Monday, May 18, 2020

A day in the life of...

Ok Folks, Time Hack, it's 0400, 18 May 2020, ready, ready, HACK!

We'll cover the Administrivia, first.

Weekend was interesting.  MBD and SIL were supposed to come over Friday night from Moscow on the Colorado.  However, the weather was a bit imposing, so, discretion being the better part of valor, I suggested they come over in the morning. 

I gained Wise OLD Guy points on that one.  Shortly after Mrs J and I put on our sleeping caps and settled in, the skies opened up and dumped.  Thunder and lightning most of the night.  Now, I can sleep through most anything, and did.  Mrs J, not so much.  But, the next morning when I checked the rain gauge, we had received more than 7 1/2".  
Yes, the numbers are for Millimeters, but the distances are inches.  Made in China, China is A$$hole!.

"How much more, juvat?"

No idea, it only holds 7 1/2 inches.

Mrs J and MBD spent the entire weekend decorating cookies.  They're really getting quite good at it.  

"How about an update on "The Project", juvat?"

Well, the Framing and Mechanical inspection was done early last week.  Discrepancies were handled by mid week and the inspector cleared us to continue on Thursday.  Spoke with the supervisor on Friday, pre-deluge,  and he said the insulation guys are scheduled for Monday.  Dry wall is also scheduled to be delivered Monday.  Brick and stone exterior material is already on site, so once the insulation is in, the bricklayer will begin putting up the exterior walls.  The roof is virtually complete and looks great.  (One of the Eaves on the front is waiting the stone installation prior to completion to avoid damage from a dropped rock.)  Once the exterior is completed, the dry wall installation will commence.  Not sure why that is that way, but I'm not the supervisor. Nor do I want to be.

Mrs J  and I did walk through the house Saturday Morning, post deluge, to see if there were any wet spots.  There were none.  Which is good.

"How about a Lockdown SitRep, juvat?"

Went downtown Saturday afternoon to meet up with SIL's brother and family.  First time in a long time that I've driven down Main St and had difficulty finding a parking space.  Which is a very good thing.  People seemed even friendlier than usual.  Must have been the excitement of seeing strange faces.  Lord knows I was.  
Don't panic!...It's not the Communist Chinese Virus!


"Anything else to report, juvat?"

Well, (as in scraping the bottom of a well), 30 years ago today, May 18, 1990, I flew my final mission in the Eagle.

I knew I'd written about it, before, so I went and reread the post.  Thought it pretty good and since I ain't got nuttin' else, I figured I'd repost it. This was the third and final in a series, here are the first and second, if interested. 


Originally posted Monday, August 3, 2015


Cannae at Mach 1.3



So,  There I was.....* about to brief what, unbeknownst to me at the time, would be my final time at the controls of a Fighter.  I was off to Intermediate Service School, a critical box to check in any officer plan to progress in his career.  I was selected to go to Ft Leavenworth for the Army's Command and General Staff College, so a little extra prestige.  I'd do my year, then a Staff Tour and be back in command of a fighter squadron before you know it.  But two things happened to derail that plan.  Saddam invaded Kuwait and Billy Jeff discovered the Peace Dividend, gutting the military.

But this post is not about that, this post is about one of the best missions of my life.  I'm scheduled for a 2 V 2 dissimilar against a pair of F/A-18s off USS Midway.

First a little background.  When I came aboard from the F-4 and AT-38, the common tactic in the F-15 community was  4 ship line abreast, ID at long range and Shoot.   My F-4 squadrons and LIFT were populated with Vietnam Vets who had learned the value of unpredictability, no matter which airplane you flew.  Some of that rubbed off on me.  I had gun camera film taken of me in the Phantom, but...I also had some beautiful video of the Eagle.

When I got to Kadena, the wall of Eagles was still a standard tactic.  Yet the NORKs had Mig-29s.  Going Mano a Mano with Fulcrums was not something that would play well in Peoria, but explaining that put me in the dog house.  As more and more non-cradle Eagle drivers transitioned, tactics began to emerge.

