25 May 2008

Not An Officer ...  But Still A Gentleman (Early '60s)

In the early '60s I was stationed at Hahn Air Base, Germany.  Most of my tour was spent

working in Transient Alert, a selection of aircraft mechanics that met, serviced, performed

minor maintenance on, and then launched aircraft that were not stationed there, but at some

other airfield (or country), including NATO aircraft.  We drove the 'ole "Follow Me" trucks that

you see once in a while, in some movie.

One day, in about 1963, Base Operations had given me an inbound on two German F-86 jet

fighters.  As the arrival time came closer, I drove out to the end of the runway, and waited

for them, in the last taxiway (#4).  The German Air Force used highly qualified NCOs, not

officers, to fly most of their aircraft.   Of all the GAF pilots I ever saw, all of them were NCOs.

Well, there I was, waiting ... "ah here they come," I said to myself.  A single F-86 came down

the runway, and turned-off onto the taxiway, behind me.  Suspecting that their plans had

somehow changed, I pulled ahead of the aircraft with the "FOLLOW ME" sign lit up, and led him

to our large parking ramp, at the other end of the base (Pad 41, I believe).  I pulled onto the

ramp, and drove in a manner for him to follow.   I stopped about 20' in front of the spot I

wanted him on, and then got out out and used hand signals to pull him up to the exact spot

where I would chock his tires.  After the pilot shut his engine down, I climbed up the steps

on the side of the aircraft, and said to him,"where is the other aircraft?"  To this very day,

I'll never forget his response ... it was almost comical.  The pilot looked over his right shoulder,

expecting to see another F-86 parked next to him and did kind of a double-take ... there was nothing there!

  His wingman had crashed on final approach, several miles from the end of the runway!

If I were his wingman, I'd have preferred him knowing the status of his flight of two, instead

of just boring holes in the sky, with no regard for his other pilot!

                                                      dan walters

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Last Updated:   25 May 2008