F-14 to Iran : story by a Top Gun and Nam vet
 

Very interesting read on this particular page on this former naval aviator' personal wee site of his navy career from. Vietnam to. Miramar and to commercial airline....

F-14 Ferry Flight to Iran


Cheers

Interesting story. Not sure I would want to venture to Iran as a tourist now though...

A friend of mine was on Iran this January. He was skiing near Teheran and touring the country on car. No problems at all (well, no booze allowed "legally").

He tried to go to Afghanistan but without luck (no VISA, and some unfriendly AK47 bearers on the frontier)

Another account from inside Iran is by Charlie Walker. He has written about cycling across Iran and Afghanistan then back to Iran

A friend my senior year in high school (1979-80, in Ogden Utah) was Iranian.

His father was a Colonel in the IrAF, and he had brought his family with him when he came to Hill AFB, Utah to command the training of IrAF F-4 pilots. After the revolution they asked for, and were granted, political asylum.

His father was upset that he had me drive him home from school one day, as the family was keeping a very low profile (almost "hiding") in case the revolutionaries were looking for them. It was only the facts that we had met in JROTC (I was his son's Platoon Commander), and that my father was police, that made me barely acceptable as a friend.

I was in Iran in January - very friendly & generous people. The ones that do not have religeon too badly don't like their government much - but they realise it is very difficult to change their government much...that said they dislike the governments of countries that impose sanctions more than they dislike their government.

You can not get any alcohol, especially not 55% proof Armenian vodka that tastes like the sweetest grappa as it is distilled from dried fruits....that is totally forbidden....;)

I once flew from Friedrichshafen to Frankfurt during the time that the World Cup football contest was being held. The Iranian team had been accommodated somewhere nearby and were travelling on the same flight - they were about the only other Business Class passengers.

What a very polite, quiet group they were.

But what was rather sad was knowing that the stunningly gorgeous Iranian girls, who travelled on the S-bahn which I was taking to the Hbhof (they were only going as far as the footie stadium to watch the match), would be locked in jail if they'd worn the same clothes in Iran. One of them was dressed in an Iranian flag and very little else - which would undoubtedly have caused the ayatollahs to have a coronary.

I suppose if your idea of diplomacy is to behave like John 'Lurch' Kerry or William 'Mekon' Haigh, then it's hardly suprising to learn that people loath your country....:uhoh:

I was on one of the first ships back up into Bandar Shapour after the revolution. The first question any Iranian who came on board asked was 'got any beer? :}

Why not sail 'em over to the Gulf prior to a short transit?

I worked in Iran(Ahwaz) for a year and a half, no problems at all would go back tomorrow.

Bandar Abbas and Ahwaz were about the bottom of my list of places to visit.

Shiraz, Isfhan, and Tehran were all either quite nice or at least interesting.

The country side was beautiful.

Getting them back
 

The story of the plan to get them back is also very interesting but probably not releasable for this forum just yet. Maybe in 10 years the tale will come out officially.

Chopper2004 – I noticed a bit of an uptick in traffic on my biographical website, and see that you are the “culprit.” Thank you for the kind word and the link.

I have an Iranian friend who flies for a US major airline. He left/escaped Iran with his immediate family right after the revolution. However he now goes back yearly to visit relatives and old friends. He has not had any problems.

Loved the place, loved the people I met.
Bl**dy politics.
Regards, Den.