircraft. He was as nervous as a pilot could be.... because this is retired Yeager taking control of “His” aircraft. Chuck took control, they did some acrobatics pulling G’s. (Not the briefed flight plan).... he tried to engage the chase T-38 taking pictures of the flight. (nobody does that) This was supposed to just be a ride. They get in a dog fight. F-15 / Yeager wins. They come back and Yeager says “You land it, I only land from the backseat if you are dead” (cool as a jewel). Then he didnt even say as much as a thank you to my friends Dad, the PIC. LOLOLOL ... I didnt do the story justice, but thats the jist of it. Just another day for Chuck Y. I guess?

I think it was the Wamira actually. It was a side by side trainer the RAAF wanted because, even though there were other trainers around, they were tandem seats and RAAF thought side by side was better for initial training because the instructor could actually see what student was doing . This was around 1983 1984.

1956 to Feb. 1959 for me. We lived over by the NCO club at 106 LeMay Drive. Dad was Air Police.

I remember as a kid, at Holloman (465th TFTS) the parties were so wild the squadron would get banned from the O club. So, someone would host the party in base housing (duplexes usually) Roof stomping was a specialty of the "Check Six" Squadron, lol

I believe the name of that trainer is Winjeel

The kids today keep electronic logs I'm told.

I quit keeping logs books in 1984 except for the little GA flying I did as it was required to document currency. I have that USAF form somewhere. But I saved every flight activity statement for 37 years. They are in a large plastic lawn sized garbage bag in no order. So I really don't know how much time I have although the airline had some totals by aircraft that were still in the fleet. My original log book has my private and commercial checkrides signed by Delbert Koerner whose original license was signed by Orville Wright.

Love that green bar paper. I've got all of Dad's AF flight printouts. Dad kept his own log books, though, beginning with his CAP flights. He made good, detailed notes in them until he went to Vietnam. He still recorded those flights but not most of the details for them. After all, most of those missions were classified at the time. I treasure them.

And you're allowed to shoot back at the enemy gunner.