As I read through the articles about Cannae, one quote rang a bell with me.

In short, Roman tactics were non-existent at Cannae. The Roman force acted with brute force, charging at its dangerously clever opponent like a bull. (Source)
That's what I felt we were doing, no adjustment to reflect changing adversary capabilities. The Aggressors were good at teaching new enemy tactics, but the F-5 wasn't quite good enough to simulate a Mig-29.  I did a lot of studying about Mig-29 capability and how I could simulate them.  Some folks got peeved when I didn't fly bad guy profiles the way they briefed, but when called into the Boss's office, I would point out what I did on a given sortie and what the Mig was capable of, I tended to get a pass.

So, back to my last sortie.

I don't recall whether Midway was at sea and they got a bit of shore time or if they'd flown down from Atsugi and it doesn't really matter.  It was a LT and a LCDR.  The LT was getting an Air to Air checkout as Flight Lead and we were providing Red Air.  The LT would try his hand at briefing, so they had deployed to Kadena for the weekend arriving on Friday Morning.  We're going to launch around 1400, so brief at Noon.

I get with the LT before hand to see what he had planned for the sortie.  He seemed a little lost, so I helped him with the area set up, frequencies, altitude separation, arrival and departure procedures etc.  Then I asked him what type adversary he'd like us to play, Mig-21 (turns on a dime, limited weapons), Mig-23 (Faster than snot, limited munitions, can't turn for squat) or Mig-29 (Turns good, fairly fast, reasonable munitions).  He said F-15.  Kid's got 'Nads.

Bones and I sit through the brief on the Navy side of Kadena, then head back over to the squadron.  Bones, although now a fully qualified Flight Lead and Mission Commander, has volunteered to be my wingman for this, my final sortie.  To be frank, I'm honored.

He and I have flown together in various roles for more than two years.  We click.  Our brief is fairly simple.  Start, Taxi, Formation Takeoff, Departure, recovery to initial, landing, dearm, taxi--standard.

Weather is fabulous.  No haze, Cons are in the 40's and there's a 250 knot winds aloft out of the North West.  Perfect!  I begin to put on my commie hat and see if I can't enhance the LT's training!

But I brief Bones, I want no face kills.  We don't call someone dead until we take shots behind their three/nine line (rear hemisphere).

I brief the tactics I want to use and we're done.  Step to the jets, and the Boss and Maintenance NCOIC have given me probably the sweetest gift a Fighter Pilot could get on his Sawadee flight.

I walk out to preflight and there are no external fuel tanks.  Bones and I are flying clean Eagles!  Nothing but inboard pylons and a Aim-9M simulator.  I can probably pull 6G sitting on the ramp.

Fire up, taxi out and blast off in formation a few minutes before the Hornets, because we've got the Northwest (farthest) point as our start.  Halfway between the two points, I pitch up to get about 10K above Bones.  I tell him to hit the chaff dispenser and we dispense about a quarter of our chaff load.  With 250K of wind, this will compound the acquisition problem at the merge.  Both F-15 and F/A-18 have what's called the "notch", an apparent airspeed where a target is not shown because it has the same relative closure as the ground.  250K is well above that.  Our opponents will see the chaff and have to figure out whether that is us or not.  Complicates the thought process.

We drive on out to our point, and pretty soon hear the F/A-18s check in on common.  The LT calls "Fight's On" and we turn hot.  Bones is in close formation with me, so we present only one radar return with several about 30 miles closer.  They've got a problem to solve.

As we turn hot, we've got an obvious two ship in line abreast, easily sortable (we can each lock on to a separate target, ID and shoot if needed)

The Roman force acted with brute force, charging at its dangerously clever opponent like a bull.
We're presenting two targets, one hot at 40 miles, one cold at 20 miles, what do we do now?

