UNITED STATES CODE, TITLE 36, CHAPTER 10 (PATRIOTIC CUSTOMS) §175. Position and manner of display (m) (1) the term ‘half-staff’ means the position of the flag when it is one-half the distance between the top and bottom of the staff;

and this note: (It’s sarcasm–there’s no such thing as 1/3 staff, except when someone has made a mistake)

The Chuck

Very interesting and much appreciated.

I hope everyone is doing well, Bob

1. I have some great pics of the Whiff and some footage if I can pull them out. Dave Legard and I went up together (just after the 55 degree limitation) and tried to see where the old BUFF would roll. Found out the issue was really getting enough bank in at a fast enough rate to get the tanker’s nose tracking through the horizon. Seems to me about 60 degrees was acceptable, but 70 was more comfortable. I know of some pics that are greater than 90 degrees and have heard the remark that, “seems it would have been easier to just roll through, but …”.

2. Funny you mentioned about Dave’s dragging brake. I was outside of the squadron smoking a cigarette and talking to Bob Bruley when the a/c ran off the end of the runway and into the Atwater orchards. I had a similar incident the first day the runway was opened back up. The a/c would not fly at unstick. Trim was OK, so I pushed the throttles up as far as they would go (screw the EPRs) and I remember seeing the busted BUFF off in the Atwater orchards coming up fast. Funny, but I had never gotten such a clear view of the approach lights before. Foxtrot called over CP freq that he thought we might have scraped the lights, but after he inspected them, no issues. We left the gear down on climbout (something Alpha got on my case for afterwards) as once we got airborne, we climbed like a banshee. Once we felt the gear cooled (and I removed the seat cushion from my posterior), we sucked up the gear and continued on our mission. Declared the IFE on the way back and was met by more people (including Alpha) than I care to remember. After ripping the a/c apart, I was told they found the wrong filters (10 micron vs 100 micron) in the brake hydraulic system. Every BUFF had to be checked and they only found a couple with the wrong filters. If not for Dave’s incident, I shudder to think what could have happenend with a less experienced student and/or IP at the controls. Dragging brakes are nothing to mess with. After debriefing (with Alpha and Boeing engineers) we all went back to the shop for a few brews. Of course, Alpha thought I should have sucked the gear up right away to get climbing and then put them back down. Maybe, but climbing wasn’t an issue right after we got airborne and I didn’t want to risk putting hot brakes underneath our seats. I know Dave went through hell over this incident.

3. I left CFIC in July of 1992 (got there in summer of 89) and I have considered it an honor and privilege to have served with the finest aviators the AF had to offer. Unfortunately, when we became the 330th CFIS (no longer a Branch, but a Squadron), things did change (I think Billy Richey was the last CFIC Branch Chief and first CFIS Squadron CC, with JJ Parker the second SqCC. However, the only demos I know of that were modified were the loss of engine on the runway and the WHIFF. Fortunately, the candidates (we never called them students as we instructors were their “students”) got to see every demo. We had a great group and anyone who had the privilege will certainly remember the words “Fire in the hole” and their reaction immediately after hearing those words. We sure went through some desks!

Thanks for bringing back the memories and as soon as I can figure out how to post to this site, I’ll post a pic of the WHIFF (one that’s not on the plaques).

Best regards to everyone!

Paul DJ (DeeJ)

Congrats on the check ride, I’m confident you will continue to succeed there.

Where is the paper published? Is it available on line? How about a link.

The Chuck