Images of the WIFF

13. September 2008 by Andy.

Here are the images I promised on the WIFF – I was able to get a hold of the, possibly original, negatives to scan.  Bill Purdue, pilot type in Academics, knew I was working on that B-52 stuff for the 11^th and allowed be to borrow them for a day or two.   These were scanned in 600 dpi, so they could be turned into a 11×16 size picture without loosing any quality.

 

 Almost forgot, James – Yellowstone was about 1 ½ hours from where I went to school in Bozeman.  Occasionally my roommates & I would take off and stay in West Yellowstone to hunt elk.  From what mom tells me, Yellowstone has done a good job recovering from the huge fires in the mid to late ‘80s.

A side note for those ever heading to Glacier National Park…according to the Park Rangers, all the glaciers in that area will be gone by 2012!

Bob & Yak – hope you’re doing okay down there!

Posted in Band of Brothers | Print | 1 Comment »

Nukes and the Air Force

12. September 2008 by Bob.

Here is an article off the Houston Chronicle (one of the few non-Ike [hurricane] articles:

WASHINGTON — A Pentagon advisory group condemned the Air Force for a dramatic deterioration in managing the nation’s nuclear arsenal, and recommended today that it consolidate nuclear responsibilities under one command.

The decline has eroded international confidence in the United States’ ability to provide a nuclear umbrella of protection, the task force said in rolling out more than 30 recommended changes in the structure, funding, inspections and staffing of the Air Force’s nuclear responsibilities.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates told Pentagon reporters today that the advisory group made a strong argument for unifying its nuclear management.

“One of the concerns that I had,” based on previous revelations about shortcomings in the Air Force’s stewardship of its nuclear arsenal,” is the lack of unity of command and not having one person or organization accountable for the overall mission,” Gates said.

He added that while he isn’t sure what the right answer is, the Air Force is considering the idea.

The latest review is one of several studies and reports triggered by a series of Air Force blunders in its handling of nuclear-related materials — missteps that prompted Gates to sack the top civilian and military leaders of the service earlier this year.

After Gates spoke, James Schlesinger, a former defense secretary who chaired the advisory panel, told reporters that the Air Force’s division of command over nuclear matters had led to a deterioration in control, staffing and resources.

The panel’s report concluded that there has been “an unambiguous, dramatic and unacceptable decline in the Air Force’s commitment to perform the nuclear mission and, until very recently, little has been done to reverse it.”

Panel members, said Schlesinger, were surprised that the situation had declined more than they had anticipated.

Schlesinger said a central recommendation of his group was that the Air Force convert its existing Air Force Space Command — which now has responsibility for the service’s land-based nuclear missiles but not other nuclear weapons — into an organization called Air Force Strategic Command. The new entity would “be held accountable for the efficacy of the nuclear mission,” he said.

Under the existing Air Force structure, responsibility for the bombers and fighters that can deliver nuclear weapons is held by Air Combat Command, and Air Mobility Command has responsibility for the refueling aircraft used to operate with the nuclear bombers and fighters.

The new plan, said Schlesinger, would also shift control of the supply chain from the Defense Logistics Agency to the Air Force — addressing a key issue in one of the foul-ups that triggered the review and recommended overhaul.

In early June, Gates sacked then Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley and Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne, blaming them for failing to fully address several nuclear-related mishaps, including the mistaken shipment to Taiwan of four electrical fuses for ballistic missile warheads.

The report endorsed plans for the Air Force to take over control of its inventory. Air Force officials have already begun that shift.

Also, in August 2007, an Air Force B-52 bomber was mistakenly armed with six nuclear-tipped cruise missiles and flown from Minot Air Force Base, N.D., to Barksdale Air Force Base, La. At the time, the pilot and crew were unaware they had nuclear arms aboard.

Gates brought in new leaders who immediately vowed to restore confidence in the battered service.

So far they have made a number of adjustments, including an increase in high-level staff, a reorganization of its missile units, revised maintenance procedures and an ongoing review of the inspection process. Schlesinger also said the Air Force is budgeting about $1.5 billion in the fiscal year 2010 budget to address some of the problems.

Air Force Gen. Norton Schwartz, the new chief of staff, has said he plans to use the reinstatement of about 14,000 jobs in the service to bolster its nuclear staffing and beef up intelligence and surveillance.

Asked today if his confidence has been restored, Gates said he believes the new Air Force leaders are putting a high priority on the nuclear mission and have begun taking corrective actions.

He said he is confident the short-term problems that led to the Taiwan shipment and the Minot flight have been addressed and won’t be repeated. But, he said he wants to be sure that longer-term issues, such as staffing and funding boosts, have been addressed.

