I flew the DC9 a few times with Dan at Northwest. Had to be late 80's or early 90's. We both commuted out of Nashville to Detroit at the time. Great Guy, Great Pilot.
@georgehaeh4856Ай бұрын
There was an uncommanded ejection with the Patrouille de France. The two aircraft were doing an opposing canopy to canopy pass when one wing clipped the canopy just above the pilot's head and triggered the ejection.
@hosseinhosseini4194Ай бұрын
Another amazing story captain. Keep up the great work sir
@ronrogersАй бұрын
Thanks, I appreciate that!
@jamesburns2232Ай бұрын
I went to Nellis AFB for Combat Air Tactics and drove out to an area where there was a pristine canopy with the name Major Lowery on it. The rest of his T-38 was so crushed, it could fit in an airline carry on bag.
@stever417Ай бұрын
Thanks for the variety!!
@ronrogersАй бұрын
I’m glad you enjoyed it!
@rlsmith6904Ай бұрын
Thanks a million.
@ronrogersАй бұрын
You're welcome!
@Bluestreak589Ай бұрын
Been watching your videos a year or so, stumbled across the channel thanks to the KZbin algorithms doing their thing. I'm surprised your videos are more of a "slow burn" though I suppose that's to be expected given you're not applying for a Darwin Award or covering "it bleeds, it leads" stories every day. I personally find your stories among the more interesting aviation videos to watch/listen to - Its a lot of stuff those of us with zero possibility of flying for reasons would otherwise likely never get to hear about (let alone experience as you did). So - Wanted to say thanks for doing these videos and all the best to you and your family this holiday season.
@ronrogersАй бұрын
Yes, there are a lot of ways to go viral but that is not my style. I am doing videos in a way that I enjoy and seem to have a loyal group of followers so I am happy with that. Thanks for being one of them!
@theegg-viator4707Ай бұрын
@@ronrogers 🫡👍🏻
@ShadesOClarityАй бұрын
You won't find clickbait here either.
@josephnason8770Ай бұрын
Correction.. at about 7:55 in the video the group crash site is shown that an earlier commentor asked about. This requires a Ron Rogers video.
@brianmee5398Ай бұрын
Great story. I’ve driven by Creech AFB many times on the way to Mercury to test some . Saw the Thunderbirds practicing there a couple of times.
@jcheck6Ай бұрын
Previously known as Indian Springs.
@AutonomousNavigatorАй бұрын
On the last team I led, we had a Thunderbird, a T-38 & U-2 pilot, an A-10 & U-2 pilot, an F-14 & F-18 pilot, and a P-3 pilot. Plus many other great folks, including GA 'pilots' like me.
@ronrogersАй бұрын
What team was that?
@AutonomousNavigatorАй бұрын
@@ronrogersWe developed various avionics and navigation systems, among other things. PM if you want more details.
@danlowe8684Ай бұрын
Ron, your digressions are the best parts!!! Question: Are the pilots for the T-Birds and Blue Angels assigned to a certain fighter wing or are they all from different units? If so, do they activate in the event of war if their home squad is? Thanks for the great stuff!!
@ronrogersАй бұрын
They can be selected from all over the AF and usually come from different units. I assume, in case of war, they would go back to their home units if necessary.
@warped-slideruleАй бұрын
I was also at Edwards on that somber day. I missed then that one of the pilots survived. Thus your presentation filled me in 40 YEARS LATER! Better late than never. Looking back, it seems like his survival was the only redeeming thing about that day. Assume his survival did help the AIB. It was probably good that he moved on without the TBirds and could put that event behind him and avoid the (non-interesting) administrative aspects of the TBird rebuild. Opinion: The T-38 was the most elegant aircraft the TBirds flew. F-16 has many great aspects, but the T-38 was graceful...
@joe92Ай бұрын
Are you thinking of the 1982 Indian Springs accident? Ron was talking about a different incident.
@warped-slideruleАй бұрын
@@joe92 Possibly, so many crashes, so few brain cells left...
@rafetomsett5804Ай бұрын
My girlfriend was the general manager of an aircraft parts company and called me to say she had just received a bid form from the USAF on the four T-38 wrecks. I told her they had hit the ground information and probably wasn’t much of them left. She said she wanted to bid $15,000 each because there were other valuable parts. She won the bid and they were delivered on two flat bed trailers. I was there when they arrived and was speechless when I saw them, virtually intact airframes with their wings removed. Of the 12 landing gears, seven were returned from the OEM with yellow tags and instantly sold.
@ronrogersАй бұрын
Wow! That girlfriend is a keeper! What a find and buy!!
@joe92Ай бұрын
Intact airframes? If you're talking about the 1982 Indian Springs accident, there was darn near nothing left of those aircraft bigger than a suitcase.
@rafetomsett5804Ай бұрын
Dear Joe92. Your ignorant assessment of this tragic crash doesn’t deserve a response but you are obviously a wandering generality in a world of meaningful specifics and need a helping hand. The four T-38s nearly completed their line abreast loop and impacted the ground flat, hard and in formation. There were no smoking holes. Their fuel tanks were compromised and ignited as the burning airframes streaked across the flat terrain. The aerial photo of the crash site clearly depicts the situation. I believe the pilots died instantly from blunt force trauma as the airframes were remarkably intact. If you have never observed three T-38 landing gears, it would clearly take quite a few suitcases to contain them. I stand by the facts of my original statement which, by the way, features my name. Please look me up, fifty years of aviation photography from Jennys, Navy Carrier ops, military jet teams to black airplanes out in the desert and everything in between. Also met General Creech at the Thunderbirds hangar on their rollout of the F-16s. If you are still not clear regarding this Joe, let me know. Personal to Captain Rogers: She was a keeper, should have married her.
@joe92Ай бұрын
@@rafetomsett5804 You said intact airframes. Nothing could be further from the truth. I've got photos to prove it.
@Peter-u6dАй бұрын
@@joe92 I would kind of agree, the one post crash picture that I've seen was of ship #1 and it showed the aft fuselage and vertical stab somewhat in one piece but not much of the rest of it except for a pile of rubble I would hardly call it intact.
@jcheck6Ай бұрын
Ron, did you ever work with your VP Flt Ops, Howard Attarian....TB #3?
@ronrogersАй бұрын
Not directly but did know of him.
@ant....761Ай бұрын
Thank you captain, have you considered publishing these presentations - or at least the ones you have a direct connection to, as a kindle book?
@ronrogersАй бұрын
Not really
@ant....761Ай бұрын
@ronrogers If you ever decide to go down that route I would be happy to type them all up for you, blue skies captain.
@ronrogersАй бұрын
Thanks, great offer!
@01thomasssАй бұрын
He was The Real McCoy! 😁
@stephenhoda3362Ай бұрын
SOME GRIPPING TALE!
@ronrogersАй бұрын
thanks!
@mikewysko2268Ай бұрын
Lucky indeed.
@deanc.5984Ай бұрын
WOW! Coolest aircraft ever, to me, T-38, F4, Spitfire, DC9, 727, 737-100/200, UH1, UH60. Plus to have a Thunderbird coPilot!, wtf 🤣😎🍺
@garyw8481Ай бұрын
I may have missed something. You said t bird #4 had the crash, and then you said after a crash, you are no longer a t bird. How did #4 become lead after a crash?
@ronrogersАй бұрын
#4 did not become lead. He was out.
@tleander40Ай бұрын
I got a bit confused also. You told the story of #4 crashing, but had the story of your co-pilot from hell who was the leader. Was Steve Anderson the lead when the #4 pilot crashed?
@ronrogersАй бұрын
Sorry, Steve was the leader much later, when they were flying F-16s
@viperdriver82Ай бұрын
God alone ......
@johnmorykwas2343Ай бұрын
How about the training accident when the Affiliate Action pilot flew the group into ground?
@ronrogersАй бұрын
Not familiar with that one.
@josephnason8770Ай бұрын
Ron that image in this video at about 3:40 remaining shows the impacts of the four plane crash that johnmork is asking about. I'm damn near 100% positive anyway.
@josephnason8770Ай бұрын
Yup. Just punched in ' four plane thunderbird crash' and hit images.
@exit1368Ай бұрын
Why don’t you tell the story? Please include the AIB etc, instead - maybe just STFU… 🙄
@joe92Ай бұрын
@johnmorykwas2342 What is an Affiliate Action pilot? If you're trying to say Affirmative Action pilot then you're incorrect.