use of rockets on aircraft

[Olham 164]

I guess your lady still can't believe that you should be grown up?

Mmuahahahahaaa!!!

[von Baur 54]

Happy belated, Lou.

 

I don't remember where I first heard this, but it seems appropriate.

 

"You don't stop playing because you get old. You get old because you stop playing." 

 

And don't feel bad. I've got you beat by five months. Which leads me to believe we were likely in the Air Force at about the same time. When did you get to Lackland?

[RAF_Louvert 101]

.

 

von Baur, I went to college for two years before I joined the Air Force so I did not get down to Lackland until fall of '74.  Man, do I remember Lackland.

 

 

Rainbow, rainbow don't be blue,

Rainbow, rainbow don't be blue,

My recruiter screwed me too.

My recruiter screwed me too.

Rainbow, rainbow don't look down,

Rainbow, rainbow don't look down,

Ain't no discharge on the ground,

Ain't no discharge on the ground.

Sound off

One Two

Sound off

Three Four

Bring it on home now.

One Two Three Four One Two ... THREE FOUR!

 

.

[Olham 164]

The Air Force remained a dream for me; over general conscription only very few came to the Luftwaffe.

I entered my service on 1 August 1974. First we had 6 weeks of fundamental training; then I came to

the artillery, where I became a radio teletype operator. I lead a group of 4 men (lead operator (me),

driver and 2 operators). We had our own UNIMOG radio truck, and it was fun sometimes.

I regard the army time like this: I wouldn't miss it, but I'd never want to go through it again.

Maybe you know what I mean.

Edited November 3, 2013 by Olham

[RAF_Louvert 101]

.

 

I know exactly what you mean mein freund.  And I was 8 weeks in basic and 5 months in tech school where I was trained as a Morse radio intercept operator.  Then it was on to various locations around Europe for both ground-based and airborne operations.

 

 

Who is that man behind the Foster Grants? 

 

.

[Olham 164]

Haha - would you buy a car from this man? Mmuahahahaaa!!

Reminds me of David Caruso in CSI Miami!

 

Your air force time sure got you travelling around, Lou - must have been

quite adventureous. And you got a good chance to learn to know some

of the good European beers, ales, stouts and bitters, I bet.

 

I can't find the only pic I had from my army time (must dig deeper!),

but simply imagine a tall beanstalk with a drab olive side cap on - that's me!

Edited November 3, 2013 by Olham

[RAF_Louvert 101]

.

 

He he, I can about imagine that pic Olham.  And oh my God yes the brews we drank!  How I dearly loved sitting in the biergartens and pubs and ale houses and enjoying those wonderful elixers.  I recall this one magical evening in a little ratskeller in Bremgarten where ... well ... I'll just leave it at magical.

 

.

[Olham 164]

I recall this one magical evening in a little ratskeller in Bremgarten where ... well ... I'll just leave it at magical.

 

Yeah, that is often better - god built it in to us, that we fortunately can't remember much

after a certain point of celebrating - god's mercy on us! Mmuahahahaaa!!!

[Hauksbee 103]

Who is that man behind the Foster Grants? 

 With troops like these, I can see why the Russkis retreated to their barren frozen, steppes.

[Hauksbee 103]

Could you give me/us some impressions of how it worked?

Greetings, Detlev. I missed your post. Just saw it this morning. Actually, there isn't much I can tell you. It only happened once. There were four of us. Me, Sitting Duck, and two others. (You still out there, Duck?) We had TeamSpeak, so we avoided the long pauses that you and I shared when we tried to fly ROF. We flew about for a bit and chased each other. Duck sat on my six while I twisted and turned. Despite all efforts, I never even saw him. (I didn't have TrackIR at the time). Then someone suggested a custom mission, so we defended Paris from a Zeppelin raid. And that was about it. Sorry there isn't more to relate.

Edited November 3, 2013 by Hauksbee

[MudWasp48 3]

Damm,

 

That young man was old enough to enlist?

 

You must be looking 31 now !

[von Baur 54]

OMG, Lou. Ditty-bopper? Then you followed me (by two years) to Keesler, too? I think my most lasting memory of KAFB was seeing a C-130 for the first time as it took off while a friend and I were playing handball on a court in "The Triangle". It looked like one of the buildings flying off. Little did I know then that I would be flinging my stupid ass from them and their brethren less than a year later.

 

No pics, I'm afraid. Too much respect for the camera lenses.

[RAF_Louvert 101]

.

 

Yuppers von Baur, Keelser for five months before being shipped across the pond.  Your mention of the C-130 reminds me that we boys would, on occasion, go to the end of the runway, lay on our backs with our heads towards the traffic, and wait for those monsters to come roaring right over our faces as they lifted off.  I seem to recall that beer was involved in this practice as well.

 

So were you a paratrooper v B, or were you jumping from them for sport.  

 

.

[von Baur 54]

A little of both, Lou. I let the Air Force pay to get me started (Ft. Benning in Oct of '73), then once I was sure I liked it I started doing it on the weekends. All told, I figure I have more than 1,000 more takeoffs in aircraft than I have landings in them. A pittance compared to those who've stayed with the sport as long as I would have liked, but still something to look back on.

 

Of course the ultimate was when I got to go HALO in Combat Control and went out at 20,000 feet with oxygen. Tailgating C-141's was extremely cool, too. First they'd raise the top half of the ramp, then they'd open the clamshells and finally drop the bottom of the gate. I always hummed the theme to "2001: A Space Odessy" when those clamshells opened. 

[RAF_Louvert 101]

.

 

Wowzers vB, you do have brass ones!  I went through jump training as a lark so that I could take the leap just once.  The day I went up to do my first jump the ground winds picked up after take-off and they wouldn't give us the green light.  I was literally standing at the door ready to go when the instructor pulled me back and said no.  I shipped out overseas the next day and never got myself screwed up tight enough again to try it.  I have very, very few regrets in my life, but that's one of 'em.

 

.

[von Baur 54]

Yeah, student wind limits are (or were when I was learning) 10mph, which is not much more than a gentle breeze. Many's the day that I sat around and watched everyone else havin' fun because of the wind. It was actually one of those days my mind started wandering and ultimately came up with the idea for a vertical wind tunnel at terminal velocity. When I mentioned it to the others I was roundly made fun of. And only a few years later Flyaway vertical wind tunnels were 'invented' by someone else and one is now part of HALO school.

 

And it might be for the best you never tried it, Lou. Otherwise you may have become hooked as I did. It's an expensive passtime and you may not have had the money to amass your magnificent collection. Memories may last forever (though the older I get the less I'm sure of that) but they can't be truly shared with others the way your treasures can.