The 76 men forming Class 69-03 got their first look at each other on 24 Oct 67.
After an almost interminable week of briefings, meetings, physical exams, etc.,
etc., etc., the Big Day came–they got their helmets.
After their first ride in the T-41s, they realized that what they needed was not
a helmet but a sense of humor, armor plated skin, and a good bit of
determination. The sole surviving Marine of the Class, 1Lt Dick Spitz, also
known as the Boy Wonder, distinguished himself early in the Program and won the
coveted Batman Award. This feat was accomplished by his unchaining the ground
rather than the tail of the aircraft. Finally, by the 22nd of December, the
Class had proven that, in spite of the efforts of civilian IPs, we could land
the aircraft that streaked through the heavens at 0.15 Mach, 80MPH.
Christmas
Leave was a very welcome relief.
We returned to Laughlin Airpatch to enter Phase II, the 6,000 pound Dogwhistle.
After the first week of flying, we all became veterans in the use of the doggy
(barf) bag and the pink nameplate: those of us who did not fully utilize the
former made up by showing the latter. Remember Bo Palmer, whose glove runneth
over? Things might have been a bit easier had it not been for all those
switches, lights, and the ever present IP twisting the oxygen hose. After much
travail in the mastering of the spin, final turn and gear handle, we soloed and
took our well-earned dip in the 45PTS cow watering trough. After that we took
our well-earned place on the flight surgeon’s bench—nothing like a swim in
midwinter. Shortly after solo time, Lt Murphy dazzled all about with an
excellent display of pyrotechnics from Mobile when he tested their alertness
with a final approach in which he had his gear firmly in the wheel wells. We
went on to fly our checkrides and the out-and-back, which for Lt Fullenkamp and
Pappy was only an “out.” They busted the bird and left the flying to us as they
took the bus back to the home drome from Kelly. We finally finished the T-37
with the final contact check and watched as our IPs “taught” us the rudiments of
two-ship formation flying and at the same time took out their aggressions on the
aircraft. We went on to T-38s with a 20% loss in hearing.
The Air Force Song line about going “down in flame” took on new meaning for us
with our first max thrust takeoff in the mighty T-38. We were very effectively
snowed by the speed, power, altitude, more gauges (with more needles on them
now), and the pegged VVI. We all wrote home: “Today I went supersonic, I think.”
We weren’t sure about anything in the first days of the 38; not one of us did
not get left back in the chocks when the throttles hit full burner. Solo time
was reached and accomplished by all in the Class. It was not as played up as the
37 solo was, but it was one greater achievement. Shortly before solo, Lt Sohn’s
CO302 SAR entry included, “Lt Sohn successfully parked the aircraft for the
first time today.”
No Boners or Batman here, just the Zero Defects Board; and whose name was not on
the good old ZD Board? Two ship formation came with a lot of fun, and served as
the confidence builder for four ship formation, which served as evidence that
“Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.” Our foreign studs gave us more than
visions of Norwegian Fjords (and blondes) and Jordanian dunes. They also proved
that almost nobody can out-drink a Norwegian, nobody but Lt Merris that is. We
followed the program to the end, with Lt. Lutterman (good old Pigpen) and Capt
Wizzer Wiswell writing notes to each other on the Instrument/Nav Check after
their intercom panel failed. It took Piggy about ten minutes of stick shaking by
Wiz to relinquish control of the aircraft. That particular final check seemed to
show us that with great effort on the part of our IPs and some diligence of our
own, it was entirely possible to make silk purses of sows’ ears.
We sweated our way through most, laughed an awful lot, and were not spared great
measures of anxiety and heartbreak. We often cursed the home drome and Del Rio
in general, but there isn’t a one of us who will not miss the old airpatch where
we took to the sky and earned those Silver Wings.
Seventy-six started, and, in spite of the early polls, fifty-five members of
Class 69-03 finished UPT and won their wings.