While I didn't realize it at the time, I'm presenting the F/A-18s the same picture Hannibal presented to the Romans.  A lot of confusion in the center, while their flanks were being swept.

As we get to 25 miles, I tell Bones to split.  He noses over to 45 degrees nose low and dives 15 K.  I light the burners and climb 15 K to just below the cons.  We are now outside their radar scan width and the chaff is right in the middle.  Vis is such that I can still see Bones and He, I. We have mutual support.  We continue on to the Merge.

Bones and I call tally's (we see the bad guys). I commit him on one guy and I'm on the other.  RHAW (Radar Homing and Warning) is quiet, so they don't have us on radar.  We start our conversion turns.  I'm 90 degrees through the turn before I take my first shot.  A heater at about 50% max range, steering dot in the middle of the envelope circle.  90%+ Probability of Kill, take a second , now 99%PK.  Still no reaction.  Pull my nose into lead and close on in to guns range.  Have squeezed the trigger and have a Time of Flight indicator settling in on the target (Bullets are now at this point in space) and am about to call Knock it off when they begin their break turn.

Saddle up and ride, We're in clean Eagles, I look and they've are fully loaded with Battle Rattle (3 bags of gas and assorted external stores).  This is going to be a long day for you guys.  Take another heart of the Envelope shot and call Knock it off.

Confirm separation and opening vectors.  Get a fuel check and head back out to our respective start points.

As we head out, I call Bones and say, Guns only next engagement.  He rogers.

We seed a little more chaff at the mid range and get set up again.

I decide we'll show them the exact same picture in hopes they'll adjust, but the result is the same.  If the first time you see a 4th (or 5th) generation fighter is 2000' astern, the best you can hope for is a bailout and rescue by friendly forces.

We're out of gas, so we RTB, come down initial, pitch out and land.  I'm met by the squadron, dosed with fire extinguishers and champagne and my flying career is over.

Head in to the squadron, change flight suits, pick up 8 beers and walk in to the debrief.  The LT is chagrined.  I hand him a beer, load up the tapes and walk him through.  A couple of hours and a few beers later, we're ok.  We've walked through our tapes and his, he's seen what he missed and he'll be a significantly better Lead for the episode.

The LCDR also thanked me for the sortie.

Damn I miss that!







44 comments:

  1. Whew! More than 7.5 inches of precip, thought we had a bit with 2.98 inches Saturday night through Sunday, that's a soaker all right. Too bad about your rain gauge, mine is made in-state.......:) Those cookies almost look too good to eat..... almost. La Casa is coming along nicely, good to get the OK from the inspector. Thanks for re-posting the 2015 series, very interesting to read about what you experienced......yeeesh.... 30 years ago! Time does fly neh?

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    1. Well, I had bought this one, from Amazon, more than a year ago. I'm to cheap to just throw it away. But between sun and hail, its ancestors had about a 2 year life expectancy. I'll be a bit more choosy on the next one as well as most other purchases nowadays.

      30 years, Nylon? Seems like yesterday.

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  2. Last flight, damn. Those two Hornets, with three tanks each, Hell even if von Richthofen had been at the controls they're gonna have trouble against a stripped down Eagle! Nice tactics BTW, you fighter pilots are tricky lads and lasses, aintcha?

    House looks awesome. Are there pontoons just below the surface? Damn, seven and a half inches of rain?

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    1. All's fair in Love, War and Air to Air! I think Ras taught me that first.

      The foundation does put the house several inches above the ground, so we SHOULD be good for anything but a Noah-like flood.

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  3. That same line that gave you 7+ gave us 2.25. Down south in the sand box, I kinda wonder if the dry doesn't suck some of the rain out of the cloud before it gets here. Check out the cocorahs.org official rain gage. You can sign up and report. Kendall, Comal and Hayes have some guys, but there is always room for one more!

    Great story on the last ride.

