My other silver machine, Request from Brad Roberts Options

[Nemo914]

Hey all,

Brad asked that I post a little on my other hobby (i.e. "job").

When I am not pulling my hair out and enjoying my 914, I work as an F-15 Eagle pilot for the Massachusetts Air National Guard. I spent 14 years on active duty and flew the Eagle in Alaska and Florida before joining the guard and moving to the NE. My squadron does most of the patrols over Boston and New York as part of Operation Noble Eagle. We are also worldwide deployable, but spend most of our time "guarding" the East Coast. It is certainly a fun job and I have no complaints!

Over the years, I have known several F-15 pilots who where 914 drivers. One guy with over 3,000 hrs in the jet drove a 75 yellow 2.0. He had replaced the stick shift knob with a fighter stick grip! He sold the car last year and I cursed him for it!

I absolutely love this site and have learned more about 914's in the last few months than I had learned in the previous 21 years since I took my drivers test in my 914 in 1982! This site will certainly help keep the 914 alive and well into the future.

Nemo

[Nemo914]

We have two guys that sit alert on 24 hr shifts. The jets sit, armed and "cocked" (meaning all switches pre-set for take-off) downstairs in individual hangars. We live in a little "apartment" above. When North East Air Defense wants us airborne, they activate the "scramble" order, which sets off an alarm in the alert facility. We can be down in the cockpit in about a minute. The alert facility is right on the departure end of the runway, so we can be airborne in about 4-5 minutes. We have crew chiefs that also sit alert and help us with the launch.

Usually we can be launched well in advance of any aircraft reaching the coast from overseas. Obviously a situation like 9/11 makes it tougher to get there in time. It was our squadron that scrambled that day, and still took a good 10-15 minutes to reach New York (160 miles away), but still too late. We also cary a huge radar that can see other aircraft well out in the distance. Tankers usually scramble with us so we can air refuel if needed.

The last few scrambles I have done have been to intercept civilian aircraft that were not following their planned route or are not squawking the correct codes. Usually all that ends up happening is we scare the shit out of them when we fly by to get tail numbers!

Hope that answers your questions. Thanks for asking. Appreciate all the responses to my 914 questions. You must be typing non-stop. How do you find time to work on your cars??

Nemo