Sled Driver

he could take his people in the weather facility out to the jet for a tour. The requests
continued for two days. An entire maintenance team arrived from Beale to repair
our plane. We were glad to see them arrive; their appearance was the first break we
had from walking base officials around the jet. We enjoyed giving tours though, and
were only sorry we had to show them a broken plane. This didn't seem to bother
them at all.
Walt and I didn't know our takeoff time until maintenance gave us the word, but
somehow everyone on base knew. They were there along the road, on the grass,
and on the tops of buildings. I think half the people at the United terminal were
watching too. The people at Peterson Field and Colorado Springs had treated us
royally, and I knew they would enjoy seeing a flyby, but our standard departure
procedure was simply taking off and climbing away quickly. Walt and I talked it over
before suiting up. We thought it might be a good idea to check that darn oil system
with a couple passes across the field, in case it went bad again. Heck, just to make
sure, the smart thing would be lighting the afterburners while still at low altitude,
and going to maximum thrust during a steep climb. With this plan, we'd know for
sure the system was fixed.
On that beautiful afternoon in Colorado, so many people were thrilled with a
simple oil system checkout pass.