(NGC) encounters with military aircraft

[Gliderjohn]

Over the years and living in Kansas I have had the pleasure of observing military aircraft. Here are a few of the more memorable ones:

1970s - being "strafed" by a F-4 Phantom while in my 65 El Cameno on a rural road. About went in the ditch over that one!
1970s - Late Kansas Rep, David Kazitz and I were fishing a rural farm pond when a F-4 sneaked up on us and then lit the burners right over us. The plane came so close you could see the insignia on the crews' helmets.
1980s - Formation takeoff of four F4s in full afterburner. Just a bit of noise! ;D
1980s - Formation takeoff of two B-1 bombers in full afterburners at dusk. Also very loud.
1980s - At the B-1 inaugural at McConnell AFB. B-1 flies directly at us while we are sitting in a heated hanger maybe 100 ft up and then pulls a vertical with full burners. Felt every bone in my body vibrate. (Closed to the general public so they did not have to follow airshow rules.)
1980s - A B-1 is routed around my glider.
1980s - Two F-4 coming within a half mile of my glider at my altitude and wave wings at me.
1980s - Watch a A-10 Warthog less than 20 ft of the ground following a creek bed in the Flinthills of Kansas.

There were other events but those were the ones that really stick out. Anyone else with like encounters?
GliderJohn

[twhitaker]

Back in the late 50s we frequently heard the sonic booms of the B-58s that flew over.

[acogoff]

     Strands of tin foil were a common sight in the fields I was cultivating up 'till about 1970.

[rodekyll]

As kids we'd watch the endless lines of these guys taking off and landing at McChord AFB in WA.  They would often be queued up with only two props spinning.  I don't think the lines -- often two queues inbound and two launching -- ever ended.



We also used to get buzzed by "shooting star" and F86 fighters when we were out in the dingles.  Dummy ordinance on the property was rare, but it did happen.  Mostly spent flares on parachutes, but sometimes little bomb casings about the length of a man's arm.

My favorite "buzz" story is when we were roofing the house and got strafed by a flight of some delta wing fighters.  A half-hour later a jeep came down the driveway and explained that we were casualties of the war game and our house had been destroyed.  My brother insisted that we'd defended ourselves and shot one down.  The umpire deleted an airplane.  It was fun, but we had to finish the roof.

[goozy]

1978, spring, riding my Ducati 860 GT with a buddy on pillion close to the Hamilton Ontario Int. Air Show and some bastard! snuck up behind us, pulls a vertical with full burners straight up! RIGHT ABOVE US. Scarred the crap outta me, had to pull over and catch my breath. I was only 19 at the time and pretty hard to impress but that really left an impression on me! The noise was amazing!
Peter

[Curtis Harper]

We are just about the middle between Whitman AFB and what used to be Richards-Gabauer AFB. Late 80's/early 90's on AF Reserve weekends, we would be entertained by some "Corner Drills" a they would (don't remember which type of planes) come screaming in from the west and just about the edge of the shop bank hard right and rattle the windows everytime. It was pretty awesome. Still get to see the B2's on a fairly regular basis.

[oldbike54]

Does getting buzzed by B52s on the hill we lived on outside of Austin 2 miles from Bergstrom AFB count . Or the Occasional Phantom , and about once a month the helicopter carrying LBJ to the ranch would fly over at REALLY low altitude . Once a group of guys in black suits confiscated all of the rifles on our hill because some genius had fired at an incoming B52  ::)

  Dusty

[charlie b]

Many during maneuvers in Europe.

The base I was at was also right under the low alt corridor to the east german border.  Every day around noon the daily recon flight, usually an F4, would go over the base at about 100ft.  The pilot would wave as he went by, then pull up a bit to clear the hills east of the base.

While in a car was 'buzzed' by a Vulcan bomber.  Never really knew how big those things were until then!

Living near Luke AFB as a kid we use to watch planes take off all the time.  Most beautiful were the ones just after dusk in full afterburner.  One day was standing in line at the commissary with all the other retired folks.  A big roar and an F15 takes off and goes vertical until we couldn't see it anymore.  The guy behind me had a WWII vet hat on with pilot's wings.  He commented "show off".  :)

[rboe]

When we first moved to Arizona we lived in Tucson. I took up target shooting at the indoor range on Prince; ended up meeting some folks doing the same. One was a retired Navy pilot. Drove one of those MR2's like a mad man.

Anyway, he had more stories than most as his team were the guys that signed off brand new F4's as they came off the lines - in Kansas. He or one of his team members were probably the guys that straffed you! Nice guy but with a bad back from ejecting a few too many times.

One story; he was zipping along the deck one day, crested a hill and zoomed over a house. Too late he checked the Mach meter; it was greater than one. Figured he blew out all the windows. Said the F4 had so much power that it was way too easy to go super sonic down low They had a large team of lawyers that went around cleaning up after them.

