Letter To The Editor

[oldskydog]

This is a true story. I read the letter to the editor in the paper from the smart-a** complaintant and then particularly enjoyed the squadron CO's response the next day.




Luke AFB is west of Phoenix and is rapidly being surrounded by
civilization that complains about the noise from the base and its planes, forgetting that it was there long before they were.

A certain lieutenant colonel at Luke AFB deserves a big pat on the back.
Apparently, an individual who lives somewhere near Luke AFB wrote the
local paper complaining about a group of F-16s that disturbed his/her day at
the mall. When that individual read the response from a Luke AFB officer, I
hope it stung quite a bit.

The complaint:
"Question of the day for Luke Air Force Base: Whom do we thank for the
morning air show? Last Wednesday, at precisely 9:11 a.m., a tight
formation of four F-16 jets made a low pass over Arrowhead Mall, continuing west over Bell Road at approximately 500 feet.
Imagine our good fortune! Do the Tom Cruise-wannabes feel we need this
wake-up call, or were they trying to impress the cashiers at Mervyns
early bird special? Any response would be appreciated."

The response:
Regarding "A wake-up call from Luke's jets" (Letters, Thursday): On June
15, at precisely 9:12 a.m., a perfectly timed four-ship flyby of F-16s from
the 63rd Fighter Squadron at Luke Air Force Base flew over the grave of
Capt. Jeremy Fresques.

Capt. Fresques was an Air Force officer who was previously stationed at
Luke Air Force Base and was killed in Iraq on May 30, Memorial Day. At 9 a.m.
on June 15, his family and friends gathered at Sunland Memorial Park in Sun
City to mourn the loss of a husband, son and friend.

Based on the letter writer's recount of the flyby, and because of the
jet noise, I'm sure you didn't hear the 21-gun salute, the playing of taps,
or my words to the widow and parents of Capt.
Fresques as I gave them their son's flag on behalf of the President of
the United States and all those veterans and servicemen and women who
understand the sacrifices they have endured. A four-ship flyby is a display of
respect the Air Force pays to those who give their lives in defense of freedom.
We are professional aviators and take our jobs seriously, and on June 15
what the letter writer witnessed was four officers lining up to pay their
ultimate respects.

The letter writer asks, "Whom do we thank for the morning air show?"
The 56th Fighter Wing will call for you, and forward your thanks to the
widow and parents of Capt. Fresques, and thank them for you, for it was
in their honor that my pilots flew the most honorable formation of their
lives.


Lt. Col. Scott Pleus
CO 63rd Fighter Squadron
Luke AFB

 

[rstreet]

Thanks Cecil

 

[DaveFoster]

The Air Force does an outstanding job of both showing respect and displaying our/their might with a flyover, I was at a change of command flyover several years ago at March Air Force Base, now a National Guard Base, but a SR 71 did a low level fly over, WOW was all I could say, but by the time I said it he was over the next state. Love the story, and ain't it crazy how people will move next to a race track, airport, train tracks, amusement park, or any other noisey place and start complaining about the noise. Our elected officials waste a lot of time and money, that could be used for something more important, responding to these numbies.

 

[cheap1]

Perfect example of how we take things for granted. Those of us who served in the military or still do serve understand that freedom is not free. I just wish that people could put their selfishness on hold and realize that we have got thousands of our Dads, brothers and sons fighting and dying for our country so that we can go to the mall, or whatever else we want to do without the fear of being a victim of a car bomb or some other terrorist attack.

Whatever your political stand on the war is.............we need to support our troops.

God Bless America

 

[Phil Reed]

Flyovers

Great thread Cecil. Just shows how some people react.

We are fortunate here in KC that we are close to Ft. Leonard Wood. At least once a year, if not twice, we get to experience a flowover by a Stealth bomber at Arrowhead Stadium for the Chiefs games. It absolutely gives me goose-bumps when the plane pass over!! Wish everyone could have that experience!!!

 

[Dick MacKenzie]

Thanks Cecil

X2

Very sobering

 

[dq409]

X2

Very sobering

DITTO,,,,


The Veterans Memorial Cemetery that sits on top of the hills not far from me has fly overs all too often.

I say that because I know why they are flying,,

I stop and watch them fly over with a lump in my throat,,, that individual will next time also,,,

 

[MRHP]

Maybe next time the complaining person will think of others before her self! I am sure the pilots did not enjoy having to make the trip either, because of the situation. Quite a sad story.

 

[walkerheaders]

person will think of others before her self! QUOTE]

interesting how we all see a different story in our minds. MRHP pictured a woman. 50% chance i guess.
when i read cecil's post, the theater in my mind automatically pictured a german car driving, flag burning, america bashing, tree hugging, gun grabbing, Hillary voting, welfare grubbing ***.

oops, i just described my brother-in-law.

my grandfathers are in Arlington. my recently dead uncle: korea. his little brother: 4 tours in nam.
our deceased and living vets and active duty deserve ALL the respect they can get.

 

[rstreet]

Bob Walker Well said....My family has an interesting airforce flying history and Army history and I couldn't think of a thing to add.bang
Robert

 

[Gearhead99]

Good read.
I hope it made the complainer uncomfortable at the least.
But, if the truth be known, they will/still complain.