“I won’t be completely assured until all of the corrective measures have been taken,” Gates said.

Posted in Band of Brothers | Print | No Comments »

Sept 11, Houston TX and all is clear…

11. September 2008 by Bob.

Good Evening everyone,

My report from Houston is the sky is clear.  Earlier the bands of clouds came and now are gone, so the storm is not too far behind.

Most of my hurricanes have been spent in AL, or typhoons on Guam.  I have joked about opening a white water rafting resort, Grand Opening Saturday.  I actually had a few friends today ask me if I was still going to open the Resort with the storm coming.  I then had to tell them the  opening is the storm as I live 100 yeards or so from a huge bayou.

I have to tell you something I did in Court.  Last week I had a hearing / trial to try to save a familes home.  It was foreclosed on, problem is the family was paying their mortgage.  I went for a TRO from a higher court this week and the other attorney helping me and I got a TRO (Temporary Restraining Order).  This is the 1st time in 3 weeks I have seen that family smile.

No other attorney would help these people, as they do not have very much money.  We have 2 -4 more hearings and trials to get their home back, but I am trying.

Legal work is All office work.  To spice up, this work, I am also getting some Vietnam Vets in to the office, who stated they can and will do bad things to VA people.  I unfortunately do not tell them they can barely move, and they (nor me) am 21 and in the jungle.  I told one Veteran I did not do criminal defense, and he had better knock it off or I would not be helping him.  He boasted once more and I had to tell him a story.  It got him to actually listen.  As he stated, I actually knew what it was like.

I assume by tomorrow night it will be bad here, so I better go, just wanted to tell everyone hello, and that I enjoy reading the article, I am just swamped trying to get my firm up and running and handle cases, so I apologize for being lax on the articles writing.  I actually have a free night thanks to Ike, and I will get my plants in tomorrow and hope the apartmant and van survive.

Wishing all of you a great week, and rest of September.

God Bless all of you on this day, Bob

Posted in Band of Brothers | Print | 3 Comments »

11. September 2008 by Andy.

Was not sure if I wanted to write on this day or not…for some, it’s a sad day of remembrance.  For others, hope for a day without living in fear.  And for others, just to come home from the fight in one piece.  Each one of us has a story to tell of where we were and what we were doing.  It’s good to remember and not forget the price paid for our freedoms or to take it too lightly.As for the last couple of months of not writing, I’ve either on the road traveling for work or vacation time.Took my daughter & son-in-law to Montana last month to visit mom…to see the big open skies & breathe that fresh mountain air again!  It was the first time for the kids or at least my daughter can remember!  We left for Glacier National Park the first day there and stayed in an old chalet style hotel on Many Glacier Lake that was built in the ‘30s.  Our bedroom window & back door opened to the deck with the lake and mountains as our background.  The next day we took off for the East Glacier side to take the “Going-to-the-Sun” road.  Mom said the best way to travel that road is from the east side going to the west side.  Manly because the road is literally built on a cliff!  And by traveling west, you are along the mountain side and not on the edge of the road looking down 7000 to 8000 feet!  And it’s STRAIGHT down!   Yea, I shouldn’t be afraid of heights because I flew jets…NOT! 

When we arrived at Logan’s Pass, we hiked back into the “Hiding Lake” area and came across some mountain goats…the park’s & Great Northern Railroad’s mascot.

 

We spent two days up in that area before returning back to mom’s place in Great Falls.  The next day we rested then traveled south to another National Park – Grant Kohers Ranch - one of the original big ranches in Montana.  These folks were considered the Rockefellers of the west.  Some of the stories the rangers told were ones about taking trips.  Since the wife loved the theater & Broadway, she would plan her trips back east 6 months in advance just to get there in time for the show!  Another one was when the husband set out one time to go see relatives back in Germany that it took him 18 months to make the journey…from the time he left until he returned home!  After spending a night in Helena, we went down to, what we thought was a ghost town.  But in 10 years since my mom visited the place with dad, it has people living there.  We guessed that they’re trying to get any silver or gold out of the ground still.  We visited their little cemetery on the backside of one mountain.  Very sad, most of the tombstones were kids anywhere from a few days old up to 16 years old and all died within a two year period, 1889-90.  My daughter did some research when we got home.  Apparently the town was hit with diphtheria, which manly attacks kids!We spent a week visiting mom, but it was too short!  So mom is thinking about next year.  We would both fly into Salt Lake UT and visit the National Parks in the southwest corner of the state!

