Hey, the man did say it was easy, and he ain’t known to be a lyin’ sumbish…
Busy Tuesday, after the Memorial Day weekend.
We had a Hurlburt Field based MC-130J do one approach, then RTB. I think it went tech, as it had it’s gear down and was in the closed pattern, then abruptly climbed away and went home.
A pair of Columbus AFB T-38s. Pretty typical. My buddy Chris is a FBO guy, so I caught him working. He gets me ramp access.
But the highlight of the day was a very unannounced arrival of a MIT Saab 340B, test aircraft.
Plus 3, DHC-6 Twin Otters. They were all headed down to Eglin AFB for some testing.
Memories of playing Halo 2 in college triggered
Ben Burnley is a huge gamer and that was inspiration for writing Blow Me Away for Halo 2.
You make me feel very old!
Not really me but…
I can smell the burned jet fuel, the sea, the military hardware… Can I miss something I’ve never experienced?
Dunno. I do, though.
I remember the jet fuel and the military hardware smell from my military service.
I also remember when my service time was up and I was walking around the hangar, taking it all in and thinking “was this my career in aviation?”
The SwAF was downsizing as there would be no more wars as the russians wasn’t scary anymore…! So no jobs there.
Fast forward about 5 years. I was walking around the hangar of the flightschool, remembering the smell of fuel and lubricants, all over again.
Turns out civilian hardware smells a lot like military stuff.
I said to myself;
Even more so when they are flying former military aircraft.
Wheels
We had some RNoAF SAAB Safaris, on loan from the military flightschool, but they smelled a lot like the old Cessna 172s that we used.
Then we got brand new Grob 115D and Piper PA-28, and they had that new car smell, for a short while. The odour of fuel, oil, burnt exhaust and sweaty students quickly takes over.
Speaking of which…
…the one I liked most by far was the smell of an old worn but well maintained DHC-1 Chipmunk.
I will post a picture of the cockpit if I find it.
EDIT: Here we go. I can still smell it
At least four of those gauages were ripped right out of a Spitfire, weren’t they?
Heading into town Thursday morning, this was the sunrise
And speaking of the smells of an aircraft. I got out on one of our local tankers to practice some preflights and knock the rust off, ahead of my requalification. Man, I’ve missed this.
Waaaaaait a minute…Tennessee?
I am so jealous of your job.
Must be well paying. My last boss was an ex-aircrew refueller in RAF VC-10s and he now owns a large garage and taxi service!
Yep!
Thanks. I’m looking forward to get back into the jet after 8 years. You guys will get some pics.
I didn’t know we had tankers. I grew up seeing C-5s flying in and out of Memphis. Heard they all went to C-17s now.
Memphis has the “Elvis” C-17s. Knoxville has the “Soda” KC-135s.
Soda instead of Coke is blasphemy