Group,
Last Sunday at the Reno Air Races, I was lucky enough to get a ride in Fat Albert using JATO. During the brief, the pilot said that they were going to do six more JATO runs during this season, with Miramar being the last one.
Further the pilot said that all of the bottles being used were manufactured during the Viet Nam era and they are running out. He also said that a wharehouse in New Orleans was fludded and they lost all of the bottles stored there.
You can see photos of my ride at:
http://s38.photobucket.com/albums/e106/ ... no%202009/
The female in the flight suit (christine) flys for the Alaska Air Guard, and attended AF Flight Engineer school with me in 2002-03. The last pic shows me with the crew after the flight. The photo was taken by one of the crew members and is a little fuzzy.
This was the second time, I got to ride on Fat Albert. The first was just after I graduated form AF Flight engineer school. My roommate at the time (a NASA F-18 crew chief), was an ex Blue Angel crew chief, and he arranged my first ride in 2003. I was allowed to ride in the cockpit on the bunk.
I was at Reno crewing T-6 #42 Honest Entry. I also won the first raffle ride in a T-6, which was one of the heat races that the plane I crewed was in. On the raffle ride, you taxi out behind the T-6 racers, and do a staggered take off. Then form up behind the racers, and follow them down as they enter the course. Just before they enter the course you pull up and circle overhead and watch the race. Then land behind them after the race.
Laterrrrrrr
Avn-Tech