My buddy, talking about the first time he flew in a jet: “I was so far behind the aircraft, I was still walking out of the FBO when we rotated.” This reminded me of the first time I flew in a T-38, the “White Rocket.” It felt like I was being shot out of a cannon.
There I was, a U.S. Air Force student pilot on my first T-38 flight, a flight-suited lump of clay in the front seat, watching in terror as the world blasted by. As the main gear left the ground at what seemed like 500 knots, I thought, “No WAY can I ever fly this thing! Less than 20 flight hours in the jet later, I soloed it. It was either learn how to fly the ’38 in a very short period of time or “go sell shoes in Omaha,” as the instructor pilots (IPs) frequently threatened (not that there’s anything wrong with that).