I’ve finished making my MB-2 or NBS-1 Martin Bomber in 11^th BS marking that was used in the famous “battleship” experiment to prove Billy Mitchell’s theories.  Hey Reed, name that base in the photo! This will be the last model for awhile; I’ve ungraded my computer and want to try my hand at making some movies for YouTube – B-52 stuff.

   

Hey, I do have some images of the WIFF, both from the tanker & bomber.  I was able to get the original negatives and scan them.  I’ll try and get them posted later, have to help Heather with her acting stuff and need to go.Until next time,Take care - Andy 

Posted in Band of Brothers | Print | No Comments »

11 Sep - James

11. September 2008 by James.

Hi BOB,

Hope all of you and yours are well.  I’m concerned about Ike hitting the Texas coast and watching that closely.  My daughter spent 12 hours in Houston traffic trying to evacuate during Rita and I hope that sort of thing doesn’t happen again.  Mostly I hope everyone stays safe and dry.

Lynn and I just returned from Yellowstone.  I now understand why it is the most popular US national park.  We went on a 4.5 mile hike which went along the crest of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River, through a field of geothermally active boiling mudpots, by a lake where a wolf was cooling off after a fresh kill and then though a grassy plain - just unbelievably beautiful.   Crowds were gone since it was after Labor Day, so it was as if we had the place to ourselves.  We were only there four days, but you could spend a lifetime there.

 I’m doing a little research for two upcoming family reunions (father and mother’s side) in WV and MD at the end of this month.  My work was made a lot easier when I found a distant cousin whose great grandfather was my great grandfather’s brother.  She had already written a book about my mother’s side of the family and much of the part of it that I was interested in was posted on the internet.  It was a real joy to correspond with her. 

Reed, that was a fantastic story about Desert Storm.  Thanks for sharing that.  Chuck, thanks for all the time and energy you put into this effort to connect crewdogs.  I think it is worth the effort. 

Best Regards

James

PS  Chuck, is there an easy way to upload pictures?  I went into the help menu and my eyes glassed over about halfway through the preliminary section:)  Using the upload box on the Manage view, the image took over the entire screen.  I know I’m missing something.

Posted in Band of Brothers | Print | 1 Comment »

11 September 2008 - The Chuck

11. September 2008 by The Chuck.

This is a tough day.  None of us living today will forget 11 September 2001 (a.k.a. 9/11) nor should we.  Here’s a link for those wanting a memory jolt.

Speaking of memory jolts.  A B-52 warrior passed me some of the last pictures of Balls-34 (60-034).  It was taken to final parking at the Bone Yard back on 14 Aug.

Wisdom is acquired through experience.   More often than not, wisdom is obtained through mistakes rather than through  well-executed, perfect plans.  We’ve all become the wiser when we’ve discovered the stove was hot, a bee stings, ice-covered steps are slick, the dog bites, not everyone is your friend, and good intentions only carry you so far.

Some of us have learned that min-fuel really means min-fuel, there’s a good reason we don’t do overheads in a Buff, and if you can finish your Air Force career without being passed-over or fired–you weren’t just lucky–you had very some powerful friends.

I’m glad that along the way I’ve had friends like you to fly, fight, and win with.  Today I fight more with getting my belt buckled, shoes tied, and finding time to write.

Writing a novel is different from writing doctrine, Combat Crew articles, or even telling a story.  I discovered that my skills were woefully under-developed–so I’m still working on them.

I’m taking an advanced writers course with a talented, local writer (Connie Cox) and it helps.  Here’s a quick story before I end this short post.

Two nights ago, Connie gave our small group some advanced tactics of word-smithing.  I applied it to the first page of my manuscript–keep in mind that this is my 25th rewrite and two rewrites ago I won third prize in the Amazon dot com Break Through Novel Award– when I was done I had 13 edits to the first 12 lines of my novel.

I’m just an old crew dawg learning new tricks everyday.

Eventually I’ll have something to interest an editor.

I hope to have my first novel published before I make my way to the Bone-Yard for old bomber pilots.  I’m thinking 2009 is going to be a very special year–lipstick or not.

What say ye?

Posted in Flying the BUFF, Band of Brothers | Print | No Comments »

America’s Allies Need An Appropriate Defense

20. August 2008 by The Chuck.

Russia has violated Georgia. A Russian invasion force–thousands of soldiers and hundreds of tanks–scattered the ill-prepared Georgian military. The Russian air force bombed Georgian cities and then occupied some of them. They stole the small boats of its navy. Pillaged and destroyed army bases. Pushed civilian police cars aside with tanks. Robbed banks. Put citizens in work details. And then scoffed at the international response.

