My Starfighter stories run to:
- A Canadian 104 pilot let me sit in his on the ground. I commented how uncomfortable it was to handle the throttle with my elbow banging on the rear bulkhead/seat. He said, “Yuh, it isn’t in that position very often”. Doh!
- Returning to Gut from the south, up comes a distress beacon signal (we used to fly around -Puma- on TR+G.) The pilot, name withheld, couldn’t remember how to select the homer to get the pointer working. CG could, and it settled right on the nose. We collected the Cloggie pilot in less than 5 mins, and took him to Gutersloh. He was clearly not too badly hurt. He gave me the beacon/radio from his gear as a keepsake, but my pilot made me return it. Because he wasn’t the recipient! The Cloggie went on to be a KLM 747 captain. Stlll had a sore back at retirement!
- Oh, a third... On a Bad K coolex, I asked another Canadian (knowing the answer full well) how a 104 glides. "Like a buncha keys", was his response.
CG