Wha?

BBBH will be tooling around in her new wheels.

Happy Fathers' Day

Ricky and Kent arrived at noon.  We had brunch at JD, then we were off to the Air Museum at Grissom Air Base.

 Kent in the pilot's seat of an F-4.  I once "flew" an F-4 in the flight simulator at Spangdahlem Air Base.  I did a good job, too, according to the instructor; but with one mistake.  I landed about 1000 yards short of the runway, an error which tends to be fatal.

 This is the deadliest device ever created.  It is a nuclear bomb which can generate the explosive force of nine million tons of TNT.  That would be 600 times more powerful than the A-bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

Notwithstanding the fact that it makes no sense for these behemoths to fly through the air, there is a large array of military hardware on display.  This KC-97 Statotanker has its refueling boom attached to the F-84F  which you can see behind the fuel ship.  They say this is the only display of its kind in the country.

During the Korean conflict in the 1950s, the Air Force acquired this site from the Navy.  Over time, stationed here were B-47s, B-58s, and the KC-97 Stratotankers, among others, under the control of the Strategic Air Command.   The site was known as Bunker Hill Air Force Base until 1968 when it was renamed Grissom Air Force Base.  It is currently a reserve facility.

This is the F-4.  Son Carl was Weapons System Officer on this machine throughout much of his service in the US Air Force.

There was a car show in Kokomo, right on the way home.  But that is another post.