When did your love start?

a reply to: Zaphod58

I can imagine. The altitude was more surprising than anything, well that, and finally seeing an actual fill up going down. Boomer had shown the map of tracks at some point, with one passing nearby my home. I have a sister that lives a few miles north of me who says she see's B-2s refueling from her back deck every few months. As much as I watch the sky I figured I'd get the opportunity eventually, just didn't think it would be this long.

a reply to: Badgermole42

It's a lot more fun being on the other end during them.

a reply to: Zaphod58
Yikes! gear down, 10 units of flap and nose down. That's almost the reciprocal situation the 135's had with the SR-71, except I dont think the Blackbird dropped its gear. Meanwhile the KC was going hell for leather trying to keep up!

LEE.

a reply to: thebozeian

The A and E/Q models were actually faster than the R models that they currently use. They had less drag on them from the engines than they do on the R models.

a reply to: penroc3

So mine started before I can even remember. My grandfather was a bombardier on a b-17 in Europe, and he had all kinds of pictures and stories that he shared with me growing up. We used to go to air shows all the time. By the time I was ten I probably knew more about the air war in wwii than about anything taught at school.

Then my dad was an aircraft machinist, first on helicopters and later on passenger jets. Either of them would spend hours talking anything aircraft. I didn't follow the family career path, but still keep the love alive. The great thing now is my wife gets a kick out of seeing the modern hardware at air shows too, so we go to at least one a year. Just saw the f22 along with the blue Angels last month. Also got the Osprey tour.

A couple years ago, a b2 was doing a flyover at a local sporting event, and i knew their flight path based on the prior day's events. We went and parked where the turn-out would be and had an amazing view of it going over. Definitely on the list of things I don't want to see from the business end.