America, its military stretched thin between two theaters of the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT)–Iraq and Afghanistan–reacted with diplomatic sternness. The American stance might have been respected by the Russians if NATO had offered a solid front. However, they only offered the threat of diplomatic reprisals due to some of its members being energy dependent on the Russian Bear.

Then in a diplomatic surprise, the new leader of the European Union–French President Nicolas Sarkozy–echoed the American position. Suddenly there was a ceasefire deal. American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice saw to it that Georgia’s President Mikhail Saakshvili and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev both signed the treaty this weekend.

Once the agreement was signed, the Russian invasion force was supposed to begin leaving. But “surprise” — they didn’t. Who’d a guess it? Who wouldn’t have?

The Russians said they would leave Monday, but they didn’t. They continued to position themselves to control Georgia–taking over villages and a power plant.

They continued to assert moral ascendancy on the people of the small country. The Russians even said they were leaving as some rumors spread that more forces were moving into the region. Hard to trust those Russians, ain’t it?

This is troubling, as most of the civilized community is trying to find a solution to an evil force that is bent on destroying the world as we know it.

Terrorist organizations are waging war against the civilized nations of the world. Suicide terrorists do what their label implies. Attacks are launched, just about everywhere. The Chinese are not immune. Terrorists blow up civilian aircraft, even in Russia.

The terrorists see little difference between the Russians, the Americans, the Chinese, or the Jews. But instead of cooperating and putting as quick as possible of an end to the GWOT, we have to revisit old wounds. What causes that? If we ever get it under control we just might have peace in our time.

Meanwhile, in an attempt to established a hedge against Iranian missile threats–especially with the imminent development of nuclear warheads–America has agreed to build a missile defense system in Poland.

While this might be part of a master plan to avoid having to depopulate Iran in order to stop their weapons development program, Russia has stated that it is just an attempt to weaken Russia. They rattle their saber and spout not-so-veiled threats of attack on Poland and others. So we’re going to put Patriot missiles in Poland to protect them from Russian missiles. Well, that’s a start.

This is getting complicated. Russia is a threat to its neighbors that are American allies, or are considering to become so. It’s a good thing to protect them from missile attack, but that’s not enough.

If our allies are to be safe from Russia, they need a tank defense system.

America has had success in stopping Soviet-technology tanks in the past couple of wars. Its probably safe to say, “Nobody does it better.” We should share our techniques and some of our hardware with our allies.

Did somebody just whisper, “It might be good for the economy.”

There are a vast array of stop-the-tank weapons out there. The Army says the best anti-tank weapon is a tank. Maybe so, but airplanes do a pretty good job of stopping tanks too–ask any Hog-driver.

Of course, all of that needs air superiority to happen. Come to think of it–America does that quite well too. If we feel up to the job, we might want to reconsider the number of F-22s we’ll need. I know that’s not a popular stance in the wake of the UAV craze. But can UAVs shoot down the Su-35 and MiG-29?

Some folks will say that these suggestions are needlessly extravagant. They will say things like: It will cause a war! It will never work! It will cost too much!

Georgia is being snuffed as we speak–and not because they were too strong. They were without the resources to stop 10,000 soldiers and 350 tanks who enjoyed air superiority. If they had, let’s say 20,000 combat soldiers and 400 tanks and air defenses to stop Russian airpower technology–or at least slow them, would it have been different? Could they have defended themselves long enough for the US or NATO to have moved an air superiority shield over their territory? Maybe.

In addition, the Russians would have had to muster a force of about 3 to 1 to be confident of success. Forces in that number don’t assemble quietly or cheaply–maybe that in and of itself would have been enough to have prevented the invasion of Georgia. Who knows?

What we do know for certain is that what was done wasn’t enough. We have to do something different. If we keep doing the same thing, we’ll eventually see all the border states around Russia forced to surrender to the Bear. Do we really want an imperialistic Russian Empire expanding its sphere of control with hot lead and cold steel? When they eventually clash with China’s ambitions, will the EU and US be influential enough to get them to sign a ceasefire treaty? Or will we see the Dragon and the Bear wear each other out with massive bombardments of nuclear weapons? Which one of them would you like to win? Would that be a better world than we have today?

No way. We have to do something else.

It just makes sense.

