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Holy Moly! Buzzed by fighter jets (1 Viewer)

Jeff Faith

Agent
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Feb 28, 2000
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Last week during the "no fly" orders, we had two idiots in small planes that were forced down by F-16's patrolling our airspace here in Texas.
The first guy was close to my house (NE Ft.Worth area) and he thought that the FAA had re-opened the skies. 2 F-16 jets forced him to make an emergency landing. Video on the news showed some lady who was almost hysterical after she witnessed the jets "headed straight towards the small plane". I wish I could have witnessed this!
biggrin.gif

The other incident was near Crawford where the president's ranch is located. This old guy was 71 and said he and his son were "joyriding". Near the president's ranch? Wrong plan!!
Jeff
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Andrew 'Ange Hamm' Hamm

Supporting Actor
Joined
Apr 7, 1999
Messages
901
We had three F-16s buzz our neighborhood in Richmond on Wednesday night around 9:30. It scared the crap out of us. I was almost in tears in fright, and my wife was crying. I think the scars from last Tuesday are deeper in some of us than we think.
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Rob Willey

Screenwriter
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Apr 10, 2000
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Rob
I tell you, seeing one of those up close is enough to make a guy weep! Now that is some fine hardware.
I had the same opportunity a few years ago during the Fleet Week celebration in S.F. This enormous piece of black metal just floats overhead without a sound. Quite a contrast to the Blue Angels that had just left the area.
Sadly, this year's Fleet Week festivities were cancelled yesterday due to safety concerns.
Rob
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Scott Strang

Screenwriter
Joined
May 28, 1999
Messages
1,146
Dan B WI, U.S.A.
sez
About 6 years ago, a Stealth bomber flew over my house, pretty low and slow. It was unusual, because they don't often fly in the daylight, and I am in the middle of nowhere in Wisconsin.
I tell you, seeing one of those up close is enough to make a guy weep! Now that is some fine hardware.

Have you ever seen one on the ground? I live about 80 miles from Barksdale AFB in Bossier, LA. Once a year they have the Holiday in Dixie airshows. The last 3 years we've gone they've had the 117A Stealth fighter and the Stealth Bombers (B2?) do demos multiple times. This year they also had an SR-71A on display along with the Stealth models. They always have guards around them but never the other stuff including F15's and f16's, B1B etc. Back in '76 I remember going to the Barksdale show and back then the SR-71A was the real babe. They had guards around it then too.
It amazes me that entertainment this good can be free (or not cost anything directly). The Thunderbirds and Blue Angels take off with their afterburners on it's almost enough to make you jiz on yourself. It really is that good.
I took my digital camcorder and found that I was almost able to get the full sound intensity of their engines recorded. The camcorder has auto record level so it compresses some. If you have manual level control, the sound could be nothing short of awesome.
I sure hope they continue to have the shows despite what's been happening lately. It wouldn't surprise me if they didn't though.
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We are the citizens of the United States of America. Resistance is futile. We CANNOT be stopped so don't bother trying.
 

Scott Strang

Screenwriter
Joined
May 28, 1999
Messages
1,146
The bad thing about shooting down an airliner (aside from death of the passengers)is being completely unable to control where the pieces fall. The thought of having very large pieces of debris fall into a neighborhood is very un-nerving.
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We are the citizens of the United States of America. Resistance is futile. We CANNOT be stopped so don't bother trying.
 

Scott Strang

Screenwriter
Joined
May 28, 1999
Messages
1,146
Stephen Orr Virginia Beach, VA, USA
had this to say........
It's the sound of freedom, baby. Crank it up...

And the smell of that burned kero is the smell of victory.
I love that sound; it's music to my ears.
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We are the citizens of the United States of America. Resistance is futile. We CANNOT be stopped so don't bother trying.
 

Ryan Witt

Agent
Joined
Dec 15, 1999
Messages
37
I attend college in Warrensburg, Missouri (Central Missouri State University) which is about 10 minutes away from Whiteman AFB.
Anyway (not to rub it in) you can see a Stealth bomber fly over head about once a week. I guess, Whiteman must be the central base for the Stealth.
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Clinton McClure

Rocket Science Department
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Even with the sweet scream of fighter planes, my favorite sound is still the massive thump thump thump thump of gunship & personnel choppers skimming at treetop level. It's always been music to my ears.
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Stephen Orr

Screenwriter
Joined
Mar 14, 1999
Messages
1,099
As some of you probably know by now from the "What do you do for a living?" thread, I'm a Navy chief working public relations for the Naval Reserve. From my office window, I can see the air strip on the air station side of Naval Station Norfolk, and can see planes and jets taking off and landing every day. Also, I'm very close to an aircraft intermediate maintenance facility, and they test jet and prop engines all the time less than an eighth of a mile from my location. Sometimes the smell of fuel (known as JP5) gets pretty strong. Reminds me of my tours of duty on the Saratoga and Eisenhower.
Up till Sept 11, a bunch of homeowners near the NAS Oceana air field complained about noise because the fighter jet patterns flew right over their neighborhoods, and even initiated lawsuits. However, I don't think there's been a peep out of 'em since.....
BTW, keep all of the military in your thoughts and prayers. Our Reservists are only being called up, for now, to fill in stateside for those active duty folks hustling over to the Middle East. But last night, I attended a function where Congressman Ed Shrock (R) from Va., said they're expecting this war to last upwards of 8-9 years.
My son, a senior this year with an extremely promising future as singer, told my wife and I yesterday that he's seriously considering going into the military once he graduates from high school. He's already been accepted at a very nice Christian college in Texas, but he feels very strongly about the role his generation will play in the next few years. We, of course, will support any decision he makes...
(babble, babble)
 
Joined
Mar 8, 1999
Messages
33
Well, there's a final word on this particular incident.
On Thursday, the rule that only planes with working transponders (i.e., FAA-trackable) were allowed to fly was still in force (it has since been dropped) and, coincidentally, two flights in the area of the Petaluma Airport on that evening had some kind of transponder-related problem. One guy just entered the wrong transponder code and the other inadvertantly didn't have his on.
The FAA claimed it didn't consider either to be any kind of threat, but wanted to have the planes identified, hence the scrambling of the F-16s. There are some interesting details in the story, though it is a little self-contradictory--there is more than one reason given for why the guy without a transponder was being checked out.
http://www.pressdemo.com/local/news/22planes_b1.html
-Robert
[Edited last by Robert F. O'Connor on September 23, 2001 at 04:34 PM]
 

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