30 May 2008

"Two,"   "Three,"  "Four."

When one is flying, or preparing to fly a military aircraft (or civilian), there are certain procedures that

are supposed to be followed.   These written procedures come from the FAA.  For U.S.

fighter pilots, additional or supplemental procedures are also to be followed.  One major procedure is

"when to taxi onto an active runway!"  Also, when the Flight Leader gives commands to the

rest of the aircraft pilots in his flight, for brevity, it's common for the pilots of the other aircraft to

merely respond with their flight position number, meaning that the command was received and understood.

While assigned to the King Salmon Combat Alert Center, in Alaska, as Supervisor and Senior

Controller, we had a flight of four F-4E Phantom fighters divert into our quiet little part of the

world one afternoon, for a quick refuel, and then return to their base at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska.

At King Salmon, the Combat Alert Center, with the discretion of the senior pilot on alert, had control

of the take-off direction for our alert aircraft.  For purposes of Air Defense, it was necessary - there was

only one runway!  The FSS (Flight Service Station) people at King Salmon were civilians, and normally

controlled the day to day operation of the runway, unless there was an active Air Defense mission

underway.  I always tried to maintain a certain degree of harmony between our Air Defense operation

and the civilian flying operation of the FSS people, because I was only  going to be there for a year, and

the FSS people lived there!   The only thorn in my side was the fighter pilots, and the way some

of them showed a little disrespect and disdain for some of the "rules of the sky," on occasion.

You can take an ordinary, by the book, pressed suit, right down the middle of the road pilot, put him in

the cockpit of a jet fighter, and he turns into a different person.  Of course, as I have heard,

it takes much more than an ordinary pilot to be a good fighter pilot.  Commanders know this.

I had the Wing Commander (a full Colonel) as senior alert pilot for one week, and he was

nearly as bad as any young pilot I ever had on alert!  When it came to horseplay, he was

right in the middle of it every time. 

Well, back to the story ... the F-4s got refueled, in front of the alert hangar, and then got taxi clearance from

FSS, and proceeded to the end of the runway.  We always monitored everything on our  UHF

aircraft radios, in the Combat Alert Center, and I heard the FSS say, "Cleared to taxi to the end

of the runway ... hold short for ATC (Air Traffic Control) clearance."  It doesn't take a scientist to

understand that he meant taxi to just short of the end of the runway, and then STOP and

wait for take-off clearance.

Here's where it gets funny ... the four F-4s (8 pilots strapped into their rockets), taxi to the end of

the runway, and then I heard on the radio, "taking the active ...  ,"  then, "Two,"  "Three,"  "Four."

I didn't realize what was happening for about five seconds, and then two F-4s came

screaming down the runway, with their noses reaching for the sky.  About two seconds later,

the other two F-4s came screaming down the runway, on the heels of their master.

The aircraft hadn't even got their landing gear in the wells before the Direct Line to the FSS

started jumping off the wall!   "What the hell is going on over there," someone yelled at me.

Then the voice said,   "I told them to hold."  What could I say ...

"Sir, I'm sorry.    I'm not sure myself," I said to the voice.  He made it clear that he was going

to report it upchannel, and that somebody's ass was going to get burned.  I calmed the

voice down as much as possible, and then quietly hung the phone back on the wall.

I told the senior alert pilot what had happened, and it didn't get much more than a grin.  Never heard

anything more about that little joy ride.

The Flight Commander of the four F-4s knew the runway was clear of other aircraft and

vehicles, and knew that he had ATC clearance, so he had just decided to "make our day,"

by showing us how hot he was.   I could see what was happening too, and wasn't all that

concerned, and deep inside I was laughing a little too!

                                                           dan walters

This number is from our complete Web Site

Last Updated:   30 May 2008