I flew Cobras for a few years in the Army. It was a “single-pilot” rated AC, so we could take the crew chiefs up as front seaters. Between the T/Os and landings, I always gave the crew chiefs some stick time. Not actually by the books allowed, but very much appreciated by the crew chiefs, and as far as I was concerned, a good way for them to more fully appreciate and understand the A/C they worked on.
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Big nostalgia trip for me, too!
I worked for Bell Hel. for over 35 years. Around 1970 I was a Quality Engineer working temporarily on second shift that Summer. Late one afternoon I was at the flight line and one of our hot shot test pilots said he needed some ballast for a test hop. I sat in the front seat of a Cobra and that pilot gave me the ride of my life, as he put that aircraft through its paces!!!
In re your comment about appreciation. I would often participate in supplier conferences where we would host our casting, forging and machined parts suppliers. As we would tour the plant, we would end up at the flight line. There, we would point out their products on a Huey and explain what would happen if they failed. ...Then, we’d make them get into the aircraft and our test pilots would fly like crazy! High speed dives that stopped maybe 25ft from the ground; high speed flight only about 10ft from the ground through a maze cut through the river bottoms; etc. .....Some of them threw up and a couple wet their panties, but they DID gain an appreciation for the vital functions their products had.
Sorry, everyone, for the long post. Old memories just popped out.
And thanks for designing and improving aircraft that over the years have so well served their crews - and our nation.