Phancon 2010

The F-4 Phantom II Society has their annual convention every year at a base where the F-4's are still flying. This year the location is Tyndall Air Force Base near Panama City, Florida. The Air force takes Phantoms out of storage in the desert near Tucson, Arizona and fits them with equipment to turn them into remote-control drones as aerial targets. Then they fly them as manned aircraft to Tyndall and shoot them down over the Gulf of Mexico.
At first, I was appalled that the jet that I loved was being used in such a wasteful display. Any aviator falls in love with their first "hot" jet. When I started flying as crew in 1972 the Phantom was the ultimate ride. Phantoms, and especially the RF-4B were the fastest jets in the fleet. And they still are! For pure speed, nothing ever beat it in fighter operational service. The published speed of 2.7 times the speed of sound could be bested with a clean bird on any given day. The paint wouldn't stay on, but you could sure go fast. A turn took a lot of room. Like the state of North Carolina, but it would scoot straight on like a cat with its tail soaked in turpentine!
Of course, fuel went out the tailpipe at an alarming rate and speed meant a very short time before an aerial tanker was needed.
So willfully shooting at them seems cruel. But when you've got five or six hundred of them sitting in the desert and every fighter in the inventory considers them meat on the table, what else are you going to do.
They have aircraft in the inventory that haven't even got 300 flying hours on them! My three-year old light-sport has nearly 500 hours on it!
We traveled here in the motorhome with the Prius in tow and set up camp in Bonita Bay at the Family Camp on base. A great facility with concrete pads, full services and the roar of Phantoms overhead is hard to beat. For every drone launched, a manned Phantom is flown as chase plane since the remote operators are looking at less visual information than I have in my simulator. The pilots in the chase planes keep the drones from conflicting with stray birds ( both feathered and man-made) that stray into their path. They also inspect the drones for leaks and loose panels that the remotes can't see.
The real gem of the convention is the guys that come to the Phancon. I've met Migkillers, POW's, maintainers and enthusiasts from around the world.
My favorite is Brigadier General Dan Cherry. I had the privilege of several extended conversations with him. Surprisingly quiet and unassuming, he fits my model of what an American hero is.
During the Vietnam War (it was a "war" by any definition other than the hated, detached, numbnuts who ran it from the White House and State Departments), Dan shot down a Mig-21 over North Vietnam after a protracted and frustrating series of missile failures in a fierce dogfight. The Communist pilot ejected, but Dan never knew his fate.
Long after the war, Cherry tracked his enemy down and had the opportunity to fly to Saigon, and meet him on a national TV show that reunited people separated by circumstance much like the 50's and 60's American Ralph Edwards show "This is Your Life".
Struck by the similarities and parallels in their lives before and after their lives, they both became friends. Cherry had dinner in Hanoi with his former antagonist and met his children and grand-children. Later, Dan was able to bring him and his son to Kentucky and introduce them to his family. A truly moving story of reconciliation and forgiveness.
We also had access to today's fighter pilots and their aircraft that civilians are rarely granted. We were allowed on the flightline with operational F-22 Raptors and even got to climb up the side and look in the cockpit! At every airshow with one of these on display, the crown is not allowed within 50-feet of one of these national defense assets. And nervous young men with live ammunition are their to punctuate the warnings! So we were thrilled to be granted such access!
After all the briefings here at Tyndall, we were bussed the next day to Navy Pensacola and once again crawled over both Navy and Air Force aircraft and talked to students and their instructors.

Now the really amazing part of all this is non of the above. Most of the folks at Phancon brought their wives, but few went on the tours with us. Micky was one of three ladies wandering around with us. She made it very clear that she was not missing out on anything!

Next year the convention is in Tucson. Unless we're sailing, we're going!