Johnny Storm:- International Racing car driver wrote:
>
> On Tue, 7 Oct 1997, Mike Ginter SA wrote:
>
> >
> > Now that I own it... anyone have an idea which jets I should start trying
> > at 5000 feet?
>
> The yanks will tell the F-111 rules but we all know that the tornado
> wins all the bombing competions!
Hmmmm. Since I live virtually next door to one of the few remaining
F-111 squadrons in the USAF, I can say with some reasonable certainty
that it's an old design (almost 30 years old now), and is in
near-virtual retirement. And that the planes replacing it, gradually,
will be better than either it or the Tornado.
Despite the baiting, I'm not going to badmouth the Tornadoes, or their
crewmembers. One of the most honest and refreshing statements recorded
in the Gulf War was from a British Tornado pilot flying into that
horribly thick and frantically random flak barrage over Baghdad in the
earliest days of that brief war. He said, on camera, "It was the most
terrifying experience of my life. I flew the plane in and did the
mission and then ran away as bravely and quickly as I could." A sensible
and honest statement absent of bravado. Not a bad showing at all. Our
own pilots could learn a little from that. Because of the kind of
missions flown (particularly low-level placement of runway mines), the
Tornado crews suffered much higher losses on a percentage basis than any
other force in the region. They deserve some measure of respect for that
effort.
Cheers, Johnny.
--
My other Triumph runs, but....
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