From: Muttguru@aol.com
Date: Thu Apr 10 2003 - 12:52:40 PDT
In November 1979, members of our military vehicle club were invited to the
USAF bases of Bentwaters-Woodbridge in England.
We spent a very pleasant day being given a guided tour of the base, with the
highlight being a look-see into the cockpit of one of their A10s.
It was amazing to see how many people ducked low when walking past that gun !
I still have the photos of our gang waiting in line to climb up the ladder to
the cockpit.
Just under two years later, we were given permission to drive our jeeps
(Willys Mbs, not Mutts at that time), up the front nose-ramp of a C5A Galaxy
at Mildenhall AFB. The officer in charge of the plane arranged for the ramp
to be lowered so that we could take a few photos of our jeeps being driven
into the C5A. The crowds were almost as jubilant as we were.
In those days, as an exhibitor at the Annual Mildenhall Airshow, we could
camp on-base, use the AAFES facilities, and drive around the flightline in
our jeeps when all the public had gone home for the evening. Those days, we
could drive right up to $$$millions worth of USAF airplanes without any
hassle, just sharing a few cans of Pabst Blue Ribbons with the USAF SPs.
Happy days.
Nostalgia certainly isn't what it used to be.
Ken
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