I was down here in the computer lab (on this forum as a matter of fact) when one of the guys came and got me- he said they were bringing a Blue Angel in here. I was thinking, Gee if you want me to come back to class all you have to say is say ‘Mr. Swinson needs you back in the room.’ when I noticed a lot of people gathering in the cafeteria. As I looked out across the flight line over the tail of our Beech King Air I could see a pair of tail fins! I thought Chad was kidding! I ran out to the courtyard and stood on one of the picnic tables and got the best vantage point in the world as Blue Angel #7 taxied onto our flightline. They pulled up almost to the fenceline and shut down the engines. As the pilots came through the gates I introduced myself and asked if they would autograph the Revell/Monogram Blue Angel F-18 I had the good fortune of having with me. They said they would before they left, and someone gave me a disposable camera to take some pictures. We were allowed to go out on the flightline and look and take pictures as long as we didn’t touch. I think this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet some really cool people one on one.
Where was that at Rebel, over at Tinker?
Wade
Hey Dude,
I got to thinking…Tinker doesn’t have a school with Beech King a/c. You must be at METRO TECH! Koo-ell man I just hopped in the pick-up and drove around flightline road to our west drain ditch and… wallah! There she is # 7. Awesome. When one of the girls in the office gets back from lunch, I will get the digital cam and take a few shots myself! Thanks for the Info Chris.
Wade
Jeez, I’m jealous. I’d drive over there now except that I have to work. Why couldn’t it have been yesterday.
The perks of working on an Air base.
Wade
I have to say living here where the Blue’s call home…I still get excited when I see them and the pilots arent those cocky egotistical maniacs that some might think they are. Ive met quite a few of them over the years…Real Shame Trader John’s had to close!
Very cool though that you got to see one and meet the pilot!
Unbelievably cool! The guys just left. As I was waiting to get their autograph, the security guard figured out what I was waiting for and he took me into the conference room amidst all the press people and introduced me! I got Blue Angels #7 and 8 to autograph my Hornet model! I also got a picture with the guys before the left. Their take-off and climb out was spectacular! Wroper- hope you managed to get out here before 1! I’m sorry I didn’t know you would be coming out here otherwise I could’ve gotten you a visitors pass to check it out. I can’t wait until this year’s airshow.
Super school! Super cool!
You lucky dog, you! Wish I could have been there.
What?!? They closed?!
Noooooo… we used to hang out there all the time in API. Man did they have all kinds of Blues stuff. Great bar…and free beer all the time. Sad.
Was nice seeing their weekly show too. Nothing like seeing the diamond screaming ~300 ft overhead the base.
Hey rebel I work just east of Metro-Tech. Right here at Will Rogers ANG Base. I just drove across our field to our west drain ditch and walked throught the ditch to the edge of your flight-line. Got my pics. There is no fence between our property and your flightline. Btw, I work the airshow and get free passes dude!..Plus an E-Z-Go golf cart to ride around in!.. Let me know if you want to get into the show thru Will Rogers and I can hook you up.
Wade
Very cool Rebel.
I remember back in 1978-79 in High School we had an aviation class and went to Travis AFB for an airshow with the Thunderbirds.
Travis AFB is a C-5 and C-141 base about an hour from me by the way.
I don’t know how our teacher pulled it off but she somehow got the OK for all of us in the class to go behind the roped off area and walk right up to the aircraft and talk with the crewchiefs and all. This was when the T-birds were flying the T-38’s of course. I asked one of the crew if I could take her for a spin and he laughed and said, “I don’t think so.” [:D]
Mike
I got to hang out with the Thunderbirds and quite a few other demo teams at the O-club at Tyndall in March of last year. Pretty cool party.
Wroper
Rebel, all I can say is that you are one lucky[censored][censored]! [:D][:D]
The nearest I came to something like that was when I lived on the north-west coast of England and one weekend every september I would be able to watch the Red Arrows display right over my house!
Later,
Darren.[;)]
Yeah Traders was great wasnt it! They closed I think 2 yrs ago…then suddenly re-opened under some new owners(flight instructor and his wife)…did great for a while then things just died off. They closed for good back in August or Sept of 03. The stuff they had…all the memorobilia was bought by a local law firm and donated to the Naval Aviation Museum…but they have yet to display any of it.
Free Beer…all the time, yupp and that wasn’t even the greatest thing about the bar! LOL
Wroper- I think I saw you! I noticed a truck driving near the drainage ditch from the air guard side! The Aerospace America 2004 show is set for June 18. We may have to meet and check out all the cool birds. Things have looked pretty busy over there for a while so I can imagine you guys are staying busy. As for you guys who say I’m lucky, I have to agree with you there. Not many things like that happen every day. I want to get a Hasegawa F-18B and build #7 with the current pilots’ names on it. Anyways, it’s time to go home. Take it easy!