"Jim Baker" wrote in message
...
No, I never heard of that particular "incident" :-)

How did it happen? Did they land heavy with an IFE?

They come here because we are an emergency airfield for them(or whatever you
guys call it). So we get practice approaches and touch and goes. One day
they come in and smoke the brakes. They park it on a taxiway in front of
the terminal and then wait for the mechanics and parts from Ellsworth.
Takes several days. On a Saturday morning with not much going on I say out
loud how funny it would be if there was a for sale sign on the B-1.
Gullible controller A takes the bait. He goes down to the hardware store
and gets a for sale sign. On the way back he stops at a car dealer and gets
one of them "As Is No Warranty" signs you see in every used car. So we
write on that sign that the plane has low miles, new engines, needs brakes.
Gullible controller takes the two signs and some tape and jumps the airport
fence, committing felony #1. Runs out and hops on the nosewheel and tapes
the signs on the strut, another felony no doubt. Runs back literally
seconds before aiport personnel and Air Force pilots, crew and mechanics get
there. They go right to the nose wheel. The Air Force guys bust a gut
laughing. The airport guys are ****ed beyond recognition because they were
responsible for security. We notice the B-1 commander, a major I think, had
a cell phone and was talking to somebody. We called the airport guy on the
radio and asked for the majors cell phone number. After he hung up gullible
controller called him from the tower. At this point we are all watching the
major. He answers the phone and gullible controller simply says "I'm
calling about the airplane you have for sale." He about drops the phone,
laughing. Three of the photographers from our local newspaper are pilots so
we call them and give them the scoop on the story. 5 minutes later there is
a photographer just outside the airport fence with a lens the size of a
trash can standing on the roof of his car taking pictures. The Air Force
guys all have their own cameras and spend the next half hour posing for
pictures in front of our sign. Picture from newspaper photographer is the
front page picture of the next days paper, a Sunday. It's plastered all
over town. Airport management is apoplectic. The Colonel running Ellsworth
is about as mad because he trusted the keystone kops to provide security.
The major calls back the following week to tell us that the sign was hung on
the plane has been framed and mounted in the plane permanently. The airport
is pretty sure who gullible controller is but they can't prove it. We got a
new tower manager last year and they brought up the incident in their
security briefing to him. They are still ****ed.