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    1. Yeah, and according to the weather app on my phone, it went all the way up to Minnesota with a long line of Red in the middle. Must be late spring in the central US or something.
      Interesting web site, I'll investigate further. Had a home weather station several years ago, but it got hit by lightning, so was fried. Lightning and thunder are very bright and loud when it strikes about 100' away. No, I didn't sleep through that one! ;-)

      Thanks.

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  4. I'm sitting at home in Philly, and by the time I finished reading your account of the flight my heart and breathing rates were elevated.
    I can only imagine what it must have been like to be at the controls of a modern high performance jet aircraft.

    Good progress on the home, sharp looking cookies, and what are the colorful things just visible in the upper left hand corner of the rain gauge?

    We bought a new rain gauge because the numbers were getting smaller and smaller with each passing year. Yep, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Smaller numbers it was.


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    1. That was supposed to say, ...." rain gauge photo?"

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    2. Thanks, John.
      Fun, exhilarating,exhausting, terrifying, challenging,satisfying, confusing, saddening, thrilling, all describe aspects I experienced in my flying career. As to the heart and breathing rates, I feel the same thing when I reread some of the posts, such as the link I posted in my response to Sarge today. The jinking I described therein would cause the third, fourth, fifth and seventh descriptors above to be used to describe.

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    3. The things in the upper left of the photo are a Mexican tile plant stand that had blown over in the storm, some concrete cast animals and the base of a Chinese Pistache tree we planted 18 years ago. Who knew that, given enough time, a tree you plant could actually grow to become a TREE!, but we've got three examples thereof.

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  5. Hey Juvat;

    Glad Casa De Juvat is moving along :). Yep I miss those days. I did play in middle East but fall victim to the "Peace Dividend". A lot of my friends did too. I am convinced that is part of the reason Bin Laden could do what he did was that we were drawn down so far down, we were perceived to be a paper tiger. Especially in that area of the world where "face and perception is everything". Thanks for the story, it reminds people that the adversary don't play by the same rules you do.

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    1. We were a paper tiger at the end of Billy Jeff's reign of terror. It's one of the reasons the first part of the war was straight up special forces, while the regular forces had a chance to rearm and retrain.

      And then, in 2009, most of our forces got stood down stateside. Oh, they were there, still on paper, but with no money to train, no money to repair, no money to do anything. My nephew was part of an AF construction unit and the only time they got money to play with toys was when they got seconded to a Nat Guard unit doing community work. Rest of the time? They played Airsoft in the vehicle bays and took as much paper training as they could stand. So, of course, he finally gives up, goes FLNatGuard in an ArmyCB, and immediately gets posted to back-to-back-to-back tours in Iraq-Afghanistan-Iraq during the last years of the WPE when he did the whole "rebuild so we can hand brand new shiny stuff over to the enemy" thingy.

      Disgusting.

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    2. Thanks, MrG. It would be interesting to read an alternate reality story, if someone else, with no ties to the oil industry, would have been President when 9/11 hit. I can think of one person who might have done differently with respect to the Saudi's. But once his holiness (preface that with a 3 letter word for the democrat mascot) took over...well it's been a long road.

      No, no they don't.

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    3. Beans,
      Yep, and things are still in a flux. Little Juvat is now on day 91 of a 21 day TDY with no end in site. The only person who can do his job would have to fly from his current location, back to the states, enter a 14 day quarantine to prove he's healthy, then fly to the site, enter into another 14 day quarantine to prove he's still healthy, then he can do the takeover. Little J would then have to fly to Kuwait, enter into a 14 day quarantine to prove he's healthy, THEN and ONLY THEN can he go about his life. Oh, and by the way, there's no air travel authorized yet, nor is there anybody manning the visa desk to allow the replacement to enter the country. Talk about Alpha, Foxtrot, Uniform!

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  6. Thanks for the post. I enjoy watching the casa becoming a casa. Fun time ahead on that project. You get to have everything just like you want it. Of course you have to know what "just like you want it" means.

