Patriot missiles at Easterwood

1,800 Views | 13 Replies | Last: 3 yr ago by UTExan
Marauder Blue 6
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
This would be cool to see.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/37196/a-patriot-missile-battery-has-suddenly-appeared-at-a-small-regional-airport-in-texas
Rabid Cougar
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Marauder Blue 6 said:

This would be cool to see.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/37196/a-patriot-missile-battery-has-suddenly-appeared-at-a-small-regional-airport-in-texas
Patriot Missile Fly Over for the Pig game next week.
CanyonAg77
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Quote:

As to why this airport was chosen, it isn't exactly clear.
Yes it is.

  • Proximity to Ft. Hood
  • Cross training with Corps of Cadets
  • Large airport, with a mix of private and airline traffic, but not a major airport where the battery could be disruptive
  • Some Aggie in the chain of command wanted to see a football game
HollywoodBQ
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
CanyonAg77 said:

  • Some Aggie in the chain of command wanted to see a football game

Where I used to work, our Global VP of Sales would frequently join sales calls on Friday afternoon, during the Fall, in Omaha, Nebraska. These calls always happened when the Cornhuskers were playing on Saturday.

Strange coincidence. Really strange.
CanyonAg77
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Back when I was a kid and dinosaurs roamed the earth, we flew in private plane to Easterwood for a football game. Would have been about 1967. Ramp was full of air force planes.

I think they were a lot looser back them about using USAF planes for "training".
JABQ04
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
I briefly worked at Eastwood as a student filling up planes, guiding them in etc....lots of Navy and AF trainers coming in for lunch and then leaving. Met Chuck Norris too when he flew in to go to his ranch. Neat job.
HollywoodBQ
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
CanyonAg77 said:

Back when I was a kid and dinosaurs roamed the earth, we flew in private plane to Easterwood for a football game. Would have been about 1967. Ramp was full of air force planes.

I think they were a lot looser back them about using USAF planes for "training".
Yeah, especially after the Washington Air National Guard got busted for following the Seattle Supersonics around.
Reservist Says It Was Coincidence That Crew Attended Sonics Games
CanyonAg77
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
I've read biographies of people like Yeager and Hoover, it used to be pretty common for the Air Force and Navy to allow pilots to take a plane on the weekend, to build up hours.

I believe one of the planes John McCain crashed was one weekend when he did this.
Quote:

Second crash, Nov. 28 1965: By this time Lt. McCain was stationed at Meridian, Mississippi, and was newly married to his first wife, Carol. McCain had flown to Philadelphia to attend an Army-Navy football game with his parents and was bringing back Christmas presents for the family in the baggage compartment of his plane. His jet engine quit over the Chesapeake Bay.


F4GIB71
How long do you want to ignore this user?
It's been a LONG time since my last flight so clearly a lot may have changed. When I was on active duty, our typical training mission involved a low level route to the gunnery range to drop bombs. My years in the ANG in Houston was going to our training area off the coast of Galveston where we did intercepts and air combat tactics. Interface with the air traffic control system was minimal. The semi annual training requirements included a few cross country flights for instrument and interface with the air traffic control system.

All that said, admittedly if we needed to go XC, a trip to Hill for the weekend to ski fulfilled the requirements the same as going to somewhere like Clovis, NM.
CharlieBrown17
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
I've talked to old guys that flew 135s back when you spent a lot of time sitting alert in the Cold War.

Copilots would basically checkout T-38s and a gas card for a week/long weekend to build hours. Would've been a badass time to be flying.
Smeghead4761
How long do you want to ignore this user?
At least some of their stuff is set up out at RELLIS, in the field used for the Heavy Equipment Operation classes.
CanyonAg77
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
CharlieBrown17 said:

I've talked to old guys that flew 135s back when you spent a lot of time sitting alert in the Cold War.

Copilots would basically checkout T-38s and a gas card for a week/long weekend to build hours. Would've been a badass time to be flying.
If you believe the Yeager autobiography, he would see a new plane, kick the tires, ask the pilot how to start it, and jump in and fly.
ABATTBQ87
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
CanyonAg77 said:

Back when I was a kid and dinosaurs roamed the earth, we flew in private plane to Easterwood for a football game. Would have been about 1967. Ramp was full of air force planes.

I think they were a lot looser back them about using USAF planes for "training".
why didn't you ride your pterodactyl to Easterwood?

CanyonAg77
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
It was a mid-1960s Mooney, so pretty much the same thing.
UTExan
How long do you want to ignore this user?
CanyonAg77 said:

Back when I was a kid and dinosaurs roamed the earth, we flew in private plane to Easterwood for a football game. Would have been about 1967. Ramp was full of air force planes.

I think they were a lot looser back them about using USAF planes for "training".


Same with Army pilots and their UH-1s. One used to set down in a field beside a Pizza Hut in Copperas Cove until one day when the III Corps Deputy Commander drove by. This was about 1976-77.
It is better to light a flamethrower than to curse the darkness- Sir Terence Pratchett
“ III stooges si viveret et nos omnes ad quos etiam probabile est mittent custard pies”
Refresh
Page 1 of 1
 
×
subscribe Verify your student status
See Subscription Benefits
Trial only available to users who have never subscribed or participated in a previous trial.