Speaking of Shane Osbourne's book, I really would recommend anyone interested in Military aviation to read it. I thought that it did a really good job of illustrating how much being a military pilot means being at war 365 days a year.
So much of the general public has no idea of the job that our military does day in/day out preserving our many freedoms. It was amazing to read about all the dangers that were involved just going up for a routine flight in the EP-3. One excerpt that comes to mind was when he was commenting how the gear breaks on the aircraft were so sensitive that any accidental contact above taxing speed would instantly blow the tires. Then there was the part to where those Chinese Finbacks were flying so close that they could read one of the Chinese pilot's e-mail addresses as he held it up to his cockpit window. Obviously, too close for comfort eventually became to close to avoid contact. On top of it all, ditching an EP-3 had never even been tried because most pilots assumed that the instant that the big radome uner the plane's fuselage hit the water, it was cause a deceleration to abrupt for any realistic chance of survival. I'll leave the rest of the excitement to anyone interested in reading the book themselves. You don't have to buy it necessarily I mind you. Many Americans, among our bountiful plenties of freedom forget to take part in the glories of public libraries. So if you can manage to unstick your eyes from the discovery wings channel, get a library card and haul-ass to the military aviation section of your local library for some truly amazing first-hand stories from our nations's heroes of the sky.
Chris
So much of the general public has no idea of the job that our military does day in/day out preserving our many freedoms. It was amazing to read about all the dangers that were involved just going up for a routine flight in the EP-3. One excerpt that comes to mind was when he was commenting how the gear breaks on the aircraft were so sensitive that any accidental contact above taxing speed would instantly blow the tires. Then there was the part to where those Chinese Finbacks were flying so close that they could read one of the Chinese pilot's e-mail addresses as he held it up to his cockpit window. Obviously, too close for comfort eventually became to close to avoid contact. On top of it all, ditching an EP-3 had never even been tried because most pilots assumed that the instant that the big radome uner the plane's fuselage hit the water, it was cause a deceleration to abrupt for any realistic chance of survival. I'll leave the rest of the excitement to anyone interested in reading the book themselves. You don't have to buy it necessarily I mind you. Many Americans, among our bountiful plenties of freedom forget to take part in the glories of public libraries. So if you can manage to unstick your eyes from the discovery wings channel, get a library card and haul-ass to the military aviation section of your local library for some truly amazing first-hand stories from our nations's heroes of the sky.
Chris