Taking my Dad flying for the first, and so far only, time was pretty cool.
But I think the best thing doesn't even relate to my flying. It's something
I did when I was in the USAF stationed at RAF Mildenhall in England.

A Florida travel agent named Dick D'Amato got our commander to sponsor a
hangar dance for a group of about 150 8th and 9th AF vets and their families
he was bringing over on a trip back in August 97. I was one of the project
officers in charge of putting it together. I got the enviable job of
working with several enthusiastic British 8th AF historians and groups and
organizing displays of military vehicles, personal affects (including
several original A2 jackets restored and displayed by the 100th Bomb Group
museum) and, finally, to include fly-bys and static display of a T-6 Texan,
P-51C (formerly Shangri-La, then Princess Elizabeth of the Fighter
Collection) and the only flying B-17 in the UK, Sally B. The logisitcs were
nearly impossible, the budget nil, and complications taxing to say the
least.

My favorite aviation reminiscence? Two. The first was when we gathered the
vets from the Officer's Club in the military vehicles and brought them to
the hangar (actually arrested them for being AWOL with local enthusiasts in
period MP uniforms) - which was already filled with about 600 locals - who
stood and gave them a roaring ovation when they walked into the hangar! The
second was a half hour later when we gathered all the vets back into the
hangar (they'd been wandering around looking at the displays outside) and to
the East at about 2,000 feet could be seen the landing lights of Sally B as
she descended for her fly by - only to be stolen from underneath as the
Mustang screamed by from out of sight behind the hangar at full throttle and
below rooftop height - he really hung it all out there! As Sally B made her
fly past, there wasn't a dry eye on anyone.

It was the personal stories that really tugged at my heartstrings: wives and
children visiting England with Dad or Grandad for the first time since the
war, getting to see, hear, and touch the things that he'd been talking about
for 50 years, making them real; the vets being overwhelmed by emotion as
they were applauded and piped into the dance, rather than just drifting in
with everyone else; the vet who relived the loss of his boyhood innocence as
he sat in the tailgunner's position in Sally B.

That was the most worthwhile thing I did in 8 years in the USAF.

Shawn

"JJS" jschneider@REMOVE SOCKSpldi.net wrote in message
...
Well... I would, but Cessna wouldn't be happy about it 'cause we were
in our "manly" Piper Cherokee :) See, that's another reason to own a
low wing airplane. Better view of the heavens! (He exits ducking and
running)!

8437R

"carlos" wrote in message
...
Wow! Thanks for sharing this...

You should sell this story to Cessna...

"JJS" jschneider@REMOVE SOCKSpldi.net wrote in message
...
Taking off at 4:30 am on a 4 hour flight with my teenage daughter
on
our way to see her cousin's graduation ceremony. My girl had just
broken up with a boy friend and was really depressed. She begged
to
go on this long trip, as she was really close to her cousin. They
didn't get to see each other very often, as they attended college
far
apart. The weather was iffy. I decided to try the flight anyway
as
the ceiling and visibility were great at the departure airport and
for
the first 200 miles of the route. We could check the weather as
we
progressed and turn back if things didn't get better. Just as we
reached cruising altitude I saw a shooting star screaming through
the
crystal clear pitch black air. I asked my kid if she'd seen it...
trying to cheer her up, but she hadn't. She began looking,
though.
Then there was another streak, intensely bright and colored. Then
more and more of them. A full fledged meteor shower had broken
out
and we had the best seat in the house. Here we were hanging in
mid
air with the most amazing performance going on around us. It was
if
the almighty had magnified and colored these flying jewels every
color
of the rainbow. Big ones, little ones, and some that seemed to
stretch nearly from one horizon to the other. My daughter's whole
outlook on life was changed in an instant. We watched the show in
total silence with eyes and mouths wide open. When the show was
over,
she came out of her funk and later struck up a REAL conversation.
Something too rare to behold between a teenage girl and her daddy.
Her eyes sparkled like the meteors we had just observed. Although
we'd always been close, I believe a stronger bond was formed
between
us because we had witnessed something so rare. An event that
very,
very few if any other people had experienced in the same manner.
Then
to top things off, calls to FSS had ground fog at our destination,
but
as we got closer daylight arrived and the fogbank was spotted from
50
miles away. Another call to FSS and they told us weather was
clearing
at nearby airports. The fog lifted and dissipated as we watched,
while still clinging to lakes and ponds. It was surreal. We
landed
in CAVU conditions and made it to graduation on time. Oh yeah, on
the
way home we stopped at a grass strip on the edge of a lake with a
good
restaurant within walking distance. I'll never forget the trip.
Neither will she.

"EDR" wrote in message
...

1980's...
Watching the string of landing lights of arriving aircraft east
of
Oshkosh stretching out over Lake Michigan.

(Amusingly, followed by watching the arrivals try to find a
parking
spot in the dark with out flag-people.)