Back Blip or Halcyon Days

This photo popped up unbidden on my iPad this morning.  Mrs B and I had been reminiscing, but this was another era; perhaps the date – today 35 years ago – was significant.

But anyway . . . we were five F16s about to start and taxy to depart NAS Miramar to return to our base, MacDill AFB outside Tampa, Florida, with a night stop at Bergstrom AFB in Texas (there happened to be a party there that night, surely coincidental).  We had been providing adversary training for the F14 Tomcat "Fleet Replacement Squadron" students during the week – grand sport, although they sometimes artificially limited our performance to simulate Mig 21s or 23s.  

In addition I had been given a trip in a Tomcat (see two Extras), a dream come true, although stuff went a bit wrong: the takeoff performance was underwhelming compared with our lovely machines, and each engine stalled in turn during the manoeuvring and one would not work again.  We returned to "Fightertown USA" on one engine.  Ignominious!

My pilot's name was Fred Kilian, his callsign "Killer".

Back to the Main photo: I didn't like having my name on a two-seat F16 as they were less cool than the single seaters; but I didn't complain . . .  halcyon days.