USNA midshipmen own USAFA F-4

[BoilerUP]

Forgive me if this has been posted in another thread. I read it this morning on FARK and couldn't stop laughing. You've gotta give the middies credit on this one...I don't know how they could have EVER gotten away with this. Regardless of your branch, this is funny and I don't care who ya are...

http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2005/10_06-46/TOP

 

[Caveman]

Chalk one up for the squids! Classic.

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

Looks like this shuts down the thread of who is better...

 

[stonewall]

Looks like this shuts down the thread of who is better...

At what? Painting? Let's wait and see what the USAFA bros do....

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

At what? Painting? Let's wait and see what the USAFA bros do....

USAF guys taking the initiative? Thinking outside the box? You don't have to get too creative to land on 2+ miles of wide runway.....

I'm sure the Ascot boys will come up with a plan and run it up the Chain of Command and get the UberCommander to approve it.....

Good luck....

 

[TonyC]

War memorials have been long off limits for spirit missions. The F-4 is such a memorial.


Right idea, wrong airplane. Classless.




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[Swede]

Tony beat me to it. The F4 is a war memorial, and would be similar to defacing the KIA memorial in the North part of the air gardens.

Besides, painting ain't squat. In MY day, (too long ago) the AC had to be moved. Preferably to the top of one of the campus buildings.

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

War memorials have been long off limits for spirit missions. The F-4 is such a memorial.


Right idea, wrong airplane. Classless.




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Sore losers? In addition, the color will come off..... The USAF spokesperson didn't seem to take issue with this... In fact, they recognized, challenged and warned the Squids to watch out for the return volley....

All in good fun....

Besides don't you Ascots have forced religion and sex issues to deal with?

 

[TonyC]

Sore losers? In addition, the color will come off..... The USAF spokesperson didn't seem to take issue with this... In fact, they recognized, challenged and warned the Squids to watch out for the return volley....

All in good fun....

Besides don't you Ascots have forced religion and sex issues to deal with?

Low blow to edit your post and toss in the sex and religion issues. It's all about spirit, right?


I agree that it's all in good fun, but it's not in good taste. You don't decorate war memorials with spirit missions. You don't move war memorials with spirit missions. You don't desecrate war memorials with spirit missions. Take a close look at the picture in the HometownAnnapolis story and you'll see a plaque mounted to an angled post adjacent to the F-4. On that plaque, readers learn of that airframe's service in war, and it's record of MiG kills.

There are 4 airplanes on the terrazo (it has four corners) and another in the air gardens. Several are fair game, but this one is not. I've personally been involved, no I mean I've "heard about" these airplanes being moved to the top of spirit hill, or to the middle of the parade field, or to the front door of the dining hall. NEVER would I have been part of, I mean heard a story about, using a war memorial for a spirit mission. I've moved entire offices of Army, Navy, and Marine Corps officers to spirit hill. I've transformed offices into wading pools, foxholes, or bunkers. I've acquired personal automobiles and placed them, painted Air Force Blue, atop spirit hill for the noon meal formation. Umm, I mean, I've heard about those things being done. Never, ever, ever would we have considered touching a war memorial.


The "Air Force Academy spokesman" had little to say, either way, about the target selection. He had no choice but to put the best "spin" on the matter, and only those parts of his remarks that fit the Hometown Annapolis slant on the story were published. To the notoriously uniformed public, it would appear to be poor sportsmanship to condemn the prank, as they would not likely "get" the seriousness of the war memorial issue. We' wouldn't paint BEAT ARMY on the Vietnam War Memorial in D.C., even if the paint WOULD come off. It's simply poor taste.


I applaud the Middies for their ingenuity and spirit. I grieve for the defacing of a war memorial.




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[ExAF]

Good One!

I don't think it is a big deal. Heck, I flew that F-4 when it was at Homestead and didn't cut it any slack because it had red stars on the side. It was a privilege to fly it and relish its past. I may be misinformed about its status, but what makes it a war memorial vs a static display with combat experience? The last time I walked past it on the terrazo, I didn't see anything that set it apart from the other AC (not trying to be flippant here). Irregardless, the paint will wash off and it will be restored to its previous condition. I have a hard time believing that the midshipmen would ever dream of permanently defacing the aircraft or showing any disrespect for its past accomplishments or the legacy it represents. It was a well conceived and executed spirit mission. I just hope there is a pink submarine somewhere at Annapolis in retaliation. BEAT NAVY:smash: !!!!

