General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsOK, I buzzed a Russian Navy "trawler", several times, back in the late 60s. Big deal.
I was a pilot in the Alabama Air National Guard.
We were flying the RF-84/F, a reconnaissance/fighter aircraft.
(The 'bomb-like' things under the belly are 450 gallon external fuel tanks. There were two.)
My squadron, out of Birmingham, Alabama, was part of a joint all-military branches combat exercise (war game) namd "Clove Hitch" in the late 60s staged out of Ramey AFB in Puerto Rico.
My squadron mate and I were scheduled for the 'dawn patrol' (06:00 departure) to take photos of some bridge or something, but our briefing officer told us that mission was scrubbed. Instead we were to 'harass' a Russian Navy 'trawler' (spy ship) just off the coast. We all knew they were monitoring our activities, radio transmissions, etc. It was the height of the cold war.
Woo Hoo! A license to buzz!
We were given the latest position of the trawler.
Dan and I flipped a coin and he flew lead, I flew wing.
We took off and climbed to 10,000' and hit the last known position of the Russkies.
Dan soon sighted them.
"I'll make the first pass across their deck. Count to 5 and come on in."
I was on Dan's right wing and he peeled left.
I counted to 5 and followed.
I saw the ship.
I saw Dan blast over the bow deck and pull up.
Just as I was approaching for my run, Dan said "PULL UP! WRONG SHIP!"
I pulled up and rolled inverted and looked down as I passed over and sure enough, it was a cruise ship.
Woops.
A few minutes later Dan found the Russian ship and we pressed on.
He made the first pass at deck level.
I made my first pass about 10' above the midships deck using color motion picture film in my forward film bay.
It was the first and only time I had ever been loaded with either color or motion picture fan.***
Dan's first pass still photos showed many sailors looking up.
My first movie film showed guys diving down and closing hatches.
We beat the ship up, low pass after low pass, for about an hour and then returned to Ramey.
At our farewell banquet at the Ramey Officers Club I was awarded the "Order of the Russian Trawler".
I have the certificate to prove it.
***I asked for a copy of the film. I was told:
1. It was not available.
2. Your security clearance doesn't go that high.
3. Finally "What film?"
OK, I think I made a movie for the CIA.
EdwardBernays
(3,343 posts)trof
(54,256 posts)EdwardBernays
(3,343 posts)Trained pilots for years and I've heard MANY a hilarious story about buzzing control towers, almost dying, etc.
Flying in such an exposed cockpit must be an amazing feeling.
denbot
(9,900 posts)With a Soviet Kashin Class Destroyer just outside of Mombasa Keyna. That kind of shit was common back then.
trof
(54,256 posts)jeez
irisblue
(32,981 posts)bet they had to hose the lido deck off
trof
(54,256 posts)And we were certainly in violation of civilian flight rules.
But this was simulated combat conditions, so we got a pass.
oneshooter
(8,614 posts)chknltl
(10,558 posts)You got to drive a way cool jet! That was every kid's dream back in the early 60's...(well mine at any rate). That photo sorta reminds me of the jet fighters called 'Shooting Stars' but I think their wings were not so swept back and their wing tanks were further out.
Yeah, it was a straight wing with tip tanks.
I logged a few hours in one.
Turbineguy
(37,343 posts)Ever present near the horizon, casually interested.
HereSince1628
(36,063 posts)I rode on this ship while at the WS Biological Station, always wondered if it was built around a trawler design
jmowreader
(50,560 posts)oneshooter
(8,614 posts)oneshooter
(8,614 posts)jmowreader
(50,560 posts)AGI means "Auxiliary General Intelligence." It's the official name of the kind of ship you see here...which were originally designed as fishing trawlers and were later converted to spy ships.
I better not tell too many Mike Wimer stories or you'll think I'm making shit up...
The incident in question happened when his unit needed to move a truck with a TTR-1A wiretap in it - which looks like...
from the east end of the Panama Canal to the west end. His commander assigned Mike and another guy to do it. They put the vehicle on a barge, they put a case of beer on the barge, and they started heading through the Canal.
