So there I was, pushing West at 7,000 feet, fat, dumb, and happy at 120kts indicated, when over my left shoulder, I saw a USAF F-16 coming up to kick our asses. As referenced last week, I got to do one of the coolest missions that CAP does last week, when I got to fly “Mission Observer” in the right seat of a CAP airplane while we played Red Air for the South Dakota ANG.
Admittedly, there’s not much maneuvering (aside from the wing-rocking acknowledgement) when playing Red Air in this scenario, and I’m sure actual fighter pilots would find our part in the exercise rather bland. But for me, it was damn cool. And watching that last flight of the day execute a double headbutt close enough that I could count the missiles under the wings? Absolutely shit hot.