    This sentence,

    He and I have flown together in various roles for more than two years. We click. Our brief is fairly simple. Start, Taxi, Formation Takeoff, Departure, recovery to initial, landing, dearm, taxi--standard."

    …we actually used a lot before going downtown. Funny though, on the fly over from George AFB, SAC never could quite get close to that. It was ALWAYS brief two hours early and brief for an hour on the same thing we had been doing for days it seemed. Oh well, we got there.

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    1. The nice thing about the construction is it's on our property right now. So, we use "feed the horses" as an excuse to walk around it. Haven't done much interaction with the crew (for a variety of reasons), other than to say hello or what are you going to be doing today as we walk by, but the evening feed, we have spent quite a bit of time inside the house with camera, tape measure and my pocket notepad. The supervisor has been very receptive to questions, explaining what/why things are being done. The only thing he hems and haws about is "When?". Which is understandable, if a bit frustrating. I'm hoping for Christmas.

      Yeah, the tactical part of the mission involved quite a bit more detail, but when you've flown with somebody many (many, many) times even that is shortened because both of you understand what the words used actually mean.

      We did a Cross PAC drag while I was at Moody, Moody to Hickam 10.1, Hickam to Kadena 10.7, and Kadena to Taegu, 2ish. All three SAC briefings were exactly the same. Heck the first two legs were the same crews. Ah well, SAC's gonna SAC.

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  7. We’re finally getting a little rain, in dumps, there’s really only been one sustained rainstorm this season (starting Oct. 1).
    Our total since it began is less than 10 inches.
    On the plus side, it is raining as I write this.
    There are flash flood warnings.
    We decided not to take our Monday morning walk.

    If you want to learn some new swear words and insults, hang around the construction site when the electrician comes back after the drywall installation.
    It turns the air blue... really.
    Even unclad the house looks impressive.


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    1. We're trying hard to avoid that, Skip. Undoubtedly, we'll fail, but we're trying.

      Thanks

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  8. So, I take it all the electrical has been run already? If so, good, sounds like you may have a move-in-date before the end of summer.

    And, when you get the drywall in, do paint the drywall in your garage. So many people don't, and then the drywall starts swelling from humidity and you'll have an expensive repair down the line.

    Other than that, nice pics. Good to have beautiful cookies to eat and beautiful flowers to see.

    I haven't seen rain in a week. All ours is now going to feed the pitiful tropical storm down south so dry looks to be the forecast for the future. Which sucks because the escaped heather (somehow it escaped out of a flower bed or off someone's porch) really wants to bloom and grow. Beautiful dark green stems and little purple flowers. So right now they are just existing by the dew-trap method.

    And... 30 years ago must have, once you realized it was the last, heartbreaking. Seen it all too often, that lost look in a flyer's eyes when no more flying (controlled by him.) That looking at planes thingy when one flies overhead or an engine is heard. Sucks.

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    1. Yeah, I had to step outside the squadron bar that evening, to regain some composure. But it really hit me when I came out as the first Alternate on the squadron command list at the end of my Hawaii assignment. That's when I knew it was over.

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  9. We have a question over on koobecaF as to the flower's identity.

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    1. Ahh, you noticed! That would be a Stag's Horn, a member of the Milkweed family and highly prized by Monarch Butterflies as a place to lay their eggs.

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    2. Valory posed the question, as a gentleman I had to seek the answer.

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    3. No worries, I never go on that site anymore, haven't for quite a few years. Sorry. So, as they say, you've got my number! Call anytime. Well....no earlier than 0800 Central, or between the hours of 2 and 4 PM (might be napping) or after 9PM. Days of the week? What's that, there's only today, something called tomorrow which never seems to arrive thereby improving its usefulness ("Honey, I'll take care of that tomorrow.") and something called Awhylago "Honey, I took care of that Awhylago"). So contact me today, or tomorrow but not Awhylago.

