If you're a far-right-wing nationalist crank, tooling around in your Cessna over smuggler's alley is a good way to prove that the government is, in fact, keeping an eye on the border.

How many thousands of dollars does an F-16 sortie cost?

FTA And, he said, it's possible his aircraft strayed into Mexico and came back into U.S. airspace

Please remove your tinfoil helmet now, subby.

Not particularly effective against an insurgency.

Funny, my vietnam vet naval aviator father always told me that fighter jocks usually practice their intercepts on commercial airliners.

Guess times have changed.

I'm not crazy about the federal government, but I'm kinda glad (and a little surprised) they're keeping an eye on that sort of thing.

HansensDisease: FTA And, he said, it's possible his aircraft strayed into Mexico and came back into U.S. airspace

Please remove your tinfoil helmet now, subby.

And please add this to the list:

FTA: Another local private pilot says the airspace Spencer was in might have been that used for military operations.

And this:

FTA: Spencer said at the time of the F-16 encounter, he was letting Christie fly the plane and was teaching him dead-reckoning, which is a low-tech method of navigation that estimates one's position by calculating direction and distance traveled.

Christie is a novice, Spencer said, "and we weren't paying a lot of attention."

So you're flying over an international border, most likely into restricted military airspace while letting a noob fly. But the reason you were greeted with F-16s is definitely because you criticize the government. Yeah OK.

Was it really necessary to list the specs of an F-16 at the end of the article?

Whats the guy whining about he didn't get shot down or shot at.

Darwin sighs and waits another day...

I take it he cleaned his pants out before reporting this incident...

Somehow, I doubt the people at NORAD or the F-16 pilots give a crap if this guy is a critic of the government's immigration policy. It would be a little self-important of this guy to think that they are out to get him. Now, out to play with the "guy enforcing the border" with his little toy plane, maybe.

austinosphere: Was it really necessary to list the specs of an F-16 at the end of the article?

Public Knowledge.

I can has border protection now?

/kthanxbai

I went into the airport the other day with wires and playdough, and those TSA bastards pulled me in a side room for interrogation. Obviously the most logical conclusion is that they did so because I called Bush a nincompoop two weeks ago on the internet!

The answer is clear. If he want the feds to pay attention to illegals, he needs to teach them to fly over the border instead of walk.

Airplane thread!

Um... Anyone know which country/unit operates a white colored F-16 with a gold engine 'bell' seen tooling around southern Colorado on Friday?

I call Shenanigans.

There's no way that a guy in a Cessna in the middle of the desert got the attention of two fighter pilots when a commercial airliner can fly visual down the Hudson River to the most populated city in the country and go unnoticed.

/he might have crashed into a cactus or something
//and then a rusted out roadster across the street would burst into flames

Guy complaining about lackluster border patrol now complains that when crossing the border he was treated with vigorous border patrol tactics.
Ironic?

Damn the US has 1280 F-16s, each clocking in at $18.8 million, according to the article.

Quel: I went into the airport the other day with wires and playdough, and those TSA bastards pulled me in a side room for interrogation. Obviously the most logical conclusion is that they did so because I called Bush a nincompoop two weeks ago on the internet!

Not sure why that made me laugh so hard.

coloclone 2008-02-10 04:31:48 PM
Airplane thread!

Um... Anyone know which country/unit operates a white colored F-16 with a gold engine 'bell' seen tooling around southern Colorado on Friday?

Try NASA or the Test Center at Edwards. Or Navy?

/Them jocks are always flying cross country to visit teh college girl towns.

BuckTurgidson: If you're a far-right-wing nationalist crank, tooling around in your Cessna over smuggler's alley is a good way to prove that the government is, in fact, keeping an eye on the border.

Simply asking the government to do its job makes you a far-right-wing nationalist crank?

You file a flight plan, and you follow it. This guy obviously didn't.

No surprise he got intercepted. And what did he expect them to send up? Another Cessna?

This guy should have his pilots licensed revoked.

So basically he committed a crime, didn't get charged, and is angry about that?

Maybe the mexican air force should patrol their borders better and shoot him down when he crosses.

coloclone: .. Anyone know which country/unit operates a white colored F-16 with a gold engine 'bell' seen tooling around southern Colorado on Friday?

NASA. Dryden Flight Center.

General_Buck_Turgidson: BuckTurgidson: If you're a far-right-wing nationalist crank, tooling around in your Cessna over smuggler's alley is a good way to prove that the government is, in fact, keeping an eye on the border.

Simply asking the government to do its job makes you a far-right-wing nationalist crank?

No being a far-right-wing nationalist makes you a far-right-wing nationalist. His statement did not say the person in the article was one, and he used the word "if". Find out what it means yourself.

TXAGScott: You file a flight plan, and you follow it. This guy obviously didn't.

No surprise he got intercepted. And what did he expect them to send up? Another Cessna?

This guy should have his pilots licensed revoked been blasted out of the sky.

He could have been a martyr for the self-appointed, amateur border brigades as his death demonstrated someone was watching the borders.

Talk about never satisfied...

/Not anti-immigration, legal or otherwise.

ZAZ: How many thousands of dollars does an F-16 sortie cost?

