Message posted by Peter Merlin on March 26, 2012 at 6:44:00 PST:
My brother-in-law was a backseater on F-4s during the mis 1980s. While flying a training mission over the Nellis Range, the pilot noticed a warning light indicating that one of the wing hinges was not locked (remember, the F-4 had wings that folded at the midpoint for storage). He declared an emergency, and received a response from someone asking if he needed to land immediately. He said, "yes," and was vectored to Tonopah Test Range airfield. The F-4 landed safely on Runway 32, and rolled nearly to the end of the 12,000-foot strip. The pilot taxied back to the opposite end of the field and parked near the control tower. After shutting down the engines, the two crewmen climbed out the of the plane, where they were greeted by security police with automatic weapons who told them to get on the ground. They were not handcuffed but they had sacks placed over their heads so that they couldn't see anything. As they were being marched to their inevitable security debriefing, they heard an angry voice (it turned out to be a colonel who was in charge) say, "Get those damned bags off their heads. We just gave them a 'tour' of the flightline."
In Reply to: Re: Question to Peter Merlin posted by Don on March 25, 2012 at 23:35:56 PST:
Replies: