Another Air National Guard tale: The General's Model T
The General was restoring a model T in one of the hangars.
I was scheduled for my annual instrument check ride one Saturday morning.
When I checked in at the briefing room, my check pilot, a Major, was waiting for me.
The planes we were flying were single seat (RF-84/F) so the check pilot would fly my wing and make sure I did what I was supposed to.
"I want you to file an instrument flight plan to O'Hare Field in Chicago. Then brief me on the type of formation we'll fly, time enroute, altitude,airspeed,etc, enroute procedures, and the specific instrument approach to O'Hare we'll use."
"CHICAGO? How come?"
(We usually did instrument checks in the local area, Birmingham, Alabama.)
"We're gonna run a little errand for the general. Don't worry about it."
Un hunh...???
I did as instructed and we took off for O'Hare.
We landed and taxied to the Air National Guard ramp.
(I passed the instrument check with flying colors. 
)
An Air Force blue "staff car" station wagon with driver met us at plane side.
We got in and rode off.
"Uh... where are we going?"
"Pick up some stuff for the General."
"Oh...OK."
15 or 20 minutes later we pulled up at WARSHAWSKY's.
Maybe you get their catalog.
Every possible car part and accessory you could ever want or need.
AHA!
The light bulb lit!
The General's Model T!
We created a bit of a stir when we walked in.
Flight suits, boots.
We stood in line at one of the counters.
When we got to the counter, the Major handed the clerk the shopping list.
He disappeared and began to pile stuff up on the counter.
I remember at least one fender and a bumper.
Maybe tail lights and a steering wheel.
Anyway, we loaded everything into the back of the staff car and headed back to the airport.
The F-84 had a fairly large nose bay, usually full of cameras.
(We were a photo-recon squadron.)
All of the cameras had been removed. Plenty of room for the General's 'stuff'.
We took off around 2 p.m. and headed back to Birmingham.
The Major had briefed an annual formation check ride for me, so he flew lead for half the flight and I flew lead for the last half.
I passed that check ride, too.
Teaser: A little later I'll tell you about the 'aftermath'.
trof gets investigated by the feds.
= new reply since forum marked as read
This is a great one! I'm glad you passed your instrument ride check too...
Are there any airworthy F/RF-84s? Might I see one at EAA AirVenture this weekend?
Kept the nose wheel from kicking up FOD (Foreign Object Damage) into the engine intakes.
BTW, the 84 also had screens you could activate from the cockpit to keep FOD out of the intakes during operations from 'unprepared fields'.
I never took off from such a field, but did learn (inadvertently) that if you deployed the screens on take off they reduced your thrust and made the take off run longer.
A few weeks later I attended our monthly drill week end.
When i walked into the squadron room The Major (my check pilot) was waiting there.
"Lieutenant, there are a couple of federal investigators here who want to talk to you."
"WHAT? Whoa, wait...what's going on?"
"It's about the flight we made to O'Hare. I don't think we did anything wrong. At least nothing they can prosecute us for. They're in the briefing room. Just answer their questions TRUTHFULLY, but DO NOT volunteer any information."
"Major, all I did was follow orders."
"I know that. I think you're OK."
Holy shit. What have I gotten into?
???
I walked down to the briefing room.
Two 'suits' were sitting at the table. They motioned me to a chair.
They never told me their names or what government agency they were from.
And I was too young and too flustered and just too ignorant to ask for ID.
Oh...and I was scared.
They asked me about that Saturday flight to O'Hare. What was the purpose of the flights?
'Training and annual check rides.'
What training was accomplished? Asked about the flight up and back. I answered truthfully. I got an instrument check on the way up and a formation check on the way back.
Did I often fly on other than monthly week end drill meetings?
'Yes, I'm out here pretty much every chance I get. You can't maintain proficiency just flying one week end a month.'
They never asked about our hour and a half side trip to Warshawsky's in an Air Force staff car, and I sure as hell didn't volunteer any information about it.
The whole interview took about half an hour.
And I never heard another single thing about it.
Postscript: Now I realize that I was incredibly naive back in the 60s when I was in my 20s.
I was absolutely apolitical then.
Much later I learned how 'political' state jobs in the National Guard were.
I think it's different now, but back then top jobs and ranks depended on which state politicians you supported. It paid to be on the winning side.
I eventually learned that opposing forces were out to 'get' the general who was my ultimate commanding officer. This 'investigation' was part of that effort.
They lost on that one, but eventually they were successful.
But that's another story.
Thanks for reading.
I was in for my agreed to seven years.
I loved flying in the guard.
I would have stayed in longer, but circumstances at the time made that impossible for me.
Notice I didn't say "served". It was just fun and a privilege.
If I had done what Bush did, failed to show, the powers that be would have had me either in green fatigues in a jungle in Viet Nam or breaking rocks at Leavenworth.
