August 01, 2006
Buzzed
I know that I've written before about having air on station for our mortar shoots, and what a rush it was to have the fighters buzzing the tops of the trees overhead. I love that shit...
Then there was another time, near Ellsworth AFB in South Dakota. A buddy and I were out there for Sturgis, and we went cruising one night. Rather than take the normal way back to Custer from Rapid City, we just hopped on a highway and rode. Maybe not the smartest thing to do, but it paid.
We got out in the middle of nowhere, and we could see a military base off to our left. He motioned for us to stop, so I pulled over. We got out a map to orient ourselves, when we heard a roar. Looking back over our shoulders, we discovered that we were in line with a runway, and a jet was taking off. Two jets to be exact.
What a rush!!! They went right over our heads, not much more than a hundred feet if I were to take a guess. The roar was deafening, and the night was lit up as the afterburners kicked in. I watched in child like fascination, and found that I wasn't the only one. My buddy just sat there grinning, then turned to me. "That... was... FUCKING COOL!!!" When we hooked up with our friends in Custer, that was all we could talk about.
I had those thoughts come back to me today when I saw this video. Short but very sweet. Check it out...
Buzzed by a Harrier... how sweet! I get goosebumps everytime I watch it! Posted by That 1 Guy at August 1, 2006 05:42 PM | TrackBack
My favorite thing about the drive between Tampa and Orlando was bein' on I4 when the jets came in or were out and about. I can't tell you how many times I pulled over just to watched. Never had THIS experience but damn....cool. Very cool.
Posted by: Tammi at August 1, 2006 06:51 PMLOL, MAGTF training in the Yuma desert we had lots of these flybys. I once attacked a remote fuel depot set up for training operations and had a couple of these bad boys fly in and simulate killing us while they were in a hover.
Then the shit they did in Iraq in 91 beat the hell out of everything else I ever seen.
OK I gotta tell my story....when my oldest son was about 4, that was about 20 years ago we lived on an island off the coast of Maine. There was one fresh water pond, Goose Pond, that had native trout in it & we went fishing early that morning. Sitting in a canoe in complete silence I heard a roar & just above the tree tops came a huge black plane at break-neck speed. It gave me chill bumps. My 4 year old was in awe, with a lump in my throat I told him that was the sound of freedom. Later, like 6 months later I found out it was a test flight of the Stealth....a seceret plane that the USA was almost ready to unwrap.
Posted by: Tom Hindman at August 2, 2006 05:42 AMAwesome! I could watch that all day, I'd need ear plugs, but dude! Cool!
Posted by: oddybobo at August 2, 2006 06:56 AMVery cool.
Posted by: jimmyb at August 3, 2006 09:37 AM
