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Old 09-01-2015 | 02:58 PM
  #34  
Spike from flyi's Avatar
Spike from flyi
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Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 253
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From: B777; Left Seat.
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My last flight in an OV-1D Mohawk was in May of 1992. I was assigned at Fort Hood Texas, and liked to do my training flights to the very end of our "leash". I was interested in going to Clinton-Sherman, OK. They had a runway 13,000' long by 300' wide. They didn't even have Class D airspace. I got gas from the FBO there, and the fellow who owned it gave me a royal welcome. He was a retired USAF major. He had flown C-7As in Vietnam, and had done a liaison tour with an Army C-7A unit. He had some great admiration for Army pilots. He said the Army would let them land on a 700' dirt strip, while the USAF required a minimum of 1,000'. He also said that the USAF required two pilots in the C-7, while the Army would let a 19 year old WO-1 fly it by himself. Later, after I checked the weather and found a huge line of thunderstorms between me and Fort Hood, he drove me and my right seater to the Holiday Inn, and told the manager to take good care of us. He even loaned me $50. I think he would have given me the shirt off of his back. Nice guy; I'll never forget him.
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