Lionel Alford, Jr., "Military Aviation Adventures"
T-39 Pod First Flight The T-39, Model 40 Sabreliner, is one of the most forgiving and fun jets to fly. It may be the best aircraft in its class ever built. Special Mission Pisa Flying C-130s in European rotations before the shooting wars started in the Middle East (South East Asia) was some of the best flying and most fun an aviator could have with his clothes on. Running Armament Chief Crewchiefs don’t ever get enough respect. The famous joke among aviators is: what are the three greatest lies in the Air Force? The last lie is, “I’m the regular crewchief.” C-130 HALO Practice One exciting event in the C-130 airdrop world was the High Altitude Low Opening (HALO) airdrop. These were not all that popular with aircrew, and at the time, they were relatively rare in both the training and the real world. Really Below Minimums I have had the opportunity or misopportunity to land three aircraft at conditions below approximately 100 foot ceiling and ¼ mile visibility—that is, in conditions below any normal non-autopilot/autolanding approach. Chasing the C-17 Did I say the T-39, Sabreliner, once provided the best heavy aircraft chase in the world? That included safety chase, photo chase, pace chase, and any other chase you want to do at normal jet and turboprop airspeeds and altitudes. Flight Test Yuma Pete and I finally made it out to Yuma - many times, in fact. Our squadron, the 418th Flight Test Squadron had a contract with the US Army to use our T-39 Sabreliners from Edwards as targets for Apache helicopter testing. Bound for Yuma This story happened exactly as written here. The aircraft was a modified Air Force T-39 Sabreliner. Ground FAC Europe Few pilots enjoyed the job of ground Forward Air Controller (FAC). Every one of us would rather be flying aircraft and getting all the glory. Cold War Broncos The Cold War was long, dangerous, deadly, unappreciated, and boring. C-130 Short Field Landings One of the most fascinating capabilities of the C-130, Hercules in all of its non-extended variants is the ability to conduct short field operations. Flight Test Exuma Exuma is an island in the Bahamas Island chain. It lies about 300 miles from Miami and about 150 miles south of Nassau. The only way in or out is by boat or by air, and in 1992 there was no regular service of either. MC-130 Zero Offset Testing The MC-130H, Combat Talon II is a sneaky secret infiltration/exfiltration aircraft designed to take special operations forces and cargo deep behind enemy lines. How to Hide a Herc This is a true story. The names have been changed, but the incident occurred almost exactly as recorded here. |