It isn't really an expense when it goes to the military. That's why $35B to send sick kids to the doctor is BAD, while unlimited funds to blow schitt up in Iraq is GOOD.

Yeah that looks like it... was going real fast.

coloclone: Anyone know which country/unit operates a white colored F-16 with a gold engine 'bell' seen tooling around southern Colorado on Friday?


These are our F-16s at Edwards. The only ones painted a color other than gray are either foreign military, the Thunderbirds, or our chase birds. Squadrons at Edwards for the chase birds are the 445th, 416th, or Test Pilot School

At that altitude (8k ft), I would say the F-16s were checking him out for smuggling or they were bored.

gund: No being a far-right-wing nationalist makes you a far-right-wing nationalist.

That's incredible logic. What are you 16? Shouldn't you be out back pimping out Mom's Jetta?

His statement did not say the person in the article was one, and he used the word "if". Find out what it means yourself.

He implied it.

Find out what that means, and I'll see you back here in a little while.

Just saw your comment coloclone, and NASA does not fly the F-16XL any more, but they do bring it out for airshows.

TXAGScott: You file a flight plan, and you follow it. This guy obviously didn't.

No surprise he got intercepted. And what did he expect them to send up? Another Cessna?

This guy should have his pilots licensed revoked.

As we all know by now, flight plans aren't required, but you need to be aware of where you are.

Unless the rules have changed since I started flying 25 years ago, (unthinkable....) the FAA can't revoke your license, once you get it, it's yours. What they can do is suspend it, for however long they want depending on how pissed they are, that includes permanently.

This stuff happens everyday though, I would guess a warning letter, maybe suspend his flying privileges for a few days at the worst.

neocssck Do you know of any airshows on Friday?

Thing made 3 passes over the ski area hauling balls having a good itme...

Weaps: Funny, my vietnam vet naval aviator father always told me that fighter jocks usually practice their intercepts on commercial airliners.

Guess times have changed.

Yep. Many people are no longer aware of effective methods of practicing anything. And, they don't care.

Plus, people lie a lot.

/need to plant a lawn

Who is crossing the boarder illegally now?

Any decent airshow will have either the Thunderbirds or Blue Angels.
Thunderbirds
Blue Angels
Doesn't look like the airshow season starts until March when the weather gets nicer

coloclone: neocssck Do you know of any airshows on Friday?

Thing made 3 passes over the ski area hauling balls having a good itme...

There was one near a ski area last Friday apparently....

single F16 scramble costs about 6k each

I bet its more likely that some yob at the FAA wasn't watching his monitor then suddenly saw some VFR traffic and dropped his penis enlarger on the way to the panic button

This was simply bad Judgment on the part of the Pilot in Command. Once his aircraft strayed over the ADIZ (Air-Defense Identification Zone), he was tagged for intercept, and it didn't matter who or what he was - he farked up, that's all.

Goimir... I'll bet whenever you bring this up, nice people who actually know what their talking about suggest you go and look up "Transponder" in an aviation Encyclopedia. May I suggest you take them on this advice, it'll keep you from sounding like such a complete and utter tool again.

HoratioGates... I lolled.

/CA-Based Pilot and Aircraft Owner.

austinosphere: Was it really necessary to list the specs of an F-16 at the end of the article?

Summary of article: Government critic flying in a Cessna is intercepted by F-16's, which are really cool.

There are something like 1500 F-16As rotting in the desert at Davis Monthan. It would be terrific if we could sell them to civilians, but I suspect the fact they fall out of the sky at 7,000 fpm when the engine fails makes that idea not so good.

Weaps: Funny, my vietnam vet naval aviator father always told me that fighter jocks usually practice their intercepts on commercial airliners.

Guess times have changed.


Imagine how many people on the plane would shiat their pants if an F16 tried that today...

neocssck: At that altitude (8k ft), I would say the F-16s were checking him out for smuggling or they were bored.

Could have been both. I'd imagine the flyboys out there don't get to see a lot of action.

RoyBatty: There are something like 1500 F-16As rotting in the desert at Davis Monthan. It would be terrific if we could sell them to civilians, but I suspect the fact they fall out of the sky at 7,000 fpm when the engine fails makes that idea not so good.

Single-engine jets would tend to drop after failure. Makes me wonder why the Navy's going to fly single-engine F-35Bs off of carriers.

Ha ha. Judging from TFA, this is what he felt like:

The writer sucks.

Another local private pilot says the airspace Spencer was in might have been that used for military operations.

AntiNorm: Weaps: Funny, my vietnam vet naval aviator father always told me that fighter jocks usually practice their intercepts on commercial airliners.

Guess times have changed.


Imagine how many people on the plane would shiat their pants if an F16 tried that today...

They would have shiat their pants back in the day too, which is why back then the just got the plane into missile range from behind then broke off. Same way they'd do it today if they were doing an intercept. Passengers and crew of airliner won't even know it's happening, back then or now.

Back in the '60s, however, there was still the possibility of a commie bomber droning along at 400 or so knots coming in over the pole to nuke us.

Today, not so much I suppose. Why practice intercepts when you're not going to intercept a SS-whatever screaming in on a ballistic MIRV-ing trajectory?

Those durn turrists and drug smugglers, however....