Posted on 02/05/2018 2:44:48 AM PST by sodpoodle
Subject: SOS
A Boeing 777 wide-body jetliner was lumbering along at 800km/hour at 33000 feet when a cocky F-17 fighter jet flashed by at Mach 2.
The F17 pilot decided to show off. On his state of the art radio (that is part of his state of the art 3D & million dollar headset), the F17 youngster told the 777 pilot, “Hey Captain, watch this!”
He promptly went into a barrel roll, followed by a steep, unimaginable vertical climb. He then finished with a sonic boom as he broke the sound barrier, as the F17 screamed down at impossible G’s before leveling off at almost sea level.
The F-17 pilot asked the 777 pilot what he thought of that?
The 777 pilot said, “That was truly impressive, but watch this!”
The 777 chugged along for about 5 minutes at the steady 800km/hour, andthen the 777 pilot came back on and said, “What did you think of that?”
Puzzled, the cocky F-17 pilot asked, “What the hell did you do?”
The 777 pilot chuckled and said, "I stood up, stretched my legs, walked to the back, went to the can to take a whiz, then got a cup of coffee and a cinnamon roll and secured a date for the next 3 nights in a five star hotel with the lead flight attendant paid for by the company."
LESSON OF LIFE: When you are young and foolish, speed and flash may seem like a good thing!
When you get older and smarter, comfort and dullness is not such a bad thing!
It's called S.O.S. Slower, Older and Smarter! Dedicated to all my friends approaching the S.O.S. category...
Brings back lots of memories from my time in the Fleet. As NFO's our job (outside of our combat roles) was to talk on the radios and we all rated one another on how we spoke on the air. As the author of the piece stated, any miscue was grounds for beheading. We military types are savage when it comes to such seemingly trivial matters. I can recall when a Marine Hornet driver was overhead MCAS Cherry Point with a single-engine failure and fire. We listened to him and noted just how calm his voice over the air but all realizing that his shorts were probably full at that time. He drank for free at the O-club that night.
Hah! A few of my synapses were trying to pull that one out of the memory netherworld but couldn’t quite remember it.
Thank you!
The Northrop YF-17 competed with the YF-16 for the lightweight fighter program. I guess we know who won. Although they did eventually sell it to the Navy as the F/A-18.
This is a very old joke, just the designations of the aircraft have been updated. Would have been more effective had they used an aircraft that was in service.
What a fabulous story. Kings of Speed. I salute you.
I saw it in Readers Digest, maybe 20 or 25 years ago. Then it was fighters being refueled by a tanker. 😀
“”Or as the old bull said, “Let’s just walk down the hill””
That is really old - you’re allowed to post the whole thing here. It was funny then (50-60+ years ago) and still is!
A video of the pilot telling this story is on You Tube. Search for SR-71 or Brian Shul.
Found it on Youtube. Just as good, maybe better, hearing it from the actual pilot. LOL.
Here it is if anyone wants to watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AyHH9G9et0
Roger the “Geezer Alert!”
What’s next?
Well, landing on an aircraft carrier was the most fun I ever had with my clothes on.
Flying the A-4 was a very close second.
Driving my GTO is #3.
Flying in a hot air balloon is #4.
After that, it gets a bit messy!
OTOH, when I see a little video like that one, I can reminisce in full color!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.