MIflyer
1st Lieutenant
We had a big airshow at Tinker AFB back in the mid-70's. Aircraft flew in from all over country to attend. I was Ops Duty Officer on the Saturday before the Sunday airshow.
The CAF B-29 and B-17 flew in from Wright Patterson AFB, while a couple of P-51's, an F6F and a P-39 flew in from somewhere in the northwest. The original plan for was for the two bombers and the fighters to rendezvous north of Oklahoma City, and fly over in formation. But the fighters stopped to refuel at Offutt AFB - which was a big surprise there - and would get there too late to meet up with the bombers. We needed to get word to the bombers.
Base ops called Oklahoma City Approach Control and told them they needed a message relayed to some incoming aircraft.
"The type of aircraft are a B-17 and a B-29. No, I said BEEE 17 and BEEE 29. Okay! Yes, that's right. Got that? The message is do not wait for the P-51's and other fighters, just come straight to the base. Yes, that's right."
Apparently at this point the approach control guy asked, "Who is this, really?" But they got the message through. The B-17 landed on arrival but "Fifi" did a nice buzz job of Tinker AFB, the airfield where the Enola Gay and other 509th BG aircraft had the final mods and tests done before going into service.
The CAF B-29 and B-17 flew in from Wright Patterson AFB, while a couple of P-51's, an F6F and a P-39 flew in from somewhere in the northwest. The original plan for was for the two bombers and the fighters to rendezvous north of Oklahoma City, and fly over in formation. But the fighters stopped to refuel at Offutt AFB - which was a big surprise there - and would get there too late to meet up with the bombers. We needed to get word to the bombers.
Base ops called Oklahoma City Approach Control and told them they needed a message relayed to some incoming aircraft.
"The type of aircraft are a B-17 and a B-29. No, I said BEEE 17 and BEEE 29. Okay! Yes, that's right. Got that? The message is do not wait for the P-51's and other fighters, just come straight to the base. Yes, that's right."
Apparently at this point the approach control guy asked, "Who is this, really?" But they got the message through. The B-17 landed on arrival but "Fifi" did a nice buzz job of Tinker AFB, the airfield where the Enola Gay and other 509th BG aircraft had the final mods and tests done before going into service.
