# MY Air Force flying experience



## Lon (Dec 4, 2014)

It was 1955, I was a 19 year old enlisted instrument technician now assigned to SAC after returning from 18 months in  Korea where I worked on F86 Sabre Jets. Now it was B47 Bombers. The 47's had a three man crew. Pilot.co Pilot, Navigator. A fourth non crew member could sit in the stair well going up to the cockpit for the Pilot and Co Pilot, the Navigator sat in the nose of the air craft. I of course had the stair well seating with no view other than looking up and out over the pilots head at the sky through his canopy. 

This was the Cold War Days and SAC with it's Nuclear Armed B 47's were constantly on the alert and in the air. I was given very little info about our upcoming flight other than it would be 12 hours with in flight re-fueling. I was also reminded that I was riding the so called Death Seat because the crew members could all eject from their respective seating in the event of an emergency. 

I finished my boxed lunch about four hours into the flight and was able to listen to the chatter from the crew members over my head set. At some point during the flight the pilot said he was going to bank the plane so I could get a view from where I sat. He banked the air craft some where over the North Pole and I had a magnificent view of a lot of ice and snow. 

Further on with the flight we met up with a KC 97 Refueling Tanker where I had a limited view of the refueling procedure. I made many TDY's with the wing to Africa but always flew on the tankers and not the 47's. 

All this was a great experience for a young kid and though I have flown many times on commercial flights over the years this was my only flight in a combat aircraft. I think they even paid me $45 for the flight.


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## pchrise (Dec 4, 2014)

those kind of memories last forever. Were you able to save some token from that time? Memories are priceless.


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## Falcon (Dec 4, 2014)

Lon, A good memory from your military experiences.  Thanks for your post and your service.

A lot has changed since I flew combat as a bomber pilot.


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## Don M. (Dec 4, 2014)

I had a similar experience when I was stationed in Germany, in the mid-60's.  The base had a program where the Airman of the Month would get a ride in the back seat of an F105F.   I went through a period of months where I put on clean fatigues frequently, saluted everything that walked, and used every bit of my skills to excel in Weapons Control Systems (radar, sight, and bombing computers) maintenance, and finally won a "ride".   I was given a pilot named Capt. Cushenberry...will never forget that guy.  His primary job was to take the first flight after an engine swap, and he only knew one way to take off....Full afterburner and maximum angle...so as to gain altitude if the new engine failed, and he had to bail out.  The ride lasted about 45 minutes, and after the wild takeoff, we got up to about 25,000 feet, where he nailed the Afterburner again, and we went way past Mach 1.  After a series of maneuvers that would make a roller coaster ride seem tame, he took me back so I could clean out my drawers.  That was truly one of the high points of my USAF years.  If there is such a thing as reincarnation, I hope to come back as a USAF pilot.


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## oldman (Dec 5, 2014)

That was a good story. I was able to tour a B-17 in California. This history of that airplane is unbelievable. Nothing in this world beats flying.


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## Pappy (Dec 5, 2014)

One of the first balsa models I built, as a kid, was the F-80 and F-86 Sabre jet. I was so proud of those models that they hung from my ceiling for years. I have an old picture somewhere but have no idea where it is.

The B-17 and B-29 were my favorite bombers. The 17 flyers were a tough bunch as there was no pressurized cabin and it got miserable cold in those planes. I love the stories my friend Earl, RIP, told about the 29s. He was a navigator on one and flew out of Timian Island.


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## Ccccchuck (Jan 7, 2022)

USAF 1960-1964***San Antone, Keesler, Minot, Barksdale..

Flunked MIO thru14gp.sent to Minot AFB .....Next 3 1\2 yrs. in SAC support wing Air Freight.

Highest rank A2c, Honorable Discharge, glad to get out......

All social life on base was impersonal, Rank oriented, all others were arrogant from rank and let you know it.....

Learned slot about the B52G & H Models, F106 Delta Darts,  F102s, 
All Awesome Aircraft.....

If had to do all over again would apply for Officer Training and become a Non-Pilot Officer Prick to have a social life....


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