A fighter down in “Fightertown”…
So I’m sure that you’ve heard about the recent crash of an FA-18-Super-Hornet near MCAS Miramar (that would be Marine Corps Air Station for all you NON Military brats) . You might recognize that name from the movie Top Gun. Miramar, California has long been known as “Fightertown USA”. The residents of this area are very familiar with the sight and sound of freedom flying overhead, and are no doubt also aware of the danger that it presents. Unfortunately, we recently had a reminder of the inherent danger of flight. The fighter fell from the sky on final approach and struck a residential area killing a number of people. Fortunately, the pilot managed to eject before the plane struck the ground.
I’m sure there are the few ignorant, military-hating fools out there saying “He bailed out and let them die…” Well, let me address that with this: Military pilots don’t let people die if they can do anything about it. It is my confirmed belief that the pilot involved bailed because there was nothing left for him to do. I’m sure that the final investigation will show the actual cause (and clear the pilot if I am right).
According to an anonymous congressional aid, the pilot lost his right engine and set course to return to the airbase at Miramar. En route, his left engine flamed out and he was basically in a large, falling piece of steel. For those of you who do not understand the way a fighter works, it must be moving through the air for the steering to work. If you’re not moving forward (in this case at a speed required to maintain lift) nothing works. Its called Minimum Control Air Speed. (That’s the second MCAS in one post…) Without that, you basically have a large steel brick falling to the earth. Smaller, lighter planes can sometimes glide, but these planes are designed to haul ass. The speedometer STARTS at fast and goes UP from there. I’ve seen the Map and this guy only landed a few hundred yards from where the plane hit. He didn’t bail until the last minute. You’ll also note that he wasn’t that far from the south end of the runway. My guess is that he did all he could to save lives. Another thought: ejecting from an aircraft can REALLY hurt you, so It’s not something that pilots do for fun at parties…
All this to get to the bottom line: The men and women that fly these planes put their life on the line EVERY time they leave the ground. They learn to fly to protect you. They practice extremely difficult carrier-based landings to protect you. They engage in high-speed aerial combat simulations to protect you. These people are likely to die protecting you at any time, and they KNOW it when they get up and go to work in the morning. The next time you see or hear a military aircraft go overhead, know that the person at the controls is maintaining your freedom. Just because they aren’t “over there” fighting, doesn’t mean they aren’t risking everything so that you can live your life.
If you’ll remember the incident a few years back involving the capture of one of our planes by the chinese, a very sober example of this devotion is this: When that story hit, I heard the following words from a former navigator on the same type of aircraft: “They should have ditched it in the ocean, even if it cost them their lives.” Period. End of statement. No caveat, no conditions. That plane was NOT a small plane. That decision would have cost many (like two dozen) lives most likely, but the sentiment was there; resolute, even jarring. Those men were in charge of technology, equipment and information that keeps Americans safe. I was glad to hear that they managed to ‘sanitize’ the plane before it landed, even if that is the only the ‘official government line’ but that former Navy officer was totally serious about it, and I have no doubt that he would have accepted and carried out his duty to country even at that cost.
I love the sound of jets. Afterburners and jet wash make my hair stand on end. I can name most any US warplane in the air by sight and some by sound alone. I cried when they mothballed the F-14. Seeing ‘Top Gun’ was a formative event in my life (mainly because right after that screening I got a GI JOE Skystriker – see below… Notice the eerie resemblance to the aforementioned F-14 Tomcat.) *sniff*
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I grew up surrounded by the sights and sounds of the military. The men and women I mentioned above were my friends’ moms and dads. These people love their country enough to die for it EVERY day. So if you see them around, thank them. Buy them dinner in the airport…whatever. They and their families sacrifice daily for you…
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