I was pulling into the signature terminal and i couldnt believe my eyes. There were 2 F-18s that came in and surprised the hell outta everyone. They supposedly cam to pick someone up and left like 2 hours later. It was pretty crazy. An employee there told me a couple months back one came in with someone who came to spend the night with his girlfriend and left…tax $ at work…
P.s. If there are any spotters or pilots in the area that wouldnt mind an tag along pls let me know. I would call my self an amateur aviation enthusiast looking to learn.
It is very common for military aircraft to overnight at “civilian” airports. The pilot who was “visiting his girlfriend” didn’t just take an aircraft to make a booty call, he was in transit with the aircraft and choose to overnight there. Personally, I think that the men and women who are serving our country should be able to make a stop here or there to show Mom and Dad, friends, and family exactly what they are doing when they are deployed for a year or so.
I’ve seen them here for both visits and mx issues. One time there were two F-18’s that wound up here for a mx issue on one of them. Later that same day I saw the pilots walking out of a local machine shop with a part in their hands.
I wholeheartedly agree also. It’s good publicity for the military. It is also 1,000% better use of aircraft than allowing frigging politicians who think the military is their own private airline.
I’m surprised they are allowed to leave a F-18 on the ramp without armed security. When I was an ATC’er an A7 flamed out in the flight levels and landed uneventful at our airport. About 2 hours later AF SP’s showed up from a base an hour away. The guarded the plane for a couple of days until it could be flown out.
Typically no special security is required on these stopovers as there is no ordinance aboard. This may have not been the case with your A7 experience, and/or at that time procedures were different.
One time we had a F16 four ship team overnighting at our FBO for a NASCAR flyby. Apparently one of them started leaking hydrazine from the EPU. The entire ramp was quarantined and a hazmat team had to drive in from the closest F16 field 3 hours away. What a headache for everyone parked on the ramp!