Posted in International Nonsense, The Chuck's Comments | Print | No Comments »

18. August 2008 by Ponch.

Chuck and all,

 

 

Yes the WIFF… as a said I flew the WIFF with Yuke Smaby.  Don’t remember the specifics of the maneuver other then the purpose of the demo was to show you that if the two aircraft and pilots were in sinc with each other and they both understood the aerodynamic interaction between the jets, that ”any” attitude could be achieved successfully in contact.  It was a confidence and teamwork maneuver. I remember that we did get just a bit past the 90 degree bank on one of the series of maneuvers.  The WIFF was a dynamic process, not just one big turn.  It was a series of lazy-chandelle type maneuvers (without the 180 degree turn reversal) that started out small and increased with each reversal until the target attitude was achieved –or sometimes exceeded—hence the name WIFF.  This concept was re-enforced on the subsequent CFIC MITO sortie where we had to do a 12 second MITO with the tanker and achieve a contact shortly after flaps up - below 2000 feet  - on the departure, then fly contact through the climbing turn on the CID.  Also I remember Yuke abusing me hard on the night sorties when we re-fueled and had to maintain contact thorough many turns, climbs and descents over and over again.  I remember never being so tired and wrung out post flight.  I also remember some harsh thoughts I had for my instructors every time the tanker turned and started climbing or descending.  At the time I didn’t understand the purpose of the pain…only that it was painful.  As on my last BoB this level of training and the detail involved was to prepare us for any mission and any situation in the future.

Mine came just three months after returning from CFIC.  We ended up in IRAQ short on gas and carrying a load of new weapons on converted cruise missile pylons… yes a WESP.  The drag was more then expected, hence that’s why we where short on the gas… big time….enough so we needed an extra refueling to make it to the post strike base.  We asked the AWACS and we got a snap vector to a group of tankers holding south of the border.  Well snap vector was not part of the SAC lexicon and neither was the anchor refueling that we where headed for.  I don’t think any one in SAC could spell anchor let alone fly it with the jets in the configuration we had.  Oh bye the way… did I mention it was at night and the tankers were orbiting right in the only cloud deck in this part of the world.  Well Andy and Bob worked their magic and got us close enough behind the tanker to make visual contact.  I can’t remember how many times we had to chase the tanker around the orbit with radar before we got close enough to see them.  I do remember that every time we made an orbit, chasing the tanker, the fuel gages got lower and lower.  We were already well below what we needed to get to the post strike.  When we finally got contact the vis in the clouds was to the point we could not afford a disconnect and pre-contact position.  We would not have been able to get back.  I remember a feeling of relief when the gas started pouring in to the tanks…until the crazy turns started as we went around and around.  It took every bit of concentration I had to stay connected.  Then out of the soup, an F-4 showed up on our wing in full afterburner yelling on guard to “GET THE BUFF OFF THE BOOM NOW!”

I guess he snap vectored to the biggest return he had on his radar…which was the two of us… with only fumes left.  We had enough gas to afford a little break but not enough to get were we needed to go.. so I backed off the boom.  No way could I afford to loose sight of the tanker and go through the blind man’s bluff rendezvous again…so I opted to slide to the right on the tanker wing then back off to the F-4’s wing position to wait our turn, again.  A few more turns in this formation and the F-4 took a disconnect, rolled inverted off the end of the boom, and disappeared into the night soup with not even a thank you.  We slid back into contact and started suckling again.  By this time I was exhausted.  We had already been airborne long enough to see the sun rise and set and it was already near sunrise again.  We discussed our low fuel state with the whole formation of tankers (we were a three ship with Russ Bennet and Gary Konnert on our wing) they agreed to drag us towards the post strike base while we were refueling.  I remember being filled with gratitude for the gesture and told them we owed our first borne or what ever they wanted.   

The whole point of the story is that we were prepared for this by the blood and sweat at CFIC.  The confidence and skills that it took to do what none of us had ever done before, under the most adverse scenario you can think of, was forged by the tough curriculum at CFIC.  This curriculum - including the WIFF - was the creation of men who had their turn in the meat grinder and understood the need for blood sweat and tears during training to forge aircrew who had the confidence and skills to do anything.

 

Cheers

Ponch

Posted in Flying the BUFF, Band of Brothers | Print | 1 Comment »

60-019 is in Final Parking

15. August 2008 by The Chuck.

(click on any thumbnail to see a larger view–use your browser’s back button to return to this posting)

The march to the Bone Yard continues. Like all old soldiers eventually do, it is time to let the memory of B-52H tail-number 60-019– a.k.a. “Balls-19″– start to fade away.

Billy Bob, Bush, and Stretch flew Balls-19 down there on 7 Aug. She had 17,885.7 “glorious hours” after the flight was over. Of course that is just flying time, which doesn’t take into consideration the myriad hours she stood nuclear alert with the crews of SAC.

Some folks don’t consider “alert” as combat time. That would be the folks who didn’t live it back when the Air Force was a “Great Way of Life.”

