Bad day for aircraft: C-17 reported down in TX
 

RIP and god speed brothers. :(

C17 (a BIG plane) reportedly flying low in Texas. Reportedly crashed. Air Force came out and searched plot of ground, found nada. AF reports that early stories of 'crash' were false.

Hmmmm. The tin-foil-hat-gang is going to have a field day.

AND I'll bet every second lieutenant that actually DID fly a C17 in Texas is getting grilled about flying low.

Now the Air Force is saying there was no crash... apparently a false alarm?

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/03/23/texas.plane/index.html

Well that's a first....

Well, not really..... remember the weather balloons in Roswell?

LOL, but of course. :D

I saw a C-17 at the Luke AFB air show yesterday. Man, it was flying low, doing all kinds of neat tricks for a plane that size and we had a horrible wind/sandstorm while it was going on. They are impressive machines.

I've seen those cargo jockeys fly in between windmill towers in central Texas.....nothing surprises me about anything that happens/or not to these guys.

A friend of mine's wife used to sunbath naked (at their secluded place) just west of Sweetwater....the jocks used to circle overhead for hours looking down at her....:rolleyes:


nothing like our tax dollars being used for a high flying porn show. ;)




--Russ

When I was a kid my aunt and uncle lived outside of Portland Maine. Back behind thier property was a nudest camp at a lake. AF choppers and C-130's would come in at tree top level. I was about 13 years old at the time. Those planes lead me right to the lake. I say it was tax money well spent.

Sounds perfect for a U2 overflight with some close-up photography. Pretty sure those guys have to get their hours in each month, regardless of how they do it.

Ah, yes - Altus AFB. I spent several years there one month.

C-17 is an interesting aircraft. Turned out the one on display at an airshow I attended was flown by guys from my old squadron and they really treated me nicely. The cockpit is quite different for a large transport - the pilots have sticks, not control wheels. It's also fly-by-wire, but done correctly with manual (cable/pulley) backup for when the fbw fails.

It had a very rocky start but looks like it has turned into a good bird.

Awesome aircraft, of all the crap I have to deal with living by LB airport, I truly enjoy watching (and hearing) these planes take off. They set off every car alarm as they pass. My dad just retired from the assembly line there. He built them for many years. As far as I know, everyone that has been deployed is still in service. If the story about this one crashing is true, I think it may be the first down. But as usual, I could be wrong...

Airdrop school is at ALTUS, and there is a lot of area to drop around there. Great aircraft C-17 I have about 2500 hours in it (LOADMASTER) but I do miss the C-141 over 3000 hours in that (FLIGHT ENGINEER) But I am thinking about retirement.