Eagle Feathers
Now, this is no ****! Towards the end of the AIM/ACE -- EVAL, things had heated up between the Eagle and Turkey pilots. At the Nellis O’club many innuendoes and challenges had been thrown out as a result of the high profile dog fights between the Tomcat/Eagle Blue Force and the F-5Es. The Blue Force F-15 drivers were threatened with a court martial, flying rubber dog **** outta Hong Kong and having their birthday taken away if they even thought about locking horns with ACEVAL Tomcats.
When the test sorties were finally over, a couple of F-15 instructors in the 415th training squadron took the bait. “Turk” Pentecost and I were a section. Turk was not nearly as cocky, arrogant and boisterous as D-Hose, but just as aggressive, smart, devious and just as good a stick. We briefed a very wide hook, an altitude split of 10k ft. and a radar sort @ 25nm by Bill “Hill Billy” Hill and “Fearless” Frank Schumacher. All pre-merge heat and radar missiles didn’t count. It was GUNS only at the merge. The wide hook enabled Turk and D-Hose to split the fight into (2)1v1’s, with one Turkey high, one low and lots of lateral separation.
As Hill Billy and D-hose closed for a 250ft, guns kill on their Eagle, the comm went like this:
D-hose: "Where are you Turk?"
Fearless: "Right above you Hoser"
D-hose: "We got two cons! Who’s out front?"
Turk (mildly offended): "Who do ya think?"
Both Eagles were gunned, “knock it off” was called, and the Tomcats RTB’d with a 500 knot, 6.5g, half second break at Nellis…cuz
that was our salute and tribute to our fine VX-4 maintenance personnel.
Knowing the gun camera film would be destroyed by the Nellis Photo lab, it was covertly sent to a secret contact at Grumman for processing. Bout a month later, December 6, the door slams open and General Knight, with 2 of his staff, doggie wobble heads entered demanding to know “who and where are Hoser and Turk?” Falcon (J.W. Taylor), OinC, stepped up asking if he could be of assistance. The General respondes with, “Your fighter jocks have no idea how their playful antics affect important political decisions!” Well, as General Knight proceeded to explain, Japan had contracted for twenty one F-15s, but an article in Aviation Week had talked about the F-14 being superior to the Eagle. With gun camera film to prove it, Japan was considering buying F-14s instead.
The General told JW he wanted ALL copies of the gun camera film, the TVSU/VCR tapes, and audio recordings on his desk by 0900 the next day. He was obviously pissed when he arrived, but as a result of the humility and contrition displayed by Turk and D-hose, he was satisfied that his mission was accomplished. Of course, D-hose and Turk didn’t want to embarrass the F-15 community, and they never mentioned the incident again…UNTIL NOW! ……. A few months later at a VX-4 at JW’s , D-Hose sez “Hey Falcon, I know ya got a copy of that 16mm gun film,,,, how bout it? JW bugs for a few and returns with film I have in my hand right now.
PS: The 8” x 10” single frame of the 16 mm gun film on my bulkhead in my ‘ war room’ shows a F-15 thru a F-14 HUD, radar lock, @250ft, Vc zero, piper on the pilot’s helmet, gun selected, No X over the ‘G’ = master arm on = half detent on trigger depressed, (which activates gun camera and opens the gun gass purge doors) with… Zero rounds remaining……. Good Thing!!!
VR D-Hose, HAARRR! |