On Sun, 02 Nov 2003 14:33:12 GMT, Andrew Chaplin wrote:

WaltBJ wrote:

OTH flying jet fighters kept me in the USAF despite some ****ty
overseas assignments. Thule, anyone? A test hop in a clean F4 is
sheer excitement. Any ride in a 104 is right up there on the fun
meter. I enjoyed 22 years of it, T33 on up through F4.

Very occasionally Canadian politicians say something witty, and in
about 1986 it was about the joy of flying in fighter jets.

The first CF-188s were delivered in about 1983 when the Liberals were
still in power. The Minister of National Defence of the day, Gilles
Lamontagne, was taken up for a familiarization ride. He, a former
navigator of the Bomber Command's 6 Group, said that the ride was
better than sex.

Come the next federal election, the Tories took power and Perrin
Beatty was eventually appointed MND. He got his familiarization ride,
which was followed by the obligatory photo op. When one of the press
recalled Lamontagne's remark and asked for his reaction, Beatty said,
"If I had to make a choice, I'd have to think seriously about giving
up flying."

Is not the CF-118 an F/A-18??


Al Minyard