Daveroo
June 14th, 2013, 20:37
one of my moms cousins stopped by for a visit today,he used to be a pilot until a medical issue grounded him,and his father inlaw was a Col in the airforce,whos name i dont recall,but he (moms cousin) was telling us the father ,the Col,was one the the first to fly the F111,and then flew it extensively during that certin time period,he told us that the plane lost during the Lybian raid in 1986,was one of the Cols favorite airframes...i gave the cousin one of those sideways looks and he swore to me it was true..that it was reported to him that the aircraft that the Col had spent many hours in was the same one which was lost.
and then about my uncle..my moms brother...the one ive talked about before,he had alot to do with designing the early ILS systems while in the airforce,he traveled all over the world working on that..was very secret stuff,and he never talked about anything he did back then until he started to show signs of dementia only months before his death...believe me...when old people seem to be babbling on...listen..what seem like tall tales made up in a mind thats tired and losing its abilities....well the memories maybe gone as far as relitives and who is who...but many times..raw facts are still sharp....
but the thing i found out today was that the terrain following techknowalogy ( good thing he was schmarter than i) that was used in the F111 was begun by my uncle and a team he was on,my aunt was involved as well...they both worked at McClellan AFB for many years and i know that my aunt..this mans with..did nothing but work in the cockpits of F111's until her retirement,what she did before that ,she refused to talk about.both my moms brothers that i knew as a youngster worked as civilain contractors at MCC as did my one aunt after all three retired from the airforce,all three were electronic wizards .my uncle jack told of a story of having to ride back seat in a two seat jet..i dont know what it was..but he had electronic equipment in front of him..covering his knees and alittle more than half way up his thighs.it was single engine and they flamed out....the pilot couldnt restart the engine and told my uncle to eject,he said he looked down..and thought...if i do,,im going to lose my legs,id rather just ride this thing down and die as a complete human..so he said to the pilot..i cant,ill ride it down as is....then said..bye buddy.....then the pilot never went himself..also never said another word,and they were able to belly land on some dry lakebed in nevada,the pilot helped my uncle out..he was injured when the equipment folded on his legs anyway..and the pilot just told him..wow man...that took guts...my uncle said..oh hell no..i was so scared i pee'd myself twice,but id rather been dead than legless the rest of my life...it took a day and a half for a rescue team to get to them..
and then about my uncle..my moms brother...the one ive talked about before,he had alot to do with designing the early ILS systems while in the airforce,he traveled all over the world working on that..was very secret stuff,and he never talked about anything he did back then until he started to show signs of dementia only months before his death...believe me...when old people seem to be babbling on...listen..what seem like tall tales made up in a mind thats tired and losing its abilities....well the memories maybe gone as far as relitives and who is who...but many times..raw facts are still sharp....
but the thing i found out today was that the terrain following techknowalogy ( good thing he was schmarter than i) that was used in the F111 was begun by my uncle and a team he was on,my aunt was involved as well...they both worked at McClellan AFB for many years and i know that my aunt..this mans with..did nothing but work in the cockpits of F111's until her retirement,what she did before that ,she refused to talk about.both my moms brothers that i knew as a youngster worked as civilain contractors at MCC as did my one aunt after all three retired from the airforce,all three were electronic wizards .my uncle jack told of a story of having to ride back seat in a two seat jet..i dont know what it was..but he had electronic equipment in front of him..covering his knees and alittle more than half way up his thighs.it was single engine and they flamed out....the pilot couldnt restart the engine and told my uncle to eject,he said he looked down..and thought...if i do,,im going to lose my legs,id rather just ride this thing down and die as a complete human..so he said to the pilot..i cant,ill ride it down as is....then said..bye buddy.....then the pilot never went himself..also never said another word,and they were able to belly land on some dry lakebed in nevada,the pilot helped my uncle out..he was injured when the equipment folded on his legs anyway..and the pilot just told him..wow man...that took guts...my uncle said..oh hell no..i was so scared i pee'd myself twice,but id rather been dead than legless the rest of my life...it took a day and a half for a rescue team to get to them..