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  10. Nice Sitrep, juvat - always enjoy them ...

    Glad the humble abode is coming along - looking good. And I think your being on property and checking things daily or almost daily is terrific - even the best contractor needs some supervision at an appropriate level, and it sounds like you've got that level dialed in.
    The cookies do look good, and love seeing the bluebonnets (Texas state flower), but what's with the Sauguaro on one of the state shaped ones? While it also has the Prickly Pear (Texas state Plant), the only Saguaro in Texas might be in some botanical garden or private collection. While I don't usually rely on anything Texas Monthly magazine says, them being opposed politically to most of my views, this was kind of useful -
    https://www.texasmonthly.com/being-texan/the-texanist-no-saguaro-in-texas/

    30 years does go by in a hurry, for sure - heck, even 40 years ago seems like yesterday. And my body doesn't seem as receptive to the same neurological signals as it did back then, either. Sigh.

    Very good post series about Cannae and your last flight. Your thought about how your wingman was in sync struck a bit of a nerve - " when you've flown with somebody many (many, many) times even that is shortened because both of you understand what the words used actually mean" I've had a couple of instances in my life where partners and I were in that type of sync - you spend enough time training with them or working with them that you not only complete each other's sentences and know what the words mean, you know what they are thinking about the same time they do, if not before. It's a very gratifying relationship... Interesting as well, since it involves communication on the almost subconscious level and involves more than just words, too.

    Just curious, have you ever flown at all since the flight you described? I know a Cessna ain't no Eagle, but there is still a joy in flying low and slow ...

    And speaking of final flights, this from 2017 was of interest - apologies if you've already seen it -
    https://airman.dodlive.mil/2017/02/21/f-4-flies-for-final-time/

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    1. I'll bring that up to MBD. I knew that (e.g. read the article) but didn't put two and two together, my bad. BTW, I feel the same about TM. I only buy one copy a year, the Barbecue issue. For reference and to keep in the truck, just in case, you know...Barbecue DT's can get pretty severe if not treated properly.

      No, Other than the OH-1 ride where the pilot attempted to let me fly it for a bit, I've only flown in the hostage section. Mostly because I'm pretty cheap, but partially because of ego. I do grade every landing I watch/ride through. I'm hard...but fair. If the pilot/co-pilot gets a 9 or better on a scale of 1 to 10, I'll tell them that on the way out. Otherwise...He/She gets NOTHING but a cold stare. Which probably, beneath the dispassionate look they give, is reflected in shaking knees.

      Or not!

      I enjoyed my time in the Phantom and am glad the Airplane was useful throughout its life, but everyone deserves a retirement. Even the Phantom! Didn't recognize any of those young guys names, but heck, they probably were teenagers when I was flying which was either 30 years ago or last week. I'm not sure which, I'm having a hard time temporally these days.

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    2. There are two problems with being a pilot:

      1. Some day you'll strap in knowing it's your last flight as the pilot.
      2. Some day you'll strap in not knowing it's your last flight as the pilot.

      ArmChairExpert

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    3. Lotta truth in those two statements. Know some of both.

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  11. This is off the subject (that's what i do, she sez), but, I came across this,

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqLOBPl_zLc

    Pretty good watching. General Yeager. No more needs to be said. I couldn't remember the post where this fit in.

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    1. I'm going to set aside some time to watch all of that. The first few minutes are engrossing! Thanks Dave!

      (How could Chuck Yeager ever be considered off topic here? No such thing! Neither is Robin Olds.)

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    2. A lot of people would fit that bill, but probably not those specific shoes, and might not even be pilots.

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    3. I have made my way through the first 40 minutes or so. It is like sitting with him in the bar. Something like "Well I was in this inverted spin in the aircraft and then as i tried controlling that, it flipped itself into a flat upright spin, but since it was slow, I talked to my guys on the radio about recovery procedures for this… etc., etc." Oh and this one, "the canopy failed at mach number 2.6 or something and so I tried to… etc., etc." Good grief! What steely nerves!

