Originally Posted by
West Coast
Except from the book discusses a Jag pilot with what sounded like an aircraft issue landing at Tonopah and subsequently wrapping the cute around one of the mains. Anyone here fess up to being the guy or knowing who he is?
I can't find any mention of the Jaguar in Davies' book but Col. Peck says it was from No. 54 Squadron and there is a small picture of the plane with the checkerboard and rampant lion markings. I can't see the aircraft number, it seems to be discreetly (or mercifully
) hidden behind the wing in the photo.
Maintenance guy Don Lyon tells the story (now, this is no s**t...):
When the Royal Air Force Jaguar fighter aircraft landed without notice or clearance at Tonopah, the pilot deployed his drag ’chute to slow the jet. As he attempted to turn off the runway, the crosswind changed direction into a quartering tail wind and the ’chute blew through 90 degrees and wrapped itself around the left main landing gear. The pilot didn’t know this had happened, however. We quickly drove out to the Jaguar, frantically waving at him to stop. Bill and I quickly cut the drag ’chute into several pieces to extract it from the wheels, tires, and brakes. We then guided the pilot to a parking spot outside the MiG compound and he shut the Jaguar down. When the pilot de-planed, I sliced the Jaguar patch off his flightsuit!
Security showed up immediately and essentially took the pilot into custody. He wasn’t the least bit upset and only wanted to get to a phone so he could talk to his unit at Nellis and tell them what had happened, and that he and the aircraft were secure.
I believe George Thomas was the security guy that “bagged the Brit.” Security then came into the compound and found “Obi Wan” Henderson in his office and reported that some guy had landed a funny looking airplane on their air base and was talking some kind of funny English! “Obi Wan” dealt with the issue, and the next day a couple of maintenance guys and a pilot showed up, fixed the aircraft and the jet was flown out. Neither the Brit pilot nor the maintainers saw anything unusual because all our “toys” were out of sight.
Over the years I've heard a familiar yarn about 'the time I wuz at Red Flag and wandered into Dreamland airspace'. 'Why, they debriefed me for two days and I had to quit the Air Force and become an airline pilot'. This is a variation on the old 'they fired me because I knew too much' (in my case it was usually the opposite
).
You can check the schedule of the Janet 737 flights to Tonopah here:
Flight Finder McCarran Intl (KLAS) - Tonopah Test Range (KTNX) FlightAware
As you can see some of the flights apparently land there, others go somewhere else.
Reminds me of this court dialog from one of Richard Lederer's books:
Q. Did you ever stay all night with this man in New York?
A. I refuse to answer that question.
Q. Did you ever stay all night with this man in Chicago?
A. I refuse to answer that question.
Q. Did you ever stay all night with this man in Miami?
A. No.