Deterrence is the art of war without combat. You can’t have deterrence without sufficient force structure to back up your words. Just words don’t cut it, if the antagonist doesn’t believe you will act. A Joe Lewis mouth with a Mickey Rooney butt just gets you spanked three out of five times–maybe four.

Balls-19 will be missed. Billy Bob said that she was “One trusty fella.” Somebody will figure out how to make a UAV do the job she leaves behind– never.

I was going to tell a specific story about Raz’n Hell II but I decided to tell you one from my G-model days instead.

By mid 1989, I was nearly finished with my last full line in the 328th Bomb Squadron at Castle. I had been “on the line” longer than any other IP in the 328 by that time. And I’d had many great students up till then, but those two were definitely top-drawer.

The copilot was a former B-52 navigator. He had done well enough in UPT to get his first choice of assignments–the resolute BUFF.

The pilot was a T-37 first assignment instructor pilot (FAIP) who was the first natural pilot I’d ever seen. He was proficient with AR on his second flight–never seen that before or since. You could show him something once and he could do it as well as you could. It must have been my excellent instruction, yeah, that’s it.

They each went on to win top-graduate award for their crew-position in the class, but not before they almost killed me. The whole thing taught me something very important.

Only three or four flights away from their check-ride, everything was going well. Base operations–error free. Preflight–error free. Start-engine, take-off, and level-off at cruise–no errors. Air refueling was picture-perfect. For me–as an instructor pilot–it was just about as boring as I could stand. Then we went low-level.

It was IR-300, a place that should still be familiar to many of you that flew the BUFF. The route was very mountainous at the beginning. Which is perfectly boring, because the calibration peak for the terrain avoidance (TA) equipment wasn’t until the very end of the leg. One constant altitude until cross-over. Yawn.

As per standard procedure, the studs were in the seats for low-level. I was in the IP wearing a chute but leaning forward to keep an eye on things. Weather was clear and a million. Eyes can get heavy on a navigation leg like that.

No problems. Same old thing. Here we go again. Eyes so heavy …

Through my lashes I watched a picture-perfect peak calibration. Good job. Yawn.

Shortly after the peak-check, the low-level route turned slightly left and descended about 7000 feet down the mountain range into the Black Rock Desert–probably the flattest spot in North America. No trees, no bushes–at least none you can see at 800 feet. The challenge was to get down to the desert early enough to take advantage of that flat area to accomplished a “flat and rolling calibration”. Why do two? Because you can. Never miss a chance to train.

If pilots followed the newly-calibrated TA trace down the mountain, they’d lose several miles of the desert. The standard technique back then was for the pilot to announce “Disregarding the trace,” and then descend using visual procedures. Which is exactly what all pilots did, every time on IR-300.

I was struggling with a boredom-induced near-coma as we descended down the backside of the mountain. The TA trace was at the top of the screen. Impact point in the EVS. I remember my “spider-senses” starting to tingle or maybe it was a guardian angel telling me, “Wake-up!” My eyes were wide open.

With only 1000 feet on the radar-altimeter, we still had a pegged VVI. Not good. Then the IP in me had something to do–and I did it. My picture-perfect pilot responded as directed and even with the aggressive 2-g pull-up–we dished out at 250 feet.

We climbed back to 800 feet and the rest of the ride was perfect. I remember the two pilots giving each other the “Oh no, we just hooked a ride” look. I was busy kicking myself in the butt for the next twenty minutes.

A perfectly good B-52 with a crew of ten warrior Airmen–almost a smoking-hole. What would the accident report have said? I’m glad that one was never written.

No matter how good an unqualified student is performing–they’re still unqualified. I remember something an old instructor pilot once told me, “The primary job of an student is to kill his instructor. If he can’t kill you, he wants to at least confuse you, so you’ll look stupid.”

To that I add, “It’s not the weak student that will kill you. It’s the picture-perfect student who lulls you into a false sense of comfort and security that will kill you–and it’s your fault if you let that happen.”

That desert excitement was all my fault. And I knew it. That day, I silently pledged to change my attitude and actions as an instructor from then on. As an instructor I would remain on the sharp edge. I knew then and forever that no matter how boring things appeared on the surface–sheer terror could raise its ugly head at any moment. Be prepared.

During our dedicated critique-day, I explained to them how to prevent something like that from ever happening again. After I shared those techniques, I told them that while they would have “busted” a check-ride, it wasn’t necessarily unsafe. After all, we still had another 250 feet to go.

I wish I’d had a camera to capture the look on their faces. They had expected to bust the ride, but instead they–no–we had all learned something that would stay with us forever.