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    4. @4D/

      Blue four late here, but in todays AF its VERY doubtful that either Yeager or Olds would make it past O-4 and forget any below-the-zone appointment to O-4.

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    5. VX, You're almost certainly right. And and absolute certainty they wouldn't make O-5. Ed Rasimus comes to mind.

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  12. Great story, Juvat, and it never gets old. Glad it ended on a high note. It was easy for me to walk away from civil aviation when it was time but 27 years of military flying was a different thing. regards, Alemaster

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    1. I can imagine. It sure as heck was easy to walk away from the School District. Lenin would have been called right wing if he'd worked there.

      Thanks

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  13. Great stories, and glad the roof help up! We 'only' got three inches up here, but 60mph winds came with it, so we got it sideways!!! And lightning!!!

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    1. Fortunately, I slept through most of it. Mrs J said it was spectacular. Don't know if it was the storm or my snoring she was talking about though.

      Thanks

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  14. I'm not actually sure how much rain you DID get, based on that dumb thing. The big mouth means that for every inch of rain, the water in the tube goes up way more (like 3-4x?). I guess what I'm saying is that unless that water tube is like 2' long, you didn't actually get 7" of rain, probably more like 2" or so.

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    1. Interesting. I think that might be to account for angular rain which would make the apparent size of the top a bit smaller. One would hope some math went into the design, but then again...China is A$$hole.

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  15. Juvat, do you perchance remember either of the names of the Hornet guys? Quite a few Japan guys returned for DH or CO tours so maybe I might have known them after the Midway/Indy swap. With Main Street being crowded, does that mean TX is open for business again? Commiefornia is planning for restaurants, but I bet it will be tough to get a reservation for the fewer social distancing tables they are allowed to keep.

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    1. I don't Tuna, Sorry. That would have been an interesting coincidence.

      Texas is re-opening, and after Abbott intervened in that Dallas Hair Dresser BS, I think it's opening without much judicial or other politician resistance. I also believe because this Governor, unlike others, is allowing exceptions, people are basically complying with such restrictions as remain.

      Mass is scheduled to resume this coming Sunday. The list of conditions for attending is 9 pages long. Each one starts with Attendees MUST or Attendees MUST NOT. Sorry ArchBishop (San Antonio Diocese), the word should be SHOULD. And, what's needed in San Antonio is not necessarily what's needed in the Burg. Let the local parishes decide what should or should not be done. But he did excuse 65 and older from the requirement to attend. I'm within a week, so I think I'll partake of that offer

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    2. If you social distance are you still concerned about attending mass?

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    3. That's not my big issue. It's the stupid masks. Wore one for the first time today, because I was visiting the doctor's office for lab work. The rule there is mask up. I got it, there are sick people there. One should take additional caution. Regarding Mass and the ArchBishops opening procedures, another of the "Rules" is Thou shalt not have more than two family groups in any pew and Thou shalt leave one row free between ocupied ones. The pews on each side have got to be a minimum of 20 yards each. So why the Thou shalt wear a flippin mask? Especially when there appears to be little to no evidence of their effectiveness against the communist chinese virus.

      So, I'm going to go for showmanship. Look at how good I am at protecting my "flock". I make them wear a mask all the time.

      Nah, Tuna. I'm getting more and more sure the whole social distancing & lone ranger things are pure BS. I've already passed the point on believing the chinese communist disease required any of the draconian measures needed. Normal disease precaustions along with some extra ones for the truly vulnerable, I think, should have sufficed.

      Someone on one of the posts here, commented that the President did a masterful job of causing the tyrants to self-identify. Yes he did. However, the next time communist china releases something like this, no one will believe the tyrants, because they've shot their credibility wad. And that will be the time it actually is a threat.

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Just be polite... that's all I ask. (For Buck)
Can't be nice, go somewhere else...

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