Blue Angels, the Early Years, pt 2 - Blue Angels T33 f.jpg (1/1)

"Greasy Rider" wrote in
:

I saw those guys in the mid-fifties at NAS Memphis. Their final stunt
was to announce that there was a lady in the audience who had turned 100
that day and that she wanted to fly in a T-33. She walked out with a
long black dress on looking pretty frail with her snowy white hair. They
got her all strapped in and the plane captain came up to tell the pilot
there was something that may be wrong with the aircraft. The pilot got
out and walked with the plane captain to one of the outboard wing tips.
Slowly the plane started rolling and all attempts to catch up with the
plane were unsuccessful. The plane rolled out to the runway with the
crash crew chasing her with sirens screaming. The aircraft struggled
into the sky and made a couple of wobbly passes over the field. The
pilot got on the public address system and contacted her. He talked her
down after a couple wobbly passes. She rolled up to the hardstand and
stopped the aircraft. She stepped out , popped the wig and black dress
off and there was a regular Blue Angel back up pilot.

It was amazing how many people got taken in by that stunt. I my have
been one but it's too long ago to remember with any accuracy



Neat. I hadn't heard that one.............