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Temporary Duty
By Pinch
99 OpFor... John asked me to help fill in for a short bit while Charlie begins his active duty. I can’t say how much an honor it is to be asked and to have the opportunity to bring a Navy perspective to these pages, specifically Naval Aviation.
My30-second bio: F-14 Tomcat RIO for about 8 years and left active duty in 94 back when the Soviet Union declared peace on the world. Still doing the reserve thing (Commander) down near Naval Air Station Oceana, and currently hanging the civilian hat at a large multi-sided office building in the northern Virginia area on the banks of the Potomac. I’ll be going back on active duty here in the DC area in the near future, though nothing like Charlie’s upcoming adventure. I’ll be battling a different enemy – Militaryius Administratium supported by their staunch ally, Reddus-Tapeus.
I have a little blog called Instapinch where you can usually find the occasional sea story, usually associated with carrier-based naval aviation, and for at least a few more months, the F-14 Tomcat (which, with all due respect to those plastic jet drivers, remains the singular coolest aerospace war machine ever devised by man).
Launch ‘em…
This video has been around a while. First saw it over at Lex's place (the aforementioned "plastic jet driver") who was passed the link by another who saw the vid on another blog, and since we are all a bunch of interbreeding linkers, we're bringing it to the OpFor crowd. "In the weeds" is a term we use when we need to get low....and I mean really *low*...when the hard deck is the hard deck and you have need to utilize every bit of available airspace you can. Plus its fun :)
The aircraft are Mirage F1AZ (ground-attack variant) from the South African Air Force and the terrain is in the Northern Cape Province.
The music (“Era” from The Mass) is simply beautiful and melds with the video images perfectly. This is one you will never get tired of watching. If you've ever wondered what low-level flying is like in a tactical fighter jet, enjoy:
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Comments
Grats on your TAD over here, Pinch. You'll do great just as you do over at your place.
Pinch, that pilot is obviously of the female persuasion.
Men don’t read maps.
God I love this video.
Been looking for the source to that mirage footage since Postal (war hoover pilot) sent it to me three years ago. Thanks for letting me know which country!!!
(from one of those Viking SENSOs - enlisted tailhooker with 268 traps...)
Good to see you over here, Pinch.
Was that pilot really looking at a map? Yikes.
I know people who can't read a map while driving 55. Done that in a helo, but not at that speed.
Pinch congrats on being picked up by the OPFOR team!
Well, I'll be damned. Hey there, Pai...er...Pinch. Shout out from the LCHS Class of '78! Nice to see you're hanging out here. Look forward to seeing more.
Yo Karl! You got it! Glad to see a fellow Bobcat around these parts. Drop me a line on email from the Instapinch.
OMG, Karl!!! Shoutout from another one of those '78 types.
We got us an LCHS REUNION!!!
Laurie? No way. Far out. Other folks are probably reading this stuff and going WTF? LCHS? Huh?
This is too cool. Drop me a line, guys.
The jets are French Air Force Mirage F1 stationed in Djibouti.
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Now that was cool!