The Bitter Buffalo

So, last week I was hanging out at the little playground down the street (with my kids, I'm not some sort of a sicko) when I again heard that familiar roar. I looked up in the sky and sure enough, two F-16s were streaking overhead. But a quick scan of the sky revealed no Cessna. After an ad hoc meeting with neighbors it was decided a couple flyboys were out having a little fun on the taxpayer's dime.

That evening I'm watching the 11 o'clock news when the "Top Story" is revealed. Yet another dope managed to wander into restricted airspace and a couple military jets were scrambled. This guy was escorted to a nearby municipal airport where he got to spend some quality time with the Secret Service and some FAA officials. Seems he didn't know where he was. Call me crazy but if you look down and see the Washington Monument, the Capitol Dome and a couple other generally recognizable landmarks, you've probably screwed up. Furthermore, if you really aren't sure of where you are should you be flying a plane in the first place? Now I'm no pilot but it seems to me if you are lost, maybe it would be a good idea to get on the radio and perhaps ask a few questions. You know, clarify the situation a little bit. To make sure that, for example, you haven't wandered into airspace the violation of which can get you shot out of the sky.

When contemplating this post I went through the BB and saw that the previous occurrence was right about this time (23 May 2005). So next year, from mid-May to mid-June I'm going to set up a lawnchair and just hang out awaiting the inevitable. Last year's show was more spectacular with the flares and all. This year it was just the jets passing overhead a couple times. I figure next year they will make it up to me. I feel I'm owed my own little airshow. Maybe some combat if I'm lucky. Meanwhile, if you know anybody who has a pilot's license send them over my way but give me a little notice so I have time to set up my lawnchair.

I think it's pretty cool anytime military hardware flies by. A few minutes ago four big, fat, slow cargo helicopters (not sure which model, but they were loud) moseyed over my house at about 200 feet, flying (presumably) from RDU to some unknown point northeast. The house shook for two full minutes. C-131s fly the same route on a fairly regular basis, also at ridiculously low altitudes. I love it most, though, when the pairs of F-16s fly over. Their impending presence is foreshadowed with a low roar that I think is generated at takeoff, even though tht airport is 15 miles away (as the crow flies, so to speak). That roar builds for 30 seconds, maybe 40 -- long enough for me to attempt to drop whatever I am doing and run outside to see them shriek overhead at that impossibly low altitude, almost always directly over my house. I also once saw a B-1 appear out of a fog bank in the middle of the North Carolina forest and tear across the surface of the lake I was crossing, misty streamers trailing off of each wingtip.

A big difference between seeing hardware here vs. in suburban Washington DC, though, is that there's really no significance to seeing them here. They're just on their way from one place to another. Up there, on the other hand, you can almost always assume something is up. That makes your sightings MUCH more exciting than any of mine. I'm already looking forward to next year's post.