Its funny how as we get older something can trigger a flood of memories...I was on a bike ride a while ago downtown San Diego and smelled this wonderful BBQ...I followed my nose and it led me to a BBQ place called Kansas city BBQ (never been there before)...it was loaded with topgun pictures, the old piano, the bar where some movie scenes was shot, the waitress couldnt wait to tell me about part of the topgun movie that was shot there...wow how cool !!!..so I took some pictures to share...I was at the Fighter town U.S.A Miramar... topgun for 5 years...I got there just after a F-8 Crusader pilot punched out because of a warning light on his instrument panel..his plane crashed into the hanger killing 30 sailors...Believe me I was paranoid working in a hanger so I worked outside on the flight line for five years..to me it was the most exciting time of my life.. screaming jet engines all around..fighters returning or launching / recovering fighters, being knocked off my feet by another fighters jet blast even though my head was on a swivel..Trying not to be sucked into the intake of a running engine...The smell of burning JP-5....trying to hear a pilot with a problem, diagnose / fix, while the plane was ready for launch..pre and post flights....Egress problems, (ejection seat) weapon problems, (M-39 20 mm canons)..installing Aim- 9 sidewinders on the launching rails.....hydraulic leaks, burning hands removing Huffers...... fuel leaks, Gun dets. to El Centro for gun and bombing practice at chocolate mountain ...our commander shot at a target drone being towed by a A-4 Skyhawk, he missed it but had shot down MIGS over North Vietnam ...he called on the radio and asked if we could help him out, we went into the hanger and found a deck broom, we located the target in the desert and punched a lot of perfect 20 mm canon holes in the soft aluminum skin before towing it back..that night I taped a cork gun to the skippers gun camera with a note Lol.....glad he had a sense of humor !!..we had some crashes but never lost a pilot...I received a letter from topgun Lt Cmdr Rullifson. for saving the life of a topgun instructor pilot during a launch at Miramar 1974..The pilot standing by the Navy Biplane I worked for...my mentor...kinda like a Dad.....Lt. Col A.d. brown..wounded in the Korean War flying a F-86 fighter... F-100 fighter pilot in Vietnam...a member of the A.F.. Thunder bird team in the 1950s RIP. A.D.....When my son Raymond (8years) was small I would take him to topgun on a Stand down day, let him sit in the cockpit of the fighter plane I was plane captain on, and yes I watched him like a hawk, explaining about the ejection seat safety pins on the hand triggers....all the pictures etc were lost in a house fire Christmas 1989...But I still have lots of great great memories....:)....Just wanted to share....
Posted on: Sun, 21 Dec 2014 00:11:57 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015