OK, I have to tell my 747 story. Sometime in the Sept - Oct 1969 time, we were flying out of NAS Whidbey Island, WA to the USAF radar bomb scoring range at Spokane. On check in, every time we went, we would get a multi-minute spiel on the rules and regs. As we were descending into the range altitude, I noticed what looked to be a very close a/c on an extended downwind from Fairchild. The range kept yakking and this a/c got closer and closer and I was getting a bit concerned. At the end of the spiel, the range monitor concluded by saying, "Traffic, 10 o'clock, 10 miles." TEN miles!
My first glimpse of a 747.
I would think the first one missed. Because you see a missile explode in the middle of the night and no secondary explosion probably means it missed. Thus, the second launch. It probably missed a little closer, that's why it took longer for the shrapnel to take effect. And, it doesn't appear that the aircraft broke up. Been awhile since I've been there, but "that's my story...."
Nice story. No impending disasters, no drone bring downs of giant airliners, no Trump bashing. Just good ol' - fashioned father - daughter love. And he showed it in a uniquely remarkable way. Good on ya, Dad!
WOG Switch. Weight on Gear. Can be disabled. For example when doing ground gear checks. So, I would think that the only way a gun could be fired on the ground would be to disable the switch. Unless you're an Aircraft Carrier and back up the starter unit next to the head of a Sidewinder. That was very costly....
My father, too, was enroute from the Philippines to Tokyo as part of that landing force. I certainly don't have any negative feelings about those bombs being dropped. In my years in the Navy, I moved a lot of weapons that were greatly more sophisticated (and deadly) than Little Boy and Fat Man. Now, I'm very glad we never had to use them.
