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

Nemo,
Is that pic of you? VERY COOL!

Nemo,
Awesome picture! Hope your job stays "fun" and never becomes a "challenge". Next time you're down this way, how about a low-level fly-by of Candlewood Lake (tell your boss there are a couple suspicious sea planes you want to check out)? The only thing that sounds better than a wound up Porsche is the sound of American air power!

Awesome Nemo! Thanks for being a part of our group.

So how does driving a 914 compare to an F-15? I think the plane would look cool with a 5 lug conversion, and tinted windows.

Take care!

Formidable!

I like the fact that if a SUV cuts him off he can shoot their ass with his F15!

I was wondering if you have any advice on the Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-229 turbofan engine swap. I am having trouble getting the afterburner to fire up.

Seriously though - you win for the coolest job I think. Picture is hella cool. You should be winning the avatar contest, LOL.

Fly safe,

Fiid.

The -229 is an F-15E model engine, but with some slight modification can be put in an F-15A. I think you just need two custom engine mounts and some stronger struts.

We actually still have -100s but are on the books to get -220s down the road. You obviously have some fighter engine knowlege.

Also, on the photo I attached, I was in the jet that took the photo. We have one two-seater, and I had a combat camera man with me.

Thanks for guarding our coast Nemo, I was an f105 crew chief. Takhli, Thailand, 69,70,71. Worked flight line, phase docks, and end of runway( my personal favorite. The ground actually shook under my feet.).

Hey! Wild Weasels at Korat! Always good to see them make it back from a mission.

ROFLMAO!!!!

Monique wants to know when she can schedule a ride.... soon she hopes.

Geoff

That canopy would look coool on a teener..

I don't have very much fighter knowledge; I have google :-). I did used to play a lot of F15 Strike Eagle when I was a kid though.

It's funny that you sit on the end of roughly 50,000 lbs of thrust at work and you have a 1.7. I'm suprised you haven't done a 6 or V8 conversion :-).

What is it like travelling at Mach 1+?
Fiid.

Oh BTW - you made desktop background. Needed to get rid of that Windows XP shit background anyway :-)

Fiid.

Thanks "Nemo" (what is your call sign ?)

And thank you for protecting our borders.

My only experience with fighter pilots came when I crashed a Honda 3 wheeler into a back yard fence belonging to a Blue angels pilot. He was pissed off. I had to pay for his fence repair.



B

Thanks everyone for the nice words. It is good to feel that your country is behind you. It hasn't always been like that!

VSG914 and JNP914 -- Thanks for your service too. I spent a good amount of time at Korat, Thailand in 1997 for a Cope Tiger exercise. That's a crazy country. Bet it was wilder then you guys were there!

Fiid -- I would love to drive a 914 with something larger than a 1.7! But, its my baby. First car, first date, etc. I am attached to it as is. Guess I should start looking for a 2nd 914 with a little more thrust. Oh, and I wish I could say Mach 2+ was something special, but not much happens! Feels about the same as when my 914 hits 90 mph -- a little shakey and I hold the wheel a little tighter!!

Brad -- Thanks for the offer to post about my Eagle time. Don't let a bad experience with a Blue Angel ruin your impression of Air Force guys. Those Blue Angel guys are assholes! You should have pissed on his fence after you ran it over. Also, my tactical call sign is NEMO.

Now, first person to solve my sputter on decel problem gets a ride in the two seater!! My 914 that is.

NEMO

I am an Air Guardsman as well. AGR with the 273 Engineering Installation Squardon, TXANG. A comm weenie! We got guys in Iraq and Qatar. Been there done that. We did alot of work up there for you guys at Otis. Installed your fiber backbone and all new comm infrastructure from the ground up. BIG PROJECT! Civilian contractor said it couldn't be done, we took it on, did under-budget and ahead of schedule.

Vaughan "Eddie" Williams, MSgt, TXANG
System Telecommunication Engineering Manager
273 EIS/EIM
DSN: 454-2948 Comm: 409-749-3208
Email: vaughane.williams@txelli.ang.af.mil

Thailand holds some "special memories" for sure. 9 months of 110+heat, then 3 months of monsoon. Gorgeous sunsets and more gorgeous women. I still remember her name.

JNP, Nemo, Sawatdee cupp. coon sabidee?

Eddie

If you ever make it back out to Otis, drop by the 101st Fighter Squadron and say hello. We can talk 914's!

VSG 914

I wasn't in Tailand long enough to know what that means! I can make some guesses though!

Nemo

I have a question:

From the time an alert comes in that you need to FLY (right now).. to the time it takes to put your bird into flight.. (how long does this take) ?? Does somebody else fire the bird off and get it ready for you ??

I never understood how we could "intercept" anything with any speed. I guess radar buys you some time... but honestly how fast you could put the plane in the air in an emergency situation ??



B

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

Just a greeting, literally translated means" hello sir, are you well? I have several Thai family friends and still speak the languange fairly well.

Never made it Korat, But Bangkok was a blast. Spent 10 days there on a five day R&R.LOL. I hear the R&R is being reinplimented in Iraq with a one year tour of duty. First time since Vietnam.

I got to take a ride in a Thunder Chief once. Only 10 minutes, but truly awesome.

Rockin' Nemo, nice to meet you. I love 914s, planes, and pulling 5gs.



Why don't you meet me sometime for lunch sometime....take me for a ride.

We have an airport, and it shouldn't take you too long to get here.




Miles

Interesting that conversation came up about Pratt & Whitney engines. I worked as an engineer at the Government (military)and Space Systems plant in West Palm Beach, FL while in college (co-operative student). I saw some pretty cool crap.

I worked on the SR-71 engine before they canned it, engines for the F14, F15, F16, F22, and the space shuttle main engine fuel pump. Even the next generation engines beyond the F-22 Raptor.

The shuttle fuel pump was about the size of a commode and could pump 20,000 gallons of fuel in 60 seconds. When I worked in test engineering, we would light the pump off during night tests. Once they pumped the fuel, the had to burn it off (horizontally and vertically) and the heat pressure wave off the burnoff stacks was freaky scary. It would get so hot that trees would catch on fire that were about 100 feet away from the side of the flames.

I worked in customer support when Desert Storm occurred. I was almost sent inspect engine at the bases in Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

I once held a secret clearance with the government. It's amazing the crap they asked me about in my clearance interviews (Grandma visiting Russia in 1984, blah, blah... huh?)

I miss those days.

Nemo,

I work well into the night when the phone stops ringing and all the emails are answered. It does NO good to try and get anything done during normal business hours. I also work all weekend.

I really appreicate you taking the time to answer my questions. I have many many more that I would like to ask but I will wait until I'm up in the northeast for a Porsche event before I ask them. The military aircraft have always facinated me. I grew up in north Texas surrounded by Govt. contract companies and got to see some cool military stuff being tested (Bell helicopter/Vought/General Dynamics/Lockheed Martin) just to name a few. Big big plants rolling planes out. I always knew somebody that built or designed planes while growing up.

I wish I could shake the hand of every military person involved with protecting the USA.

B

Let me know if you are ever in the area. I would love to talk jets and cars with you.