Originally Posted by
hindsight2020
Tocuhé. I never really got motivated to join based on that kind of flying. And further to your point, it is the predominant type of flying in the USAF, which is rather anti-climactic. To me it was all about tactical flying. There is a reason the aerial demo teams are Vipers and Hornets, not Boeing 707s after all.
It's interesting that the most heavily damaged aircraft in the USAF history (since 1947) to survive is a modified C-123 Cargo airplane named Patches. On display in the AF Museum, we (in Vietnam) documented over a thousand hits. The AF museum documented over 600 but they didn't remove patches to see the patches under the patches.
The 12th Air Commando Squadron (Ranch Hand) had the highest number of Purple Hearts per capita of any AF Squadron. At one point EVERY pilot in the organization had at least one Purple Heart. Two had three. There were more DFCs, and Silver Stars awarded to RH crew members then any other AF Squadron.
The year I was there we lost fifteen crew members.
All of this in a lumbering old prop driven boring cargo airplane. Having a "fighter pilot" mentality has nothing to do with what airplane you fly. It has everything to do with what mission you fly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2j6Ocf-5DTs