Wife’s Phantom Incentive Ride
During my three year tour at Moody AFB, Ga, a rare incentive ride opportunity occurred. Incentive rides were rare and only awarded to those military members who demonstrated exceptional performance in their job specialty. Civilians getting incentive rides was almost unheard of. Word came down that we were going to do several incentive rides on a crew chief appreciation day. Our very hard working crew chiefs were going to be rewarded with F-4E incentive rides........for their wives! The idea here was a crew chief bring your wife to work day. This would give the Phantom crew chiefs an opportunity to show their wives what happened on the flight when their husbands went in early and come home late. The wives were to shadow their husbands on the flight line and experience sortie generation up close and personal. Unbelievable! Right? Well, there was a catch. The wives incentive ride would be a taxi ride to the runway, line up on the centerline, go to full afterburner, accelerate to 80 knots (which was hardly perceptible time wise), come out of burners to the idle stops with the throttles, deploy the drag chute, decelerate, and taxi back to the chocks, and shut down. The thought of actually flying the wives was way to far coloring outside the lines.
Even though not getting airborne, the crew chief wives were going to be fully suited up as if they were going to fly and sitting on a hot ejection seat for their incentive ride. They were given full up life support and egress training prior to their “ride”. After that, they met up in the squadron with their Phantom pilots. I was one. My rider is just barely over five feet tall and can’t weigh over 90 pounds soaking wet. She’s quite a sight in the absolute smallest flight suit the life support guys can come up with; sleeves and legs rolled up multiple times. She is beyond excited with what we were about to do today. I introduce myself and we step into a briefing room to talk about her ride. After going through the required incentive ride briefing, I talk her through the sequence of events after we step out of the room. The more I explain, the more excited she becomes. Now, it’s time to head to life support and gather up our parachute harnesses, helmets, and gloves. With all our flight gear in tow, we step out to the flight line, find our jet (tail #447), and her husband.
Today happens to be February 13th. Quite the pre-Valentine’s Day event. As we approach the jet, she runs to him for a hug. I get a salute and the 781 aircraft logbook. After reviewing the forms, I tell her what I’ll look at on my preflight inspection and suggest she follow with her hubby as he follows me. The three of us walk around the big multi shade green & brown Phantom, confirm the big parts are attached, and note that it’s dripping some small amounts of hydraulic fluid. This confirms that there is fluid in the jet. None dripping could indicate an insufficient amount and require closer inspection. Walk around complete.
Next, I climb up and check the rear cockpit to ensure the switches and controls are appropriately set, and confirm the ejection seat safety pins are installed. A quick check of my end of the jet and it’s time for her to strap on her end of the Phantom. I guide her through climbing up and getting settled into the seat. I give her pointers on getting the seat belt, shoulder harness, and ejection seat garters on properly. From there, it’s all her husband to help snug everything up. I leave them, hop in the front, and take it slow getting my nest built so they can enjoy the moment. He helps her don the helmet and gloves, and hooks up her oxygen mask and radio cord. As he climbs down and gives me a big grinning thumbs up, I give him the “connect external power” signal. The dash 60 power unit roars to life and I engage electrical power to our ride. After confirming we can communicate and asking if she’s got any questions, I explain what the engine start sequence with be like and what to expect.
Her husband, and my crew chief, appears at the front of the jet next to the dash 60 and checks in on the intercom via is headset. We confirm all is well, and I ask for air on 2. He throws a switch on the dash 60 that sends a loud rush of air to the engine and starts it spinning. At the appropriate rpm, I introduce fuel and ignition. Then, the distinctive sound of a J79 coming to life. As it finishes the start cycle and settles to idle rpm, I call for air on 1. Now, with #1 up and running, I complete pre-taxi checks and call ground control for taxi.
With clearance, I give him the “pull chocks” signal, he repeats it to his assistant crew chief, and signals us to move forward. I inch the throttles forward slowly and the beast starts moving. He and I exchange salutes and he blows a kiss to his wife. Since we have no specific timetable from here on, I’m intentionally taxiing at a snail’s pace to extend her once in a life time event as long possible.
After our relaxed taxi time to the EOR (End of Runway) ramp, we are marshaled into a parking spot for a once over before taking the runway. That complete, a call to tower and we are cleared on the runway. Like most modern fighters, the F-4 has power steering to the nose wheels. This allows for a nice, crisp 90 degree turn while lining up with the runway centerline. My chief’s wife is beyond description excited at this point. She’s so pumped with adrenaline, she can hardly answer when I ask “Are you ready to go?” A high pitched, excited, and somewhat anxious squeal “Y E E EEES!!!” replies from the pit behind me. With as much brake pressure as possible, I slowly push the Phantom’s J79 power levers forward. Wanting to make the brake release and subsequent afterburner light off as dramatic as possible, the brakes are held until I can sense we are about to skid the main gear tires. I simultaneously release brakes, aggressively push the throttles to full Military Power and then, without hesitation, to Maximum Afterburner. The Phantom’s engines respond without hesitation. Even with my several hundred hours in the jet, the lurch forward and acceleration is quite impressive. The fast, heavy breathing, and unintelligible response from the back seat is equally impressive. Our ride is accelerating rapidly toward the 80 knot point. As a I said ”Here comes 80 knots”, she excitedly urges me “No, no, no, I want to fly!!!”. I so wanted to take her flying. She is making this a lot of fun for me. In the midst of her urging, we hit 80 knots, and with slower than normal reactions, I come out of burner, to Mil power, to idle, deploy the drag chute, and delay applying brakes resulting a nice, easy coast to the end of the runway. At this point, her breathing sounds like that of one who just finished a long foot race.
We clear the runway, dump the drag chute, open the canopies for some fresh air, call ground control for taxi back to the ramp, and slow mosey the rest of the way to the ramp. Arriving at the ramp, her husband marshals us into our parking spot. After the chocks are in place, I tell her to stay seated and soak up the experience. I shut down the beast’s engines and put it to bed. Her husband will be up shortly to safe the seat and help her out. Again, I take extra time cleaning up my nest and wait for them to go down the ladder. I climb down and congratulate her on a great incentive ride. She still wishes we had flown. I explain that we could have easily done it, but it would have most likely been my last flight in a military jet, ever.
Mission accomplished: Fun was had by all. A military wife has a new found appreciation for what her husband does and helps produce on those long hours away from home.
.....and, another opportunity to pay it forward.