[Aaron D.]

As a kid we watched paratroops coming out of Flyimg Boxcars over a forested area later used as Army research. There were two radar imstallations near to one another, we always checked to see if they were moving.

Heard a lot of sonic booms in those days, no idea what plane was causing them.

My first airshow featured the Thunderbirds, flying F100s.

We live not too far from an airbase (C5A Galaxy) and our ANG, which flew A10s for a long time but now flies F15s, is 10 miles from there. So I get to see lots of very loud planes.

An A10 buzzed the summit of Mt Monadnock some years back, that was cool.

The niftiest one so far-my flight in a B24.

[Triple Jim]

I was working on a boat trailer in my father's driveway at his house on Lake Gaston, in NC 25 or so years ago.  Fighter jets used to use his house for target practice because as they flew east over the lake, his house happened to be clearly visible.  That day one flew over his house and banked hard to port.  I looked up and not only saw the pilot, but made out details like his mask and attached hose.  He was just over the 75' pine trees.  The noise was quit a shock, too.

They used to do the same thing at our local water plant, but it stopped when the plant manager told one of the higher up guys at the local base that they were using a municipal water plant for regular target practice, and if a plane were to crash into it, it could knock out the water supply to a lot of people.

[bacongrease]

   During the time of the Cuban Missile crisis, I was a kid living an hour or so from Tinker AFB near OKC.   Planes flew round the clock for several days.
 Of course You couldn't see them after dark, but you could  constantly hear them all nite. Mom and Pop were quite concerned..  
 Planes were  B-29, B50, C47, B36, B47 among many other bombers and fighters and later years B-2 and B-1B .
 

[redrider]

As a kid a flight of f-106's came over. We heard them moments before arrival. As in two houses away. A10 and A7 boys like to strafe the roads around Pinewood. The A10 demo for General What's his Name at Shaw in 77(8)was great. War games in Turkey were da bomb. F111's chased by F4's until the 11's went straight up and popped the wings out. I had no idea the 11's could maneuver like that. But the C130 flying at 90 degrees to level between two hangars with an abrupt turn, the level and then up and around with a tactical landing touch and go was bitchin'. The Turks had 105's and 100's. Nice but not as "skillful".

[guzziboy66]

In the early '90s my friends and I were headed to Ocean City, MD.  We rode south on 539 headed to the GS Parkway.  Somewhere south of Rt 72 but before the parkway you are surrounded by these short scrub? pines and you can see for a couple miles.  Your on this stretch for maybe 20 minutes.  Anyway to our Southwest were four A-10 Warthogs.  They were gyrating  and chasing each other all over the sky.  I was mesmerized.

Eric

[Kiwi_Roy]

Walking over the hills in rural Scotland, next second a fighter came streaking from behind a hill hugging the ground

[Steve Scott]

'Got strafed by 2 A10's while working at the dam in Curwensville, PA. I was facing the dam and they came in at low altitude from behind me, then pulled up hard at the dam... you really don't hear them until they're on top of you!

[betres]

getting a heads up from a buddy in s.a.c. to catch the 11 o'clock news and watching the news for 15 seconds and then seeing the screen go black for about 10 seconds..........sw eeeeeeeeeeet.....

[clubman]

When I was 5 or 6 yrs old and living in coastal La. we traveled to Alexandria La. (or Elec as the locals say) for a 4th of July family reunion/fish fry at my uncle's house. England AFB located there had one of the last (maybe the last?) active duty B29's still in service, the B52 jets were coming in fast. On the 4th they flew it all over the town at a very low level. The air crew had all their kids stuffed into the bombardier's compartment. As they thundered overhead at treetop altitude all you could see upfront was grins and waving hands. I'll never forget the sound of those 4 double row radial's as they passed by.

[johnr]

Other than attending a 'Warbirds over Wanaka' weekend (a reasonably big deal   http://www.warbirdsoverwanaka.com ) I have a couple of memorable ones, like being "attacked" by a Skyhawk coming uphill at me or watching them attack across a narrow, steep glacial valley. (down one side, across, release ordinance, then up the other, all at near 600mph! )

The most outstanding I think happened when I was a kid. In 1958 I think it was NZ was toured by a British Avro Vulcan bomber squadron.  I stood on the compost bin in the back yard watching these magnificent planes circle Invercargill low and slow. At one point when one passed close to me I waved to one of the aircrew who I could see. He waved back!

One of them did an unscheduled landing run on Invercargill airport.

Now this airport was built on soft reclaimed land and to this day can not take a big aircraft. (737s are OK these days) It's why Operation Deepfreeze moved from here to Christchurch. Money wins over for-sight every time. The Vulcan would have gone straight through the tarmac.