So, unsafe? Probably not. A lot of pilots have flown at 250 feet. In 1987, I flew a Maple Flag sortie over Canada at 250 feet for almost two and half hours. And that reminds me of another story I’ll save for later.

If this story about the day I almost died helps anyone be a better instructor–it was well worth the effort to tell it.

Remember, the primary job of an instructor is to keep the student and the airplane reusable. Be careful out there.

It just makes sense.

Posted in Flying the BUFF, The Chuck's Comments | Print | No Comments »

Yak Checking In From CO

15. August 2008 by Yak.

Greetings from Pueblo, CO.

 Tammie, Morgan and I have completed the move to Pueblo and we’re getting settled in nicely.  We attacked the boxes pretty aggressively and have emptied the house of them.  We also got the posts set for the pasture last weekend and will string the wire this weekend.  It will be nice to get the horses on our own place. 

We did well selling the house in Louisiana (for sale by owner).  There was a real advantage in having bought that house seven years ago.  On the CO end, we did well, also.  We moved into a buyers market. 

I am flying USAF initial flight screening with Doss Aviation.  It is like the T-34 flying I did down in Pensacola in many ways and unlike in many.  Bottom line, I’m enjoying it quite a bit and it (combined with my retirement) leaves me netting about what I did last year. 

Well, folks I have a student at my desk…so back to it.  I’ll stay in touch.

Cheers,

Mark “Yak” Maryak (Lt Col, USAF, RETIRED).

Cell 318-401-2122

Home 719-647-2122

Posted in Band of Brothers | Print | 1 Comment »

Let’s Be Mindful Of Georgia

13. August 2008 by The Chuck.

Russia’s brutal invasion of Georgia is seen by some as a cry for respect–like a shout in the darkness, ”The Bear is not dead, it was merely hibernating.” But now that the dastardly deed is in progress, how the world deals with Russia will set the tone for future imperialist schemes.

Georgia is a small nation–about the size and population of South Carolina–in the Caucasus region of Asia. It became independent during the breakup of the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) following the Cold War. Since then, Russia has supported two break-away regions within Georgia: Abkhazia on the coast of the Black Sea and Ossetia in the middle of its northern border with Russia.

On August 7, the fighting started in Ossetia. Well, at least the shooting and killing started then. Georgia had been under an intense cybernetic attack since July. While its difficult to prove, much of the attack appears to have come from Russia. It was the cyber-equivalent of a blockade of Georgia. No cyber-business or commerce in or out of the cyber-ports–the government was cyber-crippled. Then kinetic shots were fired, a few people died, and Georgia reacted.

Their reaction against the Ossetia separatist forces was the “moral high ground” Russia needed to launch their invasion of Georgia. They just happened to have hundreds of tanks and thousands of soldiers ready to roll. Probably just a coincidence.

The Georgian forces were chased out of Ossetia but the Russians kept coming across into the rest of Georgia. They quickly took control of the air and their invading army was free-to-attack and free-from-attack by the diminutive Georgian air force. The United States has officially denounced the invasion, telling Russia to return to their August 6 positions.

Russia has sent various mixed messages. They said they would stop, but they didn’t. They said they had stopped, but they hadn’t. They said it was just like 9-11, but it wasn’t. They say they’re merely defending the independence of “Southern” Ossetia. Defending as they leveled buildings across Georgia, bombed airports and pipelines. They call their forces “peacekeepers”. They’re acting a bit like the old USSR did, invading any of their occupied nations when resistance stood-up. Hungary in 1956. Chechoslovokia in 1968. But our Secretary of State reminded the world today that things had changed.

“This is not 1968 and the invasion of Czechoslovakia, where Russia can threaten a neighbor, occupy a capital, overthrow a government and get away with it.”

Wow! Smart, beautiful, and tough.

But the toughest stuff is yet to happen. If the world is not shown that those words she spoke are true, millions of people could suffer. If Russia can invade and gobble up Georgia, why not the Ukraine? If Russia can have Georgia and Ukraine, why can’t China invade and conquer Taiwan? Once Taiwan goes, the United States will no longer be creditable as a superpower. Our allies would never take a chance on siding with us, because we will be seen as hollow and worthless.

Now, there’s a change we don’t want.

So what do we do? We need solutions not just criticism.

First of all, every member of NATO needs to publicly denounce Russia’s action. They need to make similar statements as our President and Secretary of State have. In an election year everyone seems to have some words to say but this challenge will either be fixed or broken–maybe beyond repair before January 2009. The official opinions of the NATO members need to be congruent with the official opinion of the United States.

That opinion must include, “[We] stand with the democratically elected government of Georgia. We insist that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia be respected.”

