I was lucky enough today to arrive back from lunch just as a couple of incentive rides were taking off. An incentive ride is essentially a prize for doing something really special like winning the Wing Airman of the Quarter Award and it involves a flight in a fighter jet - Boeing F-15Es in this case.
It's quite something to watch and hear as they're taking off but it must be something else to actually be inside the jet because once the jet has lifted off the runway the pilot throttles forward the engines to full afterburner and climbs vertically about 60,000 feet into the sky. I've been told it's virtually impossible for the passenger to breathe even with a g-suit.
From the ground it's amazing, a friend of mine got a ride a few years ago and I was allowed to watch him take off right from the end of the runway. Even with double hearing protection the sound was deafening and with those twin Pratt & Whitney F100-229 engines at full throttle you can feel each one of your internal organs vibrating.
On a clear day you can watch the jets until they're just a tiny speck way up above you. Today was cloudy so the cloud ceiling was low and they disappeared pretty quickly but this was offset by being able to see the stripey twin cones of the afterburner flame against the dark grey of the clouds, you just can't see them on a bright day.
As you can probably tell I'm a bit of an anorak when it comes to planes.
I almost got to have an ride myself once, not in an F-15 but in a KC-135 refueling tanker belonging to the Alabama Air National Guard. Unfortunately some bureaucrat decided that they didn't want to take a "foreign national" ie me so my friend Dave got to take the flight instead. He smuggled on board a Union Flag as a protest against the decision which was later presented to me with a lot of ridiculous pomp and ceremony by my squadron commander!
Here's a picture of the flag and a certificate, you might be able to make out the text, maybe not, but trust me every time I read it I have to giggle as it's all so ahem, serious
Wednesday, 22 November 2006
Per ardua ad astra
at 7:18 pm
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5 Comments:
I remember doing that. The decision to not let you on that plane was VERY stupid. I actually got another flight this last year on another KC-135 and this time I was the only passenger. We flew out of Incirlik then north of Turkey and refueled a C-17 out of Germany over the Black Sea at sunset. It was VERY cool! The C-17 pushed the KC around the sky and that was kind of scary. I did remember "your" flight I took way back. Too bad I didn't get more warning on this one or I would have smuggled another Union Jack on board for you!
Dave, that flag and the huge mug from when I left QA get the most interest out of everything on my 'love me' wall. Never mind about all the quarterly & annual awards, never mind about the huge brass eagle or the coin from the Secretary of the Air Force, they're just interested in the flag and the amount of beer they could get in the mug!
I have many friends in the USAF, and many more who are ex. I have the greatest of respect for it as an institution, and even more for the air and ground crew.
But I cannot believe the amount of Charlie Sierra aka Avian Excrement produced in that organisation though.
I could tell you stories... look, the RAAF has its moments, but for sheer bureaucratic obtuseness, I've never had anything worse than the USAF, USAFR and various ANGs.
Jane, I really hope you never run into the kind of Orificer I've encountered, too busy shining his career record to give 2c about the welfare of his men.
Hi Ms Calamity, I hope you are well. I was a little worried as there had been no posts for 2 weeks & withdrawal is setting in.
Write soon plz x x
So this is an old post but I thought I would add a bit:
1. for Zoe Brain: AMEN! Believe me this little place I call home sure has it's crap to jump through. I am on the inside and still can't understand half of the hurdles it takes just to do the job I'm paid for!
2. Jane: I still keep on my desk the name plate that you and Sara gave me and the mug from the PIMers and the Small cricket. I know everyone gave me crap for wanting the small bat, but truth be told it was the best call. I walk around with it and take it to meetings and tap young troops on the head with it! I would be crushed if it broke, but I still carry it around every day.
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