First Lt. Michael Seltzer, an F-16 pilot recently returning from a five-hour mission over Iraq with two bombs still onboard discovered a problem with his fighter’s landing gear. His emergency checklist procedure failed to correct the problem as he circled, getting ever lower on fuel. The Viper pilot was in luck because a KC-135 crew already airborne had some fuel to spare, enabling Seltzer to tank up and head toward Southwest Asia’s largest lake, where he jettisoned his bombs. (Read more here from Air Force journalist SrA. Kerry Solan-Johnson.)
The Air Force has finished modifying and testing the new VC-25B Bridge aircraft that will serve as a temporary Air Force One, the service announced May 1. All that’s left now is to finish painting the jet before it starts flying this summer.