Joe Delphi wrote:


Anecdotal evidence, yes, but I think their corporate cover up makes sense
culturally because of the USAF's very tight regulation and zero tolerance
for mistakes.

I agree, the Air Force has always been better at PR then the other services.

As long as we are on the subject, there was an incident a few years back
when a younger F-14 pilot was on a cross country flight and stopped to
re-fuel at his home town airport, just so his family could see him. The
F-14 crashed on either takeoff or departure while leaving the hometown
airport. Not sure how he justified landing at a non-military airfield for
re-fueling unless there weren't any military airfields around - I think that
was one of the focal points of the accident investigation. Not sure if he
was hot-dogging it when departing or if something just went wrong. Perhaps
someone else has more accurate details.

JD

It happens all the time. I live in Savannah GA, and a local airport operation
(FBO) has a govt. fuel contract, even though MCAS Beaufort is about 30 miles
away as the Hornet flies, Hunter Army AF is about 6 miles away, and there is a
large ANG C-130 base on the other side of the field.

Back before 9/11, when elderly airport kids were allowed on the ramp to
rubberneck, I spent a lot of Friday afternoons there.

I saw all manner of military aluminum, from Harriers and Hornets to Sherpas,
T-34's, and various mil versions of biz jets.

The pilots got better and faster service, a nicer pilots' lounge and less
hassle. People coming to meetings and conferences at Hunter would even land and
leave their planes at the Savannah airport and drive to the Army base. ( Note:
this was not a runway preference decision. Hunter used to be a B-47 base and is
a shuttle alternate landing site.)

I think the taxpayer dollars came out about the same.

PS - One T-34C arrived during a Bonanza fly-in event. I told the guys they had
the ugliest Bonanza there, but could win any races!

Bob McKellar