If the members of NATO can’t do that one simple thing–and do it quickly–then NATO has outlived any usefulness. NATO would need to either expel the dead weight or the United States would need to resign. I think NATO can belly-up-to-the-bar on this in the next day or at the most two.

That might be all it takes. But maybe not. What if Russia calls the bluff? What then?

Well first of all, it’s not a bluff. NATO would need to declare a no-fly zone over the entire country of Georgia. The Russian ground force would no longer be protected by an airpower umbrella. They would be subject to attack. Georgian forces defending their towns would have the freedom to maneuver for positional advantage. The Russian response would determine what would happen next. Columns of T-80s are no match for what could come their way. And if Russia pushed NATO in the air, there would be a new generation of Aces to put on playing cards for years to come.

NATO would only have to press as hard as was required, remembering the objective would be to stop Russian aggression–not kill them all. Ironically, we would be teaching the Russians how to respond with appropriate force. Some lessons are tougher than others.

But could this lead to a nuclear war? Would the Russians respond with nuclear weapons, forcing NATO nations to depopulate the Russian homeland? It could. But it won’t.

Vladimir Putin’s job pays a lot better than most. He’s the richest man in Europe, maybe the world. He’s also the Russian decision-maker. And he cares about himself–doesn’t smoke or drink to excess–has two well-educated daughters, has a lovely wife, and a little poodle named Tosca. Life is good for him. He doesn’t want a big war between Russia and NATO anymore than America does. But he does want more.

We just have to convince him that less is more. The less Russia invades its neighbors the more airplanes Russia will have.

What about the people of Southern Ossetia? Russia is just helping those people to have their liberty and independence, right? Okay, lets solve that problem too.

The people of Southern Ossetia are said to have a culture tied to the people of Northern Ossetia (a province in Russia). What do you say we have Georgia and Russia let all the Ossetia people have their liberty. The two regions could be united and allowed to be a sovereign, independent country. Maybe after a while they too, would like to join NATO.

It just makes sense.

Georgia,
Georgia,
No peace, no peace I find
Just this old, sweet song
Keeps Georgia on my mind

I said just an old sweet song,
Keeps Georgia on my mind  

 

 

Posted in International Nonsense, The Chuck's Comments | Print | 1 Comment »

Anybody Remember the WIFF?

12. August 2008 by The Chuck.

 

An F-15 driver asked me about my 10-23 story where I tucked in behind a Phantom then stayed with him through the first part of a lazy eight. He didn’t think a B-52 could do a lazy eight. Then I told him how we used to WIFF during AR. He said he’d have to see a video or picture to believe it. Can you believe that? He thought I was making it up.

The WIFF was a confidence maneuver designed to separate the men from the supermen until the end of the Cold War.

Some of you have to be old enough to remember the WIFF from Castle. (Heck, some of you are old enough to remember Polesti.) My first time was in mid-1987. Al Doi (remember him?) was my instructor on three of my five sorties, so he’s the one I remember most. I also flew with Smith (the famous dragging brake during takeoff into the overrun Smith) and another guy, I think it might have been Gordo Balanski but my memory is cloudy there.

Anyway the WIFF wasn’t exactly a lazy-8 like in pilot training, we adjusted power during the maneuver. We pulled some power on the downside after the turn to keep the speed from building too much and we pushed it in at the bottom as we came back up. We weren’t looking at the attitude indicator back in the bomber, eyes were on the tanker. But it sure looked pretty much about 90 degrees as we sliced down.

After I was at Castle and assigned to the 330 CFIS–around 1989–they changed the regs and tried to limit the bank to 55 degrees. I remember the initial scoffing at the limit, because the airplane couldn’t slice down until at least 70 degrees. The maneuver became outlawed after SAC was foreclosed-on and we weren’t based with the tankers anymore.

If I remember some more details of the maneuver correctly, the tanker started to roll with about 20 degrees of pitch. But I can’t remember how nose high we wound up. I do know that we stayed within aircraft limitations at the time (now the bank is limited via regulation).

Portable cameras weren’t as common back then. The only picture I have is the one posted–taken from a tanker and used on the going-away plaques at CFIC for years.

Anybody have any better pictures–Andy or Britt or Yak? Anybody got any better stories–Ponch or Doug or Larry? Anybody remember when they first started doing the WIFF–Elwood or DB or Dragon? Anybody know if WIFF stands for something–James or Bob or Moses? Maybe obscene–John or Pat or Ted? Or is it just a variation of wifferdill?

Anybody?

 

Posted in Flying the BUFF | Print | 4 Comments »