Several hours later, they were halfway through the Canal and two-thirds of the way through the case when they met a Soviet AGI going the other direction. Being Americans who were both patriotic and extremely fucked-up (in more ways than one), they flipped off the AGI. Turns out this particular ship was equipped with four five-inch deck guns and a crew with absolutely no sense of humor, as evidenced by them training all four guns on Mike.
sofa king
(10,857 posts)HereSince1628
(36,063 posts)I think the Kartesh was laid down in the early 70's. The Kartesh had a small forecastle structure and an open walk along the main deck going aft. Can't tell if that 'trawler' has such a structure forward or not.
cheapdate
(3,811 posts)trof
(54,256 posts)packman
(16,296 posts)Javaman
(62,530 posts)Widmark: if they fire one, I'll fire one!
MacArthur: fire one!
EEK!
jtuck004
(15,882 posts)starboard side and rode with us for a while through the pacific. May have been off Cuba or heading for the Med, i don't remember. '72, maybe?
Second class told me to go below, so, being an okie kid who had never seen anything that could vaporize us all in no time at all, I went below and came up the port side and resumed my perusal.
He caught me again, so I never got my picture...
elmac
(4,642 posts)but I guess that doesn't count.
KelleyKramer
(8,969 posts)Man, it's been a long time, good to see you are still around and kicking!
Ten feet over sounds awful damn close, I bet anyone on deck had their ears ringing for a while
.
trof
(54,256 posts)4bucksagallon
(975 posts)Allegedly he was in Alabama, I think, hiding out while going AWOL.You most likely would not remember him as he was and is a dimwit.
trof
(54,256 posts)I would have been jailed or sent to Viet Nam as an army private.
Ned Flanders
(233 posts)Cool story, thanks.
I spend a fair amount of time in the deserts of California and Nevada, frequently within Military Operating Areas (MOA's).
Pretty much every single visit to an MOA results in me being buzzed by some kind of military aircraft. If you've never been buzzed, allow me to tell you, it is a pretty interesting experience.
There you are, slowly crawling up a rocky 4x4 trail, haven't seen anyone else in a day. When all of a sudden you hear or perhaps feel a low vibration. I imagine it's like feeling the P-wave in an earthquake: really sudden and subtle; most people don't notice it. But right about the time you're thinking WTF, a jet screams by 100' overhead. That's really fricken close. The sound is amazing. It vibrates your entire body. And if the pilot gets really close and your windows are open, you can smell the jet fuel.
And the before you can reach for your camera, the plane's gone, over the next ridge and out of sight. You know they've lined their gun sights up on you and practiced strafing you, and you would be dead had you been a bad guy. I think I've helped quite a few pilots practice, haha.
Check out the Goleta Air and Space Museum for some great pictures of military craft "in the wild."
http://www.air-and-space.com/
People make a hobby out of this. I heard a story once about some guy who goes out there with a mockup SAM towed behind his pickup and a surplus police radar, which he uses to point at aircraft and attract their attention. Possible? IDK.
JohnnyRingo
(18,636 posts)Thanx for sharing.
moondust
(19,993 posts)Jim Lane
(11,175 posts)Were there any consequences to Dan's initial mistake? Did the cruise ship company complain, or at least inquire WTF was going on?
I'll bet a lot of the passengers thought it was an entertaining change of pace, but some were really weirded out.
trof
(54,256 posts)Nothing came of it.
Jim Lane
(11,175 posts)Along with your "Order of the Russian Trawler" certificate, Dan should have gotten one for "Order of the Civilian Cruise Ship".
Beyond that, I'm not surprised that nothing came of the complaint. Not much can be done except to tell the pilots to be more careful in the future.
Sen. Walter Sobchak
(8,692 posts)They still use that line, I know a retired Navy test pilot and he would get his own weapons qualification work classified on him to the point it was difficult to do his job. This was stuff like "performed _____ maneuver, ordnance didn't fall off", "ordnance did not deploy while inverted, it's not supposed to" it drove him nuts, like this damn thing has a Wikipedia entry and was on public display at airshows.
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)Thanks for this story, Mr. Trof!