GOOD-BYE PHANTOM
So goodbye, Big Fighter, blessed protector of the American way and our hides. We who knew you well will miss your class, your swagger, your raw power. Even in the face of technological advances you bowed to no other. Thanks for the memories. They are indeed the stuff of novels.
From Nena:
This story is very special to my heart. If I had discovered fighters before I was 38 - in particular the F-4, I would not have had 4 kids (which I had at the time)....I would have been the first female fighter pilot - bar none . It would have been me or the Air Force.
I have yet to return from my first flight in the F-4D in 1986....and managed to log another 16 hours in fighters, 36 hours in the Sim and sat though 300 fighter geometry and academic hours to the point where I almost hated Charlie Salie....
For those of you who do not know, I am the only female (US and Mexican) civilian pilot (who freely used my USAF CAP credentials) to fly 7 no-shit sorties in modern fighters; F-4D (A/G, A/A, DACT), A-7 (LANA & night refueling), F-16B (A/A, DACT, Live ordanance 500 lbs with snake eaters lasing the targets), and F/A-18 "E" solo ride with Blue angels with no G-suit. Not to mention legally becoming a tailhooker and another 100's of hours in WW II trainers and fighters.....both US and foreign.....
I also managed stints on operational US Carriers and a few TDY's to Tyndall (ACMIs), RoseyRoads, Coldlake, Howard AFB and a few other hot areas in the 80's and 90's.....
I got my chamber and altitude card to 37,000...and my ejection card....went through the centrifuge....and kept absolutely quiet when I broke my foot the day before I was to fly an F16 in ColdLake....I thought I would get caught with the pain searing through me during egress refresher....but nobody noticed my green-pained face! So, I flew! Went home and wore a cast for 6 weeks!
I was lucky to learn all this BEFORE our military became politically correct...so I experienced the best of deseased insects, carrier landings, Misty & River Rat reunions, and many of the lost arts of the playful activities of the Right Stuff Guys who knew how to wash down each (good and bad) day.
The Phantom is my first love.....My only regret was that I was not able to fly one to the boneyard......
Maybe - Someday, I'll finish my book; Pure Pursuit.....Brassey's contracted it in '89, but when the US went in to take Noriega out (my story line in 90), they asked me if I could change the plot a bit....(history was catching up to my writing). So, I moved the story to Nicaragua where I put in a female president. Lo and behold that came true, and when Brasseys asked me again to change the story to a future possiblity - I said I needed more money - they said no.
Thus, "Pure Pursuit" sits enclosed in data bits of 3 1/2 floppy disks that may never be translated from Multimate to Word Doc format! Nena
But - what a wonderful 20 years I've had as a fighter pilot since then!
Proud to call her Friend
Nena in Secret MiG-21 at Nellis AFB....1998