For our Canadian friends and lovers of any Air Force...

http://www.vintagewings.ca/VintageNews/Stories/tabid/116/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/335/language/en-CA/Skip-Hit--Low-level-flying-in-West-Germany.aspx

Awesome read. Thanks Jim.

As a kid the 104 was my favorite jet. Had several models of it. I finally got to see them fly at Moffett field sometime in the 80's. At an annual air show a 2 ship F-104 demonstrator team from Germany performed. Gave me goose bumps.

The comment about the spurs is very interesting.

As a kid the 104 was my favorite jet. Had several models of it. I finally got to see them fly at Moffett field sometime in the 80's. At an annual air show a 2 ship F-104 demonstrator team from Germany performed. Gave me goose bumps.

I'm more of an F-100 guy, myself.  Dad was a First Sergeant for the 352nd TFW in Phan Rang, Vietnam.

I remember when I was a kid my dad was the key organizer of our local airshow.  The leadoff was a couple of 104's from CFB Cold Lake(about 20 minutes flying time for those guys).  My friend and I were going to be smart and get right under the approach to the runway so we could really see things closeup.  We were scampering through a pasture to get there when we just happened to stop and look up and the two 104's came over at about 50 feet, I swear I could have thrown a rock and hit them on the belly.  They cranked them up about 45 degrees and hit the burners as they crossed over the flightline about a thousand feet behind us.  So much adrenaline rushed through my 12 year old veins I think I'm still trying to clean it out with my Connie.
When recounting the story to my dad later he told me they were on time to the second.  Good old RCAF!

Thanks for bringing back this memory for me Jim!!!

As I find more of these, I'm going to post them...

Having been on the delivery end at many airshows as both lead and wingman they are not that fun for the pilots. In fact they were a hassle and frankly boring as far as I was concerned. Also, there are thousands of eyes (literally) watching your every move and your every screw up, and more importantly the eyes of the higher ups. Also, there have been many crashes over the years by guys trying to show off, so any potential "fun" was eliminated long ago, and your every move is debriefed.

Now the parties afterwards with the locals, now that was where the fun was. But those are other stories, best left off the internet.

For me, It was much more fun watching from the ground then actually participating in airshows. Most people don't realize that the flying demonstrations done by the military pilots are for the most part mundane maneuvers. The public likes them, but the for the pilots it is no thrill. The demonstration pilots who do the spins and snaprolls and inverted stuff that is a different story.

Having been on the delivery end at many airshows as both lead and wingman they are not that fun for the pilots. In fact they were a hassle and frankly boring as far as I was concerned. Also, there are thousands of eyes (literally) watching your every move and your every screw up, and more importantly the eyes of the higher ups. Also, there have been many crashes over the years by guys trying to show off, so any potential "fun" was eliminated long ago, and your every move is debriefed.

Now the parties afterwards with the locals, now that was where the fun was. But those are other stories, best left off the internet.

For me, It was much more fun watching from the ground then actually participating in airshows. Most people don't realize that the flying demonstrations done by the military pilots are for the most part mundane maneuvers. The public likes them, but the for the pilots it is no thrill. The demonstration pilots who do the spins and snaprolls and inverted stuff that is a different story.

Interesting. I guess I'm not surprised that its more fun for the audience then the crew. I always wondered what it would be like as part of a demonstration flight team. I'm not military and haven't done much of it but I never liked formation flying. You concentrate on a reference point on the other airplane and maintain distance and alignment. Gets old fast. I don't even like it on the bike. When on group rides I like some decent spacing so I can enjoy the scenery more.

Interesting. I guess I'm not surprised that its more fun for the audience then the crew. I always wondered what it would be like as part of a demonstration flight team. I'm not military and haven't done much of it but I never liked formation flying. You concentrate on a reference point on the other airplane and maintain distance and alignment. Gets old fast. I don't even like it on the bike. When on group rides I like some decent spacing so I can enjoy the scenery more.

It has been a long time (well over 30 years ago) that I did this, but I imagine it is close to the same today. I was never part of a demonstration team. Just an ordinary squadron pilot. By far the worst "fly bys" as we called them were when you had to take a rider. In the real old phantom days we had an additional seat where the RIO (navy) or WSO (air force) would be. When we took out dignitaries,  we would always pray that they would not touch anything especially the things that were yellow and black.  I would tape a big note that said, "DON'T TOUCH" to the real important stuff (like the ejection handles).

The one satisfaction that I get though, is when I would take the politician. They would always be so eager and willing. Litlle did they know that the pitch augmentation system would always malfunction intermittently and it would almost almost always cause a gastrointestinal backup (ie barfing).

Neat story. Thanks for posting!