1957- I was hitchhiking home from Kelly Air Force Base to Otis AFB on Cape Cod and I caught a ride on this long-range radar equipped Super Connie. You needed a Top Secret clearance to board one of these, so a qualified hitcher was unusual, and the flight chief checked my orders. When he discovered I was a Russian language voice intercept operator I got VIP treatment; it was a long flight, and I had a full-sized bed! We left around midnight, and the chief gently woke me around 5AM. Breakfast, he said, would be served directly, IN THE COCKPIT!
I padded forward. The flight engineer's station was usually right behind the co-pilot, but it had been replaced by a jury rigged diner grill, upon which the captain was busily finishing up my bacon, eggs, home fries, toast and coffee, which he handed me on one of those ubiquitous military chow hall trays. 'Take my seat, spy man,' he said.
I sat there in the pre-dawn dark, scarfing down breakfast at 20,000 feet, with a slender orange ribbon on the horizon. On my left I could see the spark-plug glow from the port engines. The captain asked all kinds of questions about my job, and he loved memorizing 'на посадочном шасси выпустил' (na posadochnom shassi veeposteel) which was what MIG pilots said when they were landing. (Final approach, gear down). "I can't wait to say that back at Kelly!" he laughed.
Yes, it was the time of my life!
I padded forward. The flight engineer's station was usually right behind the co-pilot, but it had been replaced by a jury rigged diner grill, upon which the captain was busily finishing up my bacon, eggs, home fries, toast and coffee, which he handed me on one of those ubiquitous military chow hall trays. 'Take my seat, spy man,' he said.
I sat there in the pre-dawn dark, scarfing down breakfast at 20,000 feet, with a slender orange ribbon on the horizon. On my left I could see the spark-plug glow from the port engines. The captain asked all kinds of questions about my job, and he loved memorizing 'на посадочном шасси выпустил' (na posadochnom shassi veeposteel) which was what MIG pilots said when they were landing. (Final approach, gear down). "I can't wait to say that back at Kelly!" he laughed.
Yes, it was the time of my life!
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