Buzzing Capt. C.

Author: Bobo

When we flew in the training command at the time, we operated off of both sides of the runway. Normally, a runway has to be "clear" to land; however, we had a waiver that allowed us to operate with 3,000 feet of spacing between landing aircraft on opposite sides of the runway. It worked well.

One day, Capt. C. was in position for takeoff, on the left side of Runway 14R at Randolph AFB, TX.  As his student was checking the engine instruments prior to brake release, Capt. C. noticed a 'flash' off the right side of the aircraft.  Then he saw another Tweet (T-37) roll by, and for a split second, he was eyeball-to-eyeball with the pilot!  The rolling Tweet continued a touch-and-go while Capt. C. retarded his throttles to Idle to regain his composure for a moment before taking off himself.

After they landed, Buzz was asked whether he had seen the flares or heard the radio calls to send him around.  He replied that he did see the flares but was so focused on landing on “his” side of the runway that he just didn’t pay any attention to them.  

When he got back to the flight room, Capt. C. still HOT! It cost Buzz about 100 "Boners" that day (about $25.00).