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ON THE ROAD WITH HELOISE AT RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE
A T-38 Talon supersonic jet airplane is a lot faster than my car! When I was offered a "ride" in a United States Air Force T-38 Talon I said "yes, Sir" faster than fitting into a flight suit. My daddy, Mike Cruse (Lt. Colonel USAF Retired), was a pilot and my husband David is a hotair balloon pilot so I asked if they could come along to watch me. The wonderful people at Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, said "yes, we always welcome one of our own home." My father "got his wings" at Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio in 1942, so this was truly a special event. When I was a young child my mother would take us out to the air base to see Daddy land when coming home from a trip. It was now my turn to salute him from the cockpit and get a hug and kiss plane side after a safe landing. Lt. Col. Bob Otto (call sign Ottomatic), who at the time was the commander of the 560th Flying Training Squadron Chargin' Cheetahs, was my pilot and a darn good one! The preflight "egress training" was thorough, including practicing getting out of a simulator and being "ejected" from a training seat just in case the need arose. The "fun" part was being "fitted" with a G-suit, which helps prevent the blood from rushing away from your head (so you don't black out) during some of the thrilling multi-G maneuvers. The G-suit sort of fits like "chaps" from the waist down, on top of the flight suit. While the "G-suit" was being adjusted, the two airmen doing the work kept pulling a little tighter, and a little tighter and asking, "is that too tight?" Try to envision the scene in the movie "Gone with the Wind" where Scarlet O'Hara is being "cinched" into the waist cincher. I said, "Gentlemen, you are talking to a women who wears control-top panty hose all day long, how tight does it need to be?"
After an awsome almost hour ride which included flying over my hometown San Antonio, and getting to do an "authorized fly by" of the control tower at San Antonio International Airport, we zoomed in for a perfect landing. There was my daddy and David to meet me plane side. I gave a big thank you kiss to Ottomatic and was ready to go up again! That was the cleanest plane I think I have ever been in, not a speck of dust anywhere. Maybe the maintenance crew can teach me a thing or two! Here is a thought from me, when you see a military plane flying overheard, think about all the people who make it possible. The people on the ground make it happen and I salute each and every one who does their job day in and out. We can't all be pilots or CEO's without the "preflight" work and help from the "worker bees" who make the hive buzz. My heartfelt thanks to all at Randolph Air Force Base who helped get me into the air and down again safely. Soft Landings as we say in Hotair ballooning. Heloise
More On the Road with Heloise
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