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Old 03-19-2016 | 10:55 AM
  #65  
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franklin_m
 
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From: State College, PA
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Originally Posted by da Rock
You ain't kidding.

I used to live on a farm that was a couple of miles from the Charlotte city limits. It was on the exact top of a hill. The old farmhouse was surrounded by ancient oaks, 5 of them. This was in the 70s. One night after the family was in bed one HELLACIOUS THUNDER blew right over the house. My little girls were terrified and out of their beds and into ours in a heartbeat. I went straight to the yard to see where that jet plane had crashed. Just in time for the next Phantom to come over. I saw it coming up the power line and was positive it was going to hit the oaks. It was maybe a minute behind the first one. It shook dead limbs out of those trees the first plane hadn't.

It turns out those two F4s were very close to a minute separation. At least a week or so later the next 2 were. I wrote down the times both shook the trees (and the house, and my 2 little girls). That farm is now inside the city limits. My girls often tell about those planes at family gatherings.

Yes, the military looks at altitude from a different perspective. Although I greatly doubt those jets were on a MTR.

The risk tolerance in military flying in the 70's was a whole lot different than the period I flew (86-2009). Even if not an MTR, that sort of behavior was permitted, or at worst folks looked the other way. Contrast that with what happened to two Navy crews who did the overflight of Georgia Tech game a few years back. They came over too low - and although it impressed the fans, the teams, and the media (they all loved it), that turned out to be their last ever flight in military aircraft.

Things like that are considered a breach of flight discipline, lack of professionalism, and a fundamental safety risk that is intolerable.

http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/f...ignored/nQdXn/

Last edited by franklin_m; 03-19-2016 at 01:15 PM. Reason: Correct - it was Georgia Tech game