Posted: 2/7/2015 12:55:18 AM EDT
That flew over my shooting spot between 1400-1500 today, just south of the Estrella Mountains, heading west, going like a bat out of hell about 400-500 feet off the deck... Just want to say this.. Two thumbs up sir.. That was awsome...  
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Cool story:
Buddy and I were working, climbing up a very tall mountain in SE AZ. When we got to the very top, we crested over, and looked down into the valley below us. An F16 was maneuvering down said valley, and we were looking DOWN at it. When I say valley, I probably should say cut, it was not some huge piece of terrain, just a little cut between two ridgelines. But he was low, low enough for us to be looking down at him, and he was FAST. The mountain we were climbing was 3800ft, and the parking spot was less than 500ft lower than that... the cut maybe the same elevation as the parking spot. So do the math! One more: Same buddy and I working same area, our vehicle was large enough that it was visible from above, and stood out in the green trees (monsoon season). We were stationary, taking care of something outside the vehicle, and had seen F16s around all day. Two came around low and looked at us pretty closely, then proceeded to fly off, turn around, and set up on us, diving at us and pulling off at the last second. They each made several passes at us doing these runs. A10s too... They give us wing dips once in a while to say hello when they're down low. And they set up mock strafe runs on us all the time. They've been low enough for us to make out the holes in the GAU8, and see the pilots' visors. I got buzzed by three Ospreys early last year, at night. They were about the quietest airplanes I have ever heard in my life. I love working in the middle of nowhere. |
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Well over 20 years ago I was out in the middle of nowhere in the Kalifornistan Mojave desert with some friends camping/shooting [of course]/off-roading when a B1 bomber flew right over our camp nap-of-the-earth. I couldn't believe how low that sucker was; and loud enough to cause most of us to put our hands over our ears. After jumping up out of our chairs to stand there, mouths wide open and staring in disbelief at the disappearing bomber, one of my friends said out loud: "If he crashes, do you think we can get their side arms?". Most of us turned to him and just  .
Even today the inside joke when some of us still get together is to point at some passing aircraft and say out loud "Think we can get their side arms?".
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Quoted:
Well over 20 years ago I was out in the middle of nowhere in the Kalifornistan Mojave desert with some friends camping/shooting [of course]/off-roading when a B1 bomber flew right over our camp nap-of-the-earth. I couldn't believe how low that sucker was; and loud enough to cause most of us to put our hands over our ears. After jumping up out of our chairs to stand there, mouths wide open and staring in disbelief at the disappearing bomber, one of my friends said out loud: "If he crashes, do you think we can get their side arms?". Most of us turned to him and just .
Even today the inside joke when some of us still get together is to point at some passing aircraft and say out loud "Think we can get their side arms?". Over 20 years ago, I was working F-15s at Eglin AFB, FL. During an exercise, I was working at End of Runway (EOR) where the arming and dearming of munitions happen, before and after take-off. It was about 1900, and I was laying on the ground with my head pointing south and my feet north, aimed at the flightline. I was just watching what was going on. Couldn't see too many details as I was maybe 200 yards away in low light. Anyway, at one point I could hear a 'shhh' sound and it was getting louder. I was looking around and couldn't see anything. I finally looked straight up at the exact time a B-1 flew overhead with its bomb bay doors open. I looked east and there was another about 800 meters away. A handful of explosive simulators went off a few seconds later on the flightline. They couldn't have been more then 500 feet off the deck. Scared...the...crap...out of me. Coolest shit ever at that point. They were doing a mock bombing run on us from Dyess AFB, TX. Watching them take-off in afterburner in Bahrain was cool. They stay in AB until, literally, you can't see them anymore, maybe 3-ish minutes. |