Thanks to all our servicemen present and past.

USAF 65-70

Dave

 

[tripower]

Cecil, What great story. If that complainer had any balls they would reply with an apology but, as Bob Walker said &*(^%&())&*%$ they just don't get it.

 

[roger gunter]

Cecil
Thanks I think we all needed that
God Bless America and the people who fight for our way of life
Roger

 

[oil4kids]

FYI skydog


http://www.f-14association.com/stories-13.htm


Below is an article written by Rick Reilly of Sports Illustrated. He details his experiences when given the opportunity to fly in a F-14 Tomcat. If you aren't laughing out loud by the time you get to "Milk Duds," your sense of humor is seriously broken.
"Now this message is for America's most famous athletes:





Someday you may be invited to fly in the back-seat of one of your country's most powerful fighter jets. Many of you already have . John Elway, John Stockton, Tiger Woods to name a few If you get this opportunity, let me urge you, with the greatest sincerity...
Move to Guam.
Change your name.
Fake your own death!
Whatever you do .
Do Not Go!!!

< SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 13.5pt; COLOR: #010101; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia">I know.

The U.S. Navy invited me to try it. I was thrilled. I was pumped. I was toast! I should've known when they told me my pilot would be Chip (Biff) King of Fighter Squadron 213 at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach.

Whatever you're thinking a Top Gun named Chip (Biff) King looks like, triple it. He's about six-foot, tan, ice-blue eyes, wavy surfer hair, finger-crippling handshake -- the kind of man who wrestles dyspeptic alligators in his leisure time. If you see this man, run the other way. Fast.

Biff King was born to fly. His father, Jack King, was for years the voice of NASA missions. ("T-minus 15 seconds and counting ...." Remember?) Chip would charge neighborhood kids a quarter each to hear his dad. Jac k wo uld wake up from naps surrounded by nine-year-olds waiting for him to say, "We have a liftoff"

Biff was to fly me in an F-14D Tomcat, a ridiculously powerful $60 million weapon with nearly as much thrust as weight. Not unlike Colin Montgomerie, I was worried about getting airsick, so the night before the flight I asked Biff if there was something I should eat t he next morning.

"Bananas," he said.

"For the potassium?" I asked.

"No," Biff said, "because they taste about the same coming up as they do going down."

The next morning, out on the tarmac, I had on my flight suit with my name sewn over the left breast. (No call sign -- like Crash or Sticky or Leadfoot . But, still, very cool.) I carried my helmet in the crook of my arm, as Biff had instructed. If ever in my life I had a chance to nail Nicole Kidman, this was it.

A fighter pilot named Psycho gave me a safety briefing and then fastened me into my ejection seat, whic h, wh en employed, would "egress" me out of the plane at such a velocity that I would be immediately knocked unconscious

Just as I was thinking about aborting the flight, the canopy closed over me, and Biff gave the ground crew a thumbs-up. In minutes we were firing nose up at 600 mph. We leveled out and then canopy-rolled over another F-14.


Those 20 minutes were the rush of my life. Unfortunately, the ride lasted 80. It was like being on the roller coaster at Six Flags Over Hell. Only without rails. We did barrel rolls, snap rolls, loops, yanks and banks. We dived, rose and dived again, sometimes with a vertical velocity of 10,000 feet per minute. We chased another F-14, and it chased us.



We broke the speed of sound. Sea was sky and sky was sea. Flying at 200 feet we did 90-degree turns at 550 mph, creating a G force of 6.5, which is to say I felt as if 6.5 times my body weight was smashing against me, thereby approximating life as Mrs. Colin Montgomerie.

And I egressed the bananas.


And I egressed the pizza from the night before.


And the lunch before that.


I egressed a box of Milk Duds from the sixth grade.

I made Linda Blair look polite. Because of the G's, I was egressing stuff that never thought would be egressed.

I went through not one airsick bag, but two.

Biff said I passed out. Twice. I was coated in sweat. At one point, as we were coming in upside down in a banked curve on a mock bombing target and the G's were flattening me like a tortilla and I was in and out of consciousness, I realized I was the first person in history to throw down.

I used to know 'cool'. Cool was Elway throwing a touchdown pass, or Norman making a five-iron bite. But now I really know 'cool'. Cool is guys like Biff, men with cast-iron stomachs and freon nerves. I wouldn't go up there again for Derek Jeter's black book, but I'm glad Biff does every day, and for less a year than a rookie reliever makes in a home stand.

A week later, when the spins finally stopped, Biff called. He said he and the fighters had t he perfect call sign for me. Said he'd send it on a patch for my flight suit.

What is it? I asked.

"Two Bags."

 

[oldskydog]

Yep, that's a great one alright.
I can relate somewhat as I'm only good for about 4 g's without going to sleep and if I'm not doing the flying, I can get a little queasy although I can say I've never tossed. Still it's great fun and some people actually get paid for it, although not enough.

 

[tripowerguy]

I don't think I have read anything so funny in my life. Truely a gem of a story, my wife and I read 2 Bags story over twice and it was just as funny the second time. Roy