Heh. Summer of 1972, Plattsburgh AFB, where they had a wing of FB-111s. At the time it was a new plane, newsworthy for a number of good and bad reasons. Consequently everyone you met tried to impress you with what a great plane it was. Thus I was present when a maintenance NCO was explaining the advanced the propulsion system. But then he sighed, and said, "Of course, there's only ever been one jet engine. The J79."That left some of us wondering just where things were going.- oldman
Nothing at all like the CFM-56's I retired from. In my last few years, the airline went to a policy of idle reverse only landings to slow engine parts erosion from dust stirred up on seemingly pristine runways.
After spending hours cleaning the runway at kennedy space center of any debris large enough to see at 3mph, I've found that no runway is "clean".
That’s for sure. Having participated in many a FOD walk, it was amazing all the bizarre junk that was laying about.
