"David Hartung" wrote:
"Mike Marron" wrote:

Having said that and for those who are interested, my Dad was one
of the first group of fighter pilots to operate supersonic fighters
(e.g: Dueces) with operational FIS squadrons back in the mid to
late '50's. A while back I shared with the NG a local newspaper
story about him ejecting from an F-102 over Wisconsin (predictably,
the nitpicker contingent here even picked apart THAT!) Anyway,
he especially loved the Duece's maneuverability and often spoke
fondly of the ol' bird. Seems Walt BJ who also flew the Duece felt
exactly the same way about it.

Perchance was your dad flying out of Truax at Madison? My Dad was a Pilot
for the ANG squadron at Madison. When he joined the unit in about 1956 they
were flying F89s, in late 1964 Dad was TDY to Perrin in Texas to learn to
fly the 102, he flew the Deuce from then until his retirement from the unit
in 1972. This doesn't have much to do with the 102 in SEA discussion, please
accept my apologies.

No apologies necessary. Yes, he was out of Truax when he bailed out
and he also checked out in the Duece at Parrin in the mid/late '50's.
Here's the post I sent to RAM last year:

***

My Dad punched out of an F-102A over Wisconsin in the late '50's.
Here's a few excerpts from local newspaper clippings:

Truax Jet Crashes; Pilot Safe

PORTAGE -- A Dagger F-102 jet from Truax Field crashed and exploded in
a wooded swamp north of here today, minutes after the pilot, 1st Lt.
Robert Marron, 29, jumped to safety.

The plane crashed about 10 miles from the spot where Marron's
parachute landed. The Air Force put up a security guard around
the wreckage this afternoon. The plane crashed in a sparsely populated
area on the Marquette-Columbia County line.

An Air Force spokesman at Truax Field said the plan suffered
"mechanical difficulties" during a two-plane flight. The spokesman
said Marron stayed with the plane until he had guided it away from
populous areas then bailed out.

The Air Force spokesman indicated that the plane was armed and
probably caused a tremendous explosion when it crashed into the swamp.


An eyewitness, Gary Stevens, was plowing about a quarter mile away,
ran across the swamp and arrived at the plane, "just as the pieces
stopped smouldering." He said that the plane exploded "like a small
atomic bomb" when it hit the ground and that when he reached the scene
"there wasn't a piece of the plane so big you couldn't hold it in your
hand." Stevens watched the pilot come down and said later that he
"just got there when the pilot walked over to me."

Truax Field immediately sent a team to the scene to disarm and
retrieve the armaments and to take wreckage back to Madison where
investigators will attempt to determine the cause of the fire.

Marron, a pilot, with the 325th fighter interceptor squadron, has been
stationed at Truax since he graduated from pilot school in 1957.

#30#

Of course, over a few beers, Dad explained his ejection story in much
more vivid detail.

One particular aspect of his story that stands out in my memory is
when the flabbergasted farmer ran over to him and asked, "Are
you OK!??!??"

His typical fighter-pilot manner of irreverence reply to the farmer
was, "Yeah...are *you* OK?!!?" ;-))

-Mike Marron
Clearwater, FL

***

-Mike Marron