wrote:
K4YZ wrote:
From the Arizona Republic online:

Quote: A wake-up call from Luke's jets

With even more detail:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/wakeup.asp

73 de Jim, N2EY

"....that's not 'noise' - that's the sound of freedom...."

Gotta give the guy who wrote the initial letter credit for being
"stand-up" and immeidately issuing an unconditional apology for his
comments.

Too bad some in this forum can't find the same strength of
character.

73

Steve, K4YZ

K4YZ wrote:
wrote:
K4YZ wrote:
From the Arizona Republic online:
Quote: A wake-up call from Luke's jets
With even more detail:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/wakeup.asp

73 de Jim, N2EY

"....that's not 'noise' - that's the sound of freedom...."

(originally heard at NAS Willow Grove during an air show)

Gotta give the guy who wrote the initial letter credit for being
"stand-up" and immeidately issuing an unconditional apology for
his comments.

Yup. He simply didn't know. Now he does.

Too bad some in this forum can't find the same strength of
character.

Yup!

I find the Snopes website to be invaluable when confronted with similar
stories. Some are demonstrated urban legends or even outright
fabrications, while others are shown to be even more impressive than
the original story indicates.

www.snopes.com

I wonder if they have anything on the Morse Code vs. text messaging
contest?

One thing I find somewhat amusing are those folks who buy houses near
airports, highways, etc., and then complain about the noise. It would
be different if the house were there first but in most cases the
opposite is true. Newer civilian aircraft are quieter than older models
of similar size, too.

--

I recall fondly a stunt I saw years ago at Moffett AFB in California
during a show there.

The AF Thunderbirds were the final act, and did a number of impressive
formations. Some were fast, some dramatic and others more technical
(they showed the pilots' skills and the aircraft capabilities more than
top speed or fancy maneuvering).

One of the latter was the slow diamond roll formation. Four F-16s in
diamond formation came over the runway low and slow, (airspeed less
than 200) and the entire formation did a slow roll. The announcer
explained the move and what to watch for as they did it. Crowd watched
like a bunch of kittens following a bird, following the formation from
left to right over the runway.

What the announcer didn't point out to the crowd was that the Tbirds
had *five* planes in the air. As the diamond formation finished their
roll and the spectators were almost all looking to the right, the fifth
plane came over the crowd from the right, at just under supersonic
speed. Hilarity ensued.

A few of us knew to "always watch your six" and saw it coming. But we
didn't spoil the fun.

I dunno if anybody does that move anymore but it sure was cool.

73 de Jim, N2EY

wrote:

What the announcer didn't point out to the crowd was that the Tbirds
had *five* planes in the air. As the diamond formation finished their
roll and the spectators were almost all looking to the right, the fifth
plane came over the crowd from the right, at just under supersonic
speed. Hilarity ensued.

A few of us knew to "always watch your six" and saw it coming. But we
didn't spoil the fun.

I dunno if anybody does that move anymore but it sure was cool.


My favorite comes at the end of the Blue Angel's routine, and has
basically the same climax. (surprising the crowd)

They approach in diamond formation with all six birds. They begin
a vertical climb at mid-field then "blossom" at the top of the climb
into six different directions.

They do a split-S over the top, then depart. What folks DON'T see
is that at about a mile out they all do a loop and reverse course for
mid-field again. That's when at least two of the birds come in close
to the crowd in the aforementioned near-sonic speed!
KaaaaaaaaaaaaaBOOM!

People always wonder what I'm doing when I cover my ears while the
planes are "out"...I tell them they'll find out in a few seconds!

73

Steve. K4YZ

On 15 Jul 2005 03:14:21 -0700, wrote:

I recall fondly a stunt I saw years ago at Moffett AFB in California
during a show there.

Moffitt (note spelling - everyone gets it wrong) was never an Air
Force Base. It was a Naval Air Station (NAS Moffitt Field) until it
was recommissioned as a NASA facility (Moffitt Field Federal
Airport, IIRC) NASA's Ames Research Center and Dryden Flight Test
Facility and others are there and the Navy is gone with the
exception of special flights.

NASA still has their big wind tunned there. An engineering school
classmate of mine worked for them for 30 years, retired, and came
back as a contract employee for another 20......our taxpayers' money
at work.

At the south end of the field was a large building which we
affectionateley dubbed "The Blue Cube". It was offically named
Onizuka Air Force Base after the Challenger disaster. For a long
time it was the home of the National Reconnaissance Office (What
office? What cube? What Building?) but they moved the operation
elsewhere and caused a big layoff at Lockheed which ran it. I did
read/hear that OAFB was decommissioned recently.

--
73 de K2ASP - Phil Kane

Phil Kane wrote:
On 15 Jul 2005 03:14:21 -0700, wrote:

I recall fondly a stunt I saw years ago at Moffett AFB in
California during a show there.

Moffitt (note spelling - everyone gets it wrong)

Well, not *everyone*.

See:

http://www.moffettfieldmuseum.org/index.html


was never an Air Force Base.

Yep, I was mistaken about that. It was used by the AAF during WW2,
but that was before the Air Force existed as a separate branch of
the US military.

In fact the Navy turned the place over to the Army, then got it back.

It was a Naval Air Station (NAS Moffitt Field) until it
was recommissioned as a NASA facility (Moffitt Field Federal
Airport, IIRC) NASA's Ames Research Center and Dryden Flight Test
Facility and others are there and the Navy is gone with the
exception of special flights.

NASA still has their big wind tunned there. An engineering school
classmate of mine worked for them for 30 years, retired, and came
back as a contract employee for another 20......our
taxpayers' money at work.

Yup.

At the south end of the field was a large building which we
affectionateley dubbed "The Blue Cube". It was offically
named
Onizuka Air Force Base after the Challenger disaster.
For a long
time it was the home of the National Reconnaissance Office
(What
office? What cube? What Building?) but they moved the
operation
elsewhere and caused a big layoff at Lockheed which ran it.
I did read/hear that OAFB was decommissioned recently.

--

Thanks for the info, Phil. The above website has a lot of history on
it.

73 de K2ASP - Phil Kane

73 de Jim, N2EY