It must have been Maverick promoting TG2.

I was "buzzed" by a B-52 in west Texas thirty-five or more years ago. You could see him coming for miles in that flat country, trailing black smoke. It was hard to say how high he was, but pretty low, probably less than 1000 feet - maybe significantly less. As I say, it is hard to estimate.

Dyess AFB is near Abilene and is a bomber base, so I always figured he was doing some low altitude training. It was quite a sight.

If it was single pipe, that pretty much limits it to F-16 or F-35 and they’re pretty easy to ID. Sounds very cool.

When I was going to community college in Prescott and driving between there and the ranch in southern Yavapai County, F-16s from Luke practicing nap of the earth would often appear out of nowhere and come overhead at low altitude. No burners of course. Same thing with Bones when we lived in SE Colorado.

Spent the first 6 years of my life growing up in Shreveport, LA across the Red River from Barksdale AFB. LOTS of B-52 action at that time in the early 60's with SAC still active (God BLESS GEN Curtis LeMay!!). There were MANY tree-top strafings that sent you to the ground for cover...that's how close it was back then, or so it seemed to a 5-6 year old.

Not sure when the 500' rule was enacted by the FAA, but since this was military, I'm sure they got away with a lot. And I LOVED IT!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Scuba Steve Sig:
I always love the part of the Blue Angels show where they have you watching the four plane for formation and a solo screams in from behind.

The Blue Angels call itt "Tactical Surprise" Love it !!

I had a boat for many years when we lived in the Tampa Bay Area. We fished or dove in the Gulf almost every weekend 25-75 miles west of Clearwater and were regularly "targets" for fighters out of MacDill or Eglin. It is thrilling and I always thought I felt sorry for the poor bastards on the receiving end of one of those attacks.

quote:

Originally posted by erj_pilot:
Not sure when the 500' rule was enacted by the FAA, but since this was military, I'm sure they got away with a lot. And I LOVED IT!!!

Yeah, my squadron had several A-6 Intruder pilots who transitioned to the F-14. So we learned to fly LOW.

When I transitioned to the F-18F they did 100' low altitude demo on the first flight (experience pilot, me as a new WSO). Lets just say I wasn't overly impressed with it being that low; it looked more like what my pilot's had said was 400-500' (the F-14 didn't have a radar altimeter read out in the rear cockpit).

quote:

Originally posted by signewt:
I fondly recall being buzzed by a B36 circa 1957 at Lucky Peak Dam construction site. A bomber wing about 50 miles away at times would fly training runs up & down the canyons of the Boise Front.

This guy was not very far above the canyon walls, directly overhead, and not moving all that fast.

Now 60+ years later, the power remains fresh in memory. 6 turning & 4 burning, as they say...

Back before dirt (when I was a kid) We lived in Lewiston, Idaho. We were regularly overflown by B36s stationed in Spokane. You could hear them coming some time before they actually got over the town. I still remember that noise.

quote:

Originally posted by SIGGUY (THE 1ST):

quote:

Originally posted by Scuba Steve Sig:
I always love the part of the Blue Angels show where they have you watching the four plane for formation and a solo screams in from behind.

The Blue Angels call itt "Tactical Surprise" Love it !!

The Thunderbirds pull that trick too

quote:

Originally posted by bigmule:
Neat. Glad it was friendly.

I can relate a day or snowboarding in NH a few year back, on canon mountain.
As we rode the lift up to the upper mountain on our way to the saddle that takes you to Bridal veil falls trail...we turned around as a roar of engines was approaching behind us. 1000’ or better above us.

This was the first time I had been so close to the A10. And not one but two.
We could see helmets and empty hard points(!) as they peeled off the 1st run.
There where 4 more runs up the ravine on canon mountain for these pilots..
We sat and watched for a spell. As I’m sure a few others did that day.

If your not familiar with Canon mtn. (Former home of “the man in the mountain”), it’s profile is like many in Afghanistan. You can work the math out.

I have spent a lot of time at Cannon Mountain. Very familiar with the locations you mentioned. My brother in law had a house on the back side of Cannon Mountain. In the summer, we would sit on his back deck and watch the A-10's fly in the valley. Very exciting to watch.

quote:

Originally posted by Elk Hunter:

quote:

Originally posted by signewt:
I fondly recall being buzzed by a B36 circa 1957 at Lucky Peak Dam construction site. A bomber wing about 50 miles away at times would fly training runs up & down the canyons of the Boise Front.

