[Dragon Lady]

I had the fortune of living in a brand new house right in the landing zone at Nellis AFB, NV; home of the Thunderbirds and original support base for the Stealth Fighter program. Many a FB-111 would blast over our house and rattle the windows & china. The worst was the annual return home from tour of the T-Birds. They would kick in after burners at minimum height off the deck. My poor son was only 6 months old at the time. I swear the kid has hearing problems to this day.
As for C5s making a great target heres a little known story:
In 1987 at Dover AFB a C5 (Tail #008) was siting out on the fuelcell line. This is basically a spot way out in the middle of the airfield away from the rest of the flightline. We had drained her tanks for inspection and maintenance and turned it over to the day shift. When we drain the tanks the fire suppression system is taken off line, don't need all that nitro dissipating for no good reason. The day shift had pulled her grounding wires and was prepping to tow her into the fuel docks. A freak thunderstorm cropped up and a bolt struck her right wing just inside the outboard engine. The wing exploded and half fell to the ground carrying the multimillion dollar GE TF33 engine along with it. We all hit the ground when the explosion went off. Then started running to the planes, we thought we were under attack!!
Once things calmed down, fire out, and we could get a good look at the plane it was the most amazing thing I ever witnessed. It took Lockheed and Dover nearly a year to get her airworthy again. I recently found a picture of her in Germany on a tour. I couldnt be more proud of that plane. She's quite the comeback kid.

Tell me something...If navy wings have anchors attached, how do the planes get off the ground??
Just kidding with ya.
DL