Danny,
you ought to put this over on rec.aviation.stories. You also could use
some help from a nit-picking proof-reader. I probably don't qualify because
I enjoyed it too much, but make sure they have an bit of a military aviation
exposure.

--
Jim Carter
Rogers, Arkansas
"Danny Deger" wrote in message
...
Here is a flying story for you to enjoy -- I hope. I am almost finished
with a complete book. Anyone know how to get an agent of a publisher?

Danny Deger

7. Replacement Training Unit, RTU, Graduation

RTU was fairly straight forward. Lots of academics on aircraft systems
and combat maneuvering - both air-to-air and air-to-ground. It turned out
I had a good since of geometry that served me well in the cockpit. I did
well in dropping bombs and flying air-to-air combat.

I must confess something at this point. I am not by nature a violent
person. I have only been in two fights in my life and in both I was
attacked by the other person. I was forced to defend myself. I was
raised going to church on Sunday and read the bible. I thought the
teaching of non-violence made since and I tried my best to follow them.
Becoming a warrior in the form of a fighter pilot was really against my
nature, but it was a necessary step to becoming an astronaut. I also
realized I didn't want the world to fall to communism and if I had to
shoot down a couple of airplanes or drop a few bombs to help stop
communism I would do that. I didn't realize what I was getting into until
it was too late. The primary mission of F-4s in the Air Force at that
time was nuclear strike! If the big war broke out in Europe, I wouldn't
be shooting down another airplane, or dropping a few bombs on enemy ground
forces, I would be in the middle of general nuclear combat that would
probably end the world as we knew it.

My introduction to nuclear combat came in the form of an instructor that
loved his job. This guy was really kind of scary. He liked the nukes.
He thought if a war was started, nukes were the way to go. "Don't mess
around with those little firecrackers if you want to kill something. Go
for the big bang. With one of these babies a single F-4 can single
handily win the war." He didn't bother to mention the Russians had their
fair share of nukes and would also use them to win the war.

I was told anything and everything about how to drop a nuke was
classified. I must respect this and say nothing about it. Even though a
lot of information is available in open literature, I will respect the
need for secrecy and say nothing except this -- the checks and controls on
the release of nuclear weapons is as close to fool proof as it can be.
The chances of an accidental or unauthorized release is close to zero.

After learning how to drop nuclear bombs as well as conventional bombs, it
was time for our final flight at RTU. This was a final exam and a flight
that for the first time exercised a large number of aircraft hitting the
target in a coordinated fashion. I remember the flight well. I was
number 2 of a 2 ship formation and we were in the middle of the strike
package. We flew a low level training route to the range with other
aircraft flying different low level routes to the same range. Spacing was
done with timing. My lead was responsible for timing between our flight
and the other flights. I just flew formation off of him. We flew tactical
spread - I stayed line abreast of him separated by about a mile. This is
the standard formation used today by combat aircraft. There is enough
room for independent maneuvering and each aircraft can watch the others
tail for an attacking aircraft coming from behind. The problem is turning
the formation. After the turn both aircraft need to end back up line
abreast again. The Air Force has developed a set of check turns and
weaving to do this.

The battle plan was for my lead to attack the target first. We were only
dropping 25 pound practice bombs that put out a little smoke. But, they
simulated regular bombs that generate a large amount of fragmentation. I
needed to pass over the target after lead's bombs fragments had time to
get below my altitude. To get this spacing I turned hard into lead and
crossed behind him at a 90 degree angle. I flew about a mile to the side
and made a hard turn to parallel his path, but now well behind him. We
both used a standard popup attack. At about 5 miles from the target I
made a hard 30 degree turn away from the target and pulled the nose up 30
degrees. Look toward the target area and find the target. I see it, but
the angles are wrong. Climb to 4,000 feet and pull into the target. The
angles are getting worse. I can't roll out and be on final. Intuitively
I realize I need to do a small and quick barrel roll to line up on the
target. This is not the way it is supposed to work. I have never done a
roll in the middle of a bomb pass. Without much thought I do it. I have
enough sense to tell my back seat instructor, "Rolling onto final."
Without this call I was afraid he might think I was out of control and
bailout on me.

The roll works great. It occurs to me the instructor might find my roll
as unsafe and bust me on the ride, but I end up on final and drop my
string of practice bombs. I find out later I hit the target. Now it is
time to egress and get back into formation. I turn to the egress heading
and advance the throttles to military power. The plan is for lead to do
two 90 degree turns to fall back and get us back into formation. I see
lead and watch his turns. Not enough - I am still way back. Time for
more speed. I move the throttles past the military power detent and take
them to full afterburner. I feel the comforting push back in the seat. I
am still way back but have lots of fuel for afterburner. I leave the
throttles parked full forward. I am supposed to be line abreast with lead
and I hate being out of formation.

The planned altitude is 500 feet. Looking outside it looks about like 500
feet, but I check my altimeter. It reads 1,500 feet. I don't think I am
that high but altimeters don't lie - I start a slow decent. The ground is
starting to look pretty close so I check the altimeter again - 1,300 feet.
I am starting to think something is wrong with the altimeter because if I
go any lower I will be below the trees. One more glance at the altimeter.
I see it bouncing between 100 feet and 1,300 feet. I suddenly realize
what is wrong. I am right at Mach 1 and the shock wave is bouncing around
the altimeter's static port on the nose of the plane. A little bit faster
and the shockwave will move in front of the plane and clean up the static
port. I am supersonic on the deck at about 100 feet!!!

About this time I realize I am leaving the range and starting to head down
the Kissimmee river back to Homestead AFB. I see a lock on the canal.
There are 4 cars in a parking lot and several chairs with people fishing.
I am going so fast I barely take it in before going straight over the top
of them. I have a good idea of what those poor fisherman went through --
the work loud I am sure doesn't even come close. I have heard F-4s in the
traffic pattern at 1,500 feet and a modest power settings. This is so
loud you can't carry on a normal conversation. Supersonic at 100 feet in
full burner has got to be really, really bad on the old eardrums. One
thing I know for sure, they didn't hear me coming. I was going faster
than the speed of sound.

My efforts finally paid off. Lead slowed down some and I finally caught
up. We did a short low level to egress the target area and made a landing
back at Homestead without incident. I was concerned about busting the
ride for one of many reasons - rolling on final, being out of formation,
and going supersonic off the range. None of this was a problem. The
instructor passed me and I was soon off to the tobacco fields of North
Carolina.