Great rushing around, arm waving and general panic apparently burst forth in the control tower as they tried to stop the Vulcan landing.  The pilot just squeaked his wheels and took off again. It would seem there was an underpants changing session in the control tower afterwards.

(The Vulcan was only once used in anger. It's a good watch. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBJ99bIhAVk )

[Kent in Upstate NY]

Lived next to Dobbins AFB in Georgia so I saw a lot. Also heard a lot. When the Lockheed wind tunnel fired up you could not hear yourself think. Later, living near the Mojave, lots of secret stuff from Edwards flies over.

[Kent in Upstate NY]

Then there was the Chicago Air Show where the SR-71 flew over low and slow.(Didn't know that was possible.) Looked like a star destroyer from Star Wars.

[rboe]

As a young lad living in south eastern Montana, 1965-66 a SAC bomber came over our town at maybe 500 feet. I think it was a B47 but frankly it did not look like a plane I knew - and back then I seemed to know a lot of them. Only happened once. It was uber cool. :)

[injundave]

I was about 15 when the Mangere airport in Auckland opened with an airshow, about 1965. The Australian air force brought over some Dassault Mirage single seat fighter-bombers (I think). On the PA some guy told us that the Mirages were coming in from behind us, so the whole crowd turned and followed them as they screamed overhead. Of course the last one was about 3 seconds behind the others and caused some consternation and surprise as it roared past, seemingly almost at ground level.

Come forward about 40 years and I was sitting on a ridge in the central north island with a group of prisoners. We were working in the forest, replanting where trees had been felled some time before and were having a short break. I heard the noise of an aircraft very close by and looked around for it. When I found it, it was an air force Hercules (Yes, we still use them down here) doing very low level practice, following the terrain and flying just above the tree tops. We were looking down at it! Must have been great fun for the crew.

Another few years and my wife and I were working in the garden at the south end of our house. We heard a noise and a Hercules suddenly appeared directly overhead, coming from the north. Frightened the daylights out of us. Here in sleepy Havelock North one does not expect that sort of thing.

[Frulk]

There were other events but those were the ones that really stick out. Anyone else with like encounters?

1) SAC Minimal Interval Takeoffs with KC 135's and nuke loaded B-52's at Loring AFB were always impressive.  
2) The time I was on Highway 2 (The High Line) west of Glasgow Montana when a B52 came over us low and at speed while I had our Celica's sun roof open. THAT managed to leave an impression.
3) Was at Grand Forks AFB when the B1 did a simulated bomb-run and the crew dropped dummy bombs and prepostioned explosives detonated on the ground. B1 crew then hit afterburners and climbed back up into a low cloud ceiling at a rediculous angle. That left 55,000 jaws attending the base open house hanging at the knees.
4) C-130 JATOs (Jet Assisted Take Offs) were fun to watch.
5) Sat at an observation post a few times above a small valley just to the west of the Great Salt Lake at the Utah Test and Training Range and watched live ordinance detonate. Very cool to see the circular shock wave flatten vegetation as it grew outwards.
6) While not directly related to mil planes I was present when an ICBM motor was lit up for testing. VERY impressive!

BTW Rodekyll, that 124C Globemaster in the pic you posted is at Hill AFB, Utah (just in case you didn't know this)...I drive by it fairly frequently

[Semper-guzzi]

Here's my encounter every day.

[rodekyll]

{snipity}

BTW Rodekyll, that 124C Globemaster in the pic you posted is at Hill AFB, Utah (just in case you didn't know this)...I drive by it fairly frequently

I only drove by it once.   :)

Here's a Thud from the same place.  One day I hope to get back during business hours -- I took these through the fence.  You can see a chain link in the upper right corner of the pic.

[rboe]

The plane above is a F4, I'm used to F-105 Thunderchiefs being called Thuds. But that was a while ago and the memories could be jumbled. We had RF4's in Duluth, they made an impressive noise. :)

[Guzzistajohn]

A few years ago I was sitting in a john boat on a quiet creek near the mo/ark line and 3 A10's flew over at just over treetop level. It was quite a wakeup! Literally made the water shake.

I had a Osprey (I think) flyover on the BRP one time too-pretty cool!

[John A]

Faulk you hit the nail on the head, a SAC mito with about fifteen B-52s is the real deal. The most noise is (was) a Harrier jump jet. An SR71 takeoff at night was an unforgettable thing, I got to see that often when I was at Beale AFB.

[JBBenson]

A few years ago I was flying my hang-glider (Wills Wing Falcon 2) near Garlock, California.

Heading away from the ridge and toward the LZ at around 3000 AGL, I saw a flash of silver way BELOW me, flying parallel to the highway, and right through my intended approach pattern. It was right off the deck, moving pretty fast, was silver, and had tip tanks. I swear it was a Lockheed T-33, or something like that.

Good thing I wasn't on approach right at that moment. That would have been awkward....

It was pretty cool, though.