...then switched to flying F-16’s...
;)
BTW, I think I’ve posted this story before, but I just have to share it again.
In a former life, I was an HR manager for a private security company. One time, at one of our job fairs, I interviewed this old timer who tells me about his military service. Specifically, he told me that had been a fighter pilot in the U.S. Navy. My first thought was “Fighter pilot? When, in WW1 ?!?”, but I kept it professional and let the guy tell his story.
Apparently, this *brave soul* started off flying the F-4 Phantom, then switched to flying F-16’s, and finished his career in the F-14 Tomcat. At some point during all of that, he was shot down over Vietnam by a SAM, and spent 5 years in rehabilitation before returning to the cockpit. All ended well, though, as he retired, in his words, “a full Colonel.”
I didn’t laugh at the guy, but oh man, did I have to fight the urge to ask him about the optimum lift-to-drag ratio on a Tomcat...
I met a guy at the SS office who claimed he flew F-14 close air support for Marines as a 2n Lt in the Navy....
When I informed him there were no 2nd Lts In the Navy he told that yes there were..... his son had followed his steps in the Navy and flew f-16s off carrier decks.....
A NAVY full Colonel huh? You might have asked him if the F-16s landed regularly on the carrier without a tail hook. 😱
Just a hair split but the USAF once had 2 F-14s. Don’t know how long the program lasted or where it was based. My guess was somewhere like China Lake or PAX River. They weren’t at Edwards. You’ll probably never meet those pilots.
...then switched to flying F-16’s...
;)