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

Tony C.,

As never being active duty, only living the dependant lifestyle for 18+ years, I will recognize your position and defer to post #10.

Although the Vietnam analogy doesn't work. That would be a public issue. This issue is in house. The public doesn't have access to the acadamy campuses...

Pink Submarine? Wasn't that done in a movie? Mr. Roberts?

 

[erj-145mech]

Pink Submarine? Wasn't that done in a movie? Mr. Roberts?

Operation Petticoat

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

Operation Petticoat

Yes, with cary grant...and that nurse turned wife with the big .......brown eyes.....

 

[Huggyu2]

You don't have to get too creative to land on 2+ miles of wide runway.....

Rez,
Apparently, you need to challenge yourself a bit more in your flying training. If your day-to-day ops is that benign, even on a 2+ mile, wide runway, then you aren't moving toward your potential (or lack thereof).

 

[SIG600]

War memorials have been long off limits for spirit missions. The F-4 is such a memorial.


Right idea, wrong airplane. Classless.

No classless are the USAF Cadets in Annapolis retaliating by spray painting obcenities on the walls of one of the halls...

Get your panties out of a wad and read the article. Not even the USAFA spokesman cared and appears to think it's just "game on" now. You one of those SNAPS that Fury is after?

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

Rez,
Apparently, you need to challenge yourself a bit more in your flying training. If your day-to-day ops is that benign, even on a 2+ mile, wide runway, then you aren't moving toward your potential (or lack thereof).

Are you all there?

 

[FastCargo]

Pranks...

I may be misinformed about its status, but what makes it a war memorial vs a static display with combat experience?

I remember being on the terrazo the day it was flown over USAFA and then of course seeing it displayed. I even have pictures of it from the same angle, but sort of before/after shots of it in Homestead ANG colors and Vietnam colors.

As dinks back at the zoo, we were taught that the war memorials were not to be touched. It was considered classless even if other zoomies did it.

That being said, from what I understand, the F-16 and F-104 at the time were NOT off limits because they had not done combat. The F-16 was a wind tunnel test article. The F-104 had done high speed/altitude testing back at Edwards. The current F-15A was a line fighter that hadn't seen combat.

The F-105 was built from several combat F-105s, and of course, we know about the F-4. I think that was the critical difference...the F-4 and the F-105 had both been in combat (okay, maybe the Thud is a bit of a stretch because it saw combat in several aircraft) and so were considered war memorials.

Do I appreciate a good prank? You betcha! Obscenities on a wall are NOT a good prank. What the middies did on the F-4 was a good prank...I just think it was the wrong target (though in fairness, considering the USAFA has no other aircraft that the Blue Angels ever used....).

FastCargo

 

[flynAAvy]

Tony... lighten up Francis. You and Fury are embarrassing.

 

[SIG600]

Crew, canopy, cords, harness, mask, crunch, dive, pull, prey... I still remember that.

Plus Speed, clean, check, feather, look, lock, a, b, c....

 

[TonyC]

I remember being on the terrazo the day it was flown over USAFA and then of course seeing it displayed. I even have pictures of it from the same angle, but sort of before/after shots of it in Homestead ANG colors and Vietnam colors.

...

That being said, from what I understand, the F-16 and F-104 at the time were NOT off limits because they had not done combat. The F-16 was a wind tunnel test article. The F-104 had done high speed/altitude testing back at Edwards. The current F-15A was a line fighter that hadn't seen combat.

I was packing to leave the tiny resort nestled in the foothills of the Rockies the day the F-16 replaced the T-38 on the northwest corner of the terrazzo. By then, the F-4 had been firmly planted (and chained) to the southeast corner for several years. I don't think you could have seen it flying over USAFA, unless you're referring to a visit you might have made several years earlier.


The F-104 was easy to push.


Or so I heard.





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