This guy was not very far above the canyon walls, directly overhead, and not moving all that fast.

Now 60+ years later, the power remains fresh in memory. 6 turning & 4 burning, as they say...

Back before dirt (when I was a kid) We lived in Lewiston, Idaho. We were regularly overflown by B36s stationed in Spokane. You could hear them coming some time before they actually got over the town. I still remember that noise.

My childhood home was just east of Fairchild AFB near Spokane and the B-36s would fly over us low and slow after taking off at full power. That's one of the most impressive sounds that I'll never forget.

I've been buzzed by Grumman EA-6Bs from Whidbey Island a few times while driving around in eastern Wa, but that ended in 2013 when one crashed in a wheat field south of Spokane killing 3 crew. No more NOE (nap of the earth) fights allowed after that.

Jim

quote:

Originally posted by copaup:

There is a story in Sled Driver from a SR71 pilot where he talks about inadvertently buzzing a group of observers at full afterburner after nearly stalling out the aircraft looking for them. That book is a treasure if you can find it.

Here you go, Brian Shul's story: LINK


Here's another one, Maury Rosenberg's, another SR71 pilot, story of having fun with the tower at Sacramento




Link to original video: https://youtu.be/xTJYNq4GQAE

I was deer hunting in a canyon out in West Texas just before dark one evening when an F-4 Phantom dropped down and flew the length of that canyon just below the level where I’d been sitting.
The owner of the ranch figured those fly boys liked flying through his canyon because they did it pretty often.
Burning jet fuel sure makes an awful lot of noise.

Many years ago I was in my buddy’s Cessna 152, flying to the Elkhart Lake Road America sports car race. I looked out of the passenger window and saw a pair of ANG F-102s approaching us from behind. They passed us, very close and very fast. We had clearly just been “intercepted”. An impressive sight!

BTW – At the racetrack I had the best corn-on-the-cob ever. Roasted, partially shucked, then dipped into a tub of melted butter. Good!

I had the honor and privilege of being used as a mock target run. I was traveling from Nashville to Memphis by way of the Natchez Trace this past May 23th. Somewhere in around the Alabama/Mississippi border it was a near perfect day. Me in my 911 convertible, top down, tunes playing and only the occasional wild turkey on the side of the winding road. (and yes most of the time was spend around the speed limit (most))

It was a very good thing that I just had a bathroom stop. Coming from behind, passing over head are two jets, and of course they are seen before being heard. I did not have time to get the ruler out but I would say 500-600 would be the high estimate. I did not have any time to get the Holy S#%$@ out before the sound came and by then they pulled up and into the sky.

After calming down, now it is cool and a fun time, but at the time I did not like being a target.

I joke now the it gives new meaning to the signs that says "Speed Limit Enforced By Aircraft"

I can relate. I loved an Alert Ramp B-52 cartridge start and elephant walk. The noise, smoke and smell of JP-4 as they taxied past me was awe inspiring.
Mutually Assured Destruction. In my face!
One of the reasons I am now nearly deaf too. So worth it!

If it was Navy/Marines, it was probably and F-18. I don't think too many F-35s are in service yet.

quote:

Originally posted by saigonsmuggler:
Well if it's a Navy or Marines jet, it probably was an F-35. If it's USAF, most likely either the F-35 or F-16.

It's not low until you're looking up at power lines.

Oh yea, we were picking huckleberries in the mountains just East of Snoqualmie Pass In WA. Two F-15's were chasing each other about 500 ft above us, banking in sharp turns and then back again. Our #2 son was maybe 2 years old, feeding his face in a bush, screaming like a scalded dog from fright. Fun times...

Back in about 1980, I was working as a mounting guide on the east side of the Sangre de Christos in the San Luis Valley, east of Alamosa CO. I was going back to base camp, which was by the Great Sand Dunes, from Alamosa, on my motorcycle. I was the only one on the road for miles and miles. I heard this noise, getting louder and louder. Couldn't figure out what it was, then I was directly overflown by something going really fast and low. It made quite an impression on me!