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Published: 2007-04-07 02:15:17 +0000 UTC; Views: 407; Favourites: 6; Downloads: 1
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San Marcos Airport,April,1975. following an inflight hydraulic failure while enroute from BethpageNY to NAS Miramar to deliver a brandy-new F-14 Tomcat to NavAirPac,followed by an emergency landing. a certain RIO {yours truly}met a pretty lady member of Skyhawks Air Service,and two souls became one. after our Cat was repaired by a joint Navy/Grumman crew,it was time to be on our way,but very reluctantly for me! but Duty called,and i felt a terrible sense of loss and lonliness all the rest of the way to the West Coast,and i was informed later by other Skyhawks personnell that she cried herself to sleep that night,and just moped around for days afterwards. pilots/aircrew we may be,but after all,we are still only human.....all turned out OK later tho! pic for my good friend,SD19! {pretty mushy stuff,eh?}Related content
Comments: 58
TomCatDriver In reply to i8l90 [2011-09-03 20:36:28 +0000 UTC]
i know....i,m just a big,fat softie deep down.
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TomCatDriver In reply to i8l90 [2011-09-03 20:50:24 +0000 UTC]
i actually go out of my way to find veggies on planes to feed the wild rabbits at the employee parking lot....
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TomCatDriver In reply to i8l90 [2011-09-03 23:01:23 +0000 UTC]
littering...nasty slobs! i learned not to do that as a kid.
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TomCatDriver In reply to i8l90 [2011-09-06 09:55:04 +0000 UTC]
it,ll all "smooth out" with time.....
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TomCatDriver In reply to i8l90 [2011-09-06 12:16:26 +0000 UTC]
i went through that stage too once.
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TomCatDriver In reply to i8l90 [2011-09-08 11:47:15 +0000 UTC]
with tears running down her face and mine......but i returned to San Marcos ASAP! and how did CW greet me?
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TomCatDriver In reply to i8l90 [2011-09-08 13:15:10 +0000 UTC]
actually,as soon as CW saw me,she came at me and took me down with a flying tackle,pinned me to the floor like a wrestler,and said "you lousy anchor-clanker-swabbo bastard! don,t you ever leave me again like that!...",after which she burst into tears again....{of joy this time!} can we say Soulmates?
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TomCatDriver In reply to i8l90 [2011-09-10 14:37:26 +0000 UTC]
cat,s just a big,fat softie deep down...
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TomCatDriver In reply to i8l90 [2011-09-10 21:36:26 +0000 UTC]
under normal circumstances,yes...
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SudsySutherland [2007-09-02 00:58:51 +0000 UTC]
So, you were one of the first Tomcat Drivers?
Hmm.... I was one of the last folks on the ground to work with the last operational deployment of F-14's in Iraq from AUG05-FEB06...
We worked with the last of the Tomcat Drivers!
Nice diorama. Its always fun to do something that means something more than just a model...
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TomCatDriver In reply to SudsySutherland [2007-09-02 05:33:33 +0000 UTC]
not quite THE first,more like middle-of-the-road.{i,m not THAT old!} first ones were operational in 1973,i was in 7th grade then.
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SudsySutherland In reply to TomCatDriver [2007-09-03 16:43:39 +0000 UTC]
Ah! I see... I guess you read about the Tomcat as a kid and said, "I'll fly one of them!". I saw Desert Storm on the news as a kid and said something similar.... Then it was off to the Air Force in 2000, seen the Middle East a couple times too many! Got my wish!
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TomCatDriver In reply to SudsySutherland [2007-09-04 08:08:35 +0000 UTC]
actually,it was in the Summer of 1976,i built my first 2 models of the Tomcat,Airfix 1/72 and Mania 1/100,which was the start of an enchantment that has lasted to this day!
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SudsySutherland In reply to TomCatDriver [2007-09-04 19:26:42 +0000 UTC]
Nice! I think my third model kit was an EMT/Ertl 1:72 scale F-14. I was only in third grade, so you can guess the mess I made with those... I wasn't any good till I hit sixth grade, and took all the sage advice from Fine Scale Modeler magazine seriously!
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TomCatDriver In reply to SudsySutherland [2007-09-05 08:05:09 +0000 UTC]
try a Tamiya 1/32 Tomcat sometime....if you dare!{Big Box,Big Bucks!}
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SudsySutherland In reply to TomCatDriver [2007-09-05 18:02:09 +0000 UTC]
Tempting... Low budget though! Kid, dog, and wife eat through cash! Not to mention me...
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TomCatDriver In reply to SudsySutherland [2007-09-06 08:40:33 +0000 UTC]
been there/done that. accqusition of wealth/material possessions just takes time and work!
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SudsySutherland In reply to TomCatDriver [2007-09-06 21:42:49 +0000 UTC]
Yup! Took me seven years to get from being 18 with nothing to now purchasing a home and enjoying life with my family! Wouldn't trade that for all the cash in the world!
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TomCatDriver In reply to SudsySutherland [2007-09-06 22:07:54 +0000 UTC]
but then again,cash is what makes it all happen!{the more we make,the more we seem to spend...!}
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