Meeting Up With An Old Friend

I hadn’t been up close to an F-4 Phantom II in almost 40 years. I flew the F-4C, F-4D and F-4E, and the E was my favorite steed. A great airplane, with an internal 20 millimeter gun, the way a fighter should be armed.

Air Force assignments took me away from the Phantom, and then I went on to airline flying, and we just never had the opportunity to meet up again. Until now.

Today I attended a Defend Freedom Tour, held at the Wings Over The Rockies Air And Space Museum. It was a great get-together, but the high point of the night was getting to reconnect with my old friend, the F-4E. Standing two feet away, I could feel the decades evaporate, and I felt like I could climb the ladder, strap in and start her up. It was a good feeling.

As I left the gathering, I took one last look back at her, and gave her a wink.

“We need to get together more often.”