Morning nitwit, A little gloomy today. It's winter. the Canadians are in bathing suits, I'm in a long sleeve shirt. It's winter.
I'm still in the little pad you visited. It's hard to beat the location. We can walk to everywhere important. Still have the white mustang A keeps it clean and shinning. I turn 85 5 May, I'm still in decent shape. systems are working but I can feel a 'dimming' of senses, I mean smoking dope of not. Need more light to read. and in the vernacular of an 'On or In or Under' Waterman. I know "Hearing is Fucked!".
Too many times, standing on the Donut Truck, with the air to ground radio, and Binoculars and parked next to the runway. I mean right next to the runway. and celebrated the hopefully successful landing of the first 727's The original runway was 4700 feet with a grass turn around by the road. I may be wrong but your extension was 3,000 feet. Does that sound close? Anyway, the old snub nose donut truck had a steel roof so as the flight was on finale a couple of the 'ahem' ladies would get on the roof, with a bottle of Mt Gay in hand and it was very daring if sometime's one of them would welcome our guests by whipping off the top of her bathing suit. We told everyone to sit on the port side. If you remember, the landings were carrier deck landings. It wasn't uncommon to have 20 knots gusts across the runway.
Before all the fences, the college base ball diamond, with home plate facing the runway and the out fielders were pretty close to the runway. We would stop the game to watch one land. They crossed the threshhold at 120. There was a yellow line painted across the runway and meant If you arn't on the ground when you go over this line, go around. and going around was another story all together. The pilots had to be checked out on landing
There were two thrilling experiences we discovered. Remember the road from the shell station around the end of the runway, the beach on the left, on the way to the hangar terminal this is before fences so from the road to the edge of the runway pavement was close. PanAm would land at the other end. I would park on the grass between the road and the runway. close. The 727 would land at the other end, you'd see the smoke from the wheels, and then it would start to get bigger and bigger, and you would swear it wasn't going to stop before running over you. and bobbing up and down the huge beast would start to turn engines and reverse still screaming and had to return down the main runway. The only runway. and it had to run up to start to taxi. I felt the heat once. But I can't describe the rush when that large airplane was coming at you.
and speaking of coming at you the other thrilling experience. I would rank it up with the first plunge of a roller coaster ride, was sitting in a small open boat, like a whaler, about twenty yards off the old end of the runway and keeping track of the approach with our radio. They actually used a Carrier Deck Landing. seriously You would see the black smoke when the revved up the three hind engines, they were low turning into the approach, when they got to us, they went over the boat about twenty feet above. You can see the rivits. Let's just say. It is looking right at you and get's bigger and bigger and biggest and holy shit it's going to.... SWOOOOSH and now you see a spectacular landing from behind. The beast is angled 40 degrees to the left and has to get straight at the last moment. We have stopped playing ball and watched it come down on the nose wheels before the mains hit the ground, makes you hold your breath. We had one guy jump out of the boat.
So after our happy happy greeting we would drive to the terminal and pick up the freezing new york gang throw them into the back of the donut truck where they would change to bathing suits while drinking Mt Gay and smoking good columbian.and what ever else was around. and would have them in warm waters within half an hour. Winter forgotten we would head for the powder horn. Actually everything forgotten we would head to the Powder Horn. Sometimes they didn't check in for a couple days. Listen old man I think we were very fortunate to have had that chance to be in that place at that time.