Camaro Z28s (4th gen) used to land U2 Planes

Arachnyd · 05-17-2010, 11:19 AM

http://jalopnik.com/5537629/the-140%...3Dtrue%26s%3Di

4th gen, but its still pretty cool!

Rob53 · 05-17-2010, 11:31 AM

I was at U-Tapao Thailand in the USAF in 1974-75. We had the U2 fly daily missions out of U-Tapao. I was Air Base Defense, so we patrolled the tarmac, and all the base boundaries etc. The U2 would take off at sunrise every morning. The thong I remember most about it was that it had to obtain an altitude of one mile before leaving the proximity of the Air base. Every morning we would watch that U2 spiral almost straight up over the base, then fly off toward N. Vietnam. Once the U2 reached crusing altitude, it was flown from a trailer in the center of the base, which was also a post for us cops at Air Base Defense.

Okay the main point of this is that when the U2 returned home, you would know she was headed back, and close by because the Air Force, at that time used a 1974 Chevy 454 El Camino as the chase vehicle. The El Camino would race up and down the runway once, then wait at the north end of the runway for the black bird to fly over head. As soon as it flew over the end of the runway, the El Camino raced down the runway and passed it up, two airmen would jump out of the back of the vehicle, after it passed it and stopped of course, and secure wing extension poles with wheels under each wing. It was a daily ritual for all us cops at U-tapao to watch the U2 come and go.

Thanks for reminding me of my experience with the U2, it wqas quite a sight to see as it made it's way to altitude, spiraling almost straight up, