Jetting through the Grand Canyon
#1
12-10-2009 | 11:36 AM
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From: Gobbles Air Force Base
Jetting through the Grand Canyon
Jetting Through the Grand Canyon | Airspacemag.com <---Video is at the link!
They wouldn't be allowed to do it today, but back in 1959, experienced military pilots would sometimes buzz the Grand Canyon when flying out of nearby Nellis AFB. At the time, RAF pilot Ron Dick was an exchange officer with the US Air Force, training students in a Lockheed T-33. Fellow instructor Bud Pratt recalls that during these Canyon flights, the pilots would fly low enough that water would spray up from the river.
Ron Dick rose to the rank of Air Vice Marshal and later became a fellow of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum and a popular writer and lecturer on military history. He died in 2008. His son Gary Dick, who put together this video from Ron's footage, says, "As a lifelong supporter of the National Parks and a man with a keen interest in bird watching, Ron would definitely endorse the flight restrictions that ensure natural quiet in the parks today."
( Video: Courtesy Gary Dick )
They wouldn't be allowed to do it today, but back in 1959, experienced military pilots would sometimes buzz the Grand Canyon when flying out of nearby Nellis AFB. At the time, RAF pilot Ron Dick was an exchange officer with the US Air Force, training students in a Lockheed T-33. Fellow instructor Bud Pratt recalls that during these Canyon flights, the pilots would fly low enough that water would spray up from the river.
Ron Dick rose to the rank of Air Vice Marshal and later became a fellow of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum and a popular writer and lecturer on military history. He died in 2008. His son Gary Dick, who put together this video from Ron's footage, says, "As a lifelong supporter of the National Parks and a man with a keen interest in bird watching, Ron would definitely endorse the flight restrictions that ensure natural quiet in the parks today."
( Video: Courtesy Gary Dick )
Last edited by Gobbles; 12-10-2009 at 12:02 PM.
#5
12-10-2009 | 12:02 PM
Thread Starter
| Full of Win.
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 6,295
From: Gobbles Air Force Base
Yeah, sorry I should have added my own comment to the article text that the link takes you to the video. Bear in mind it's late 50s era color video, but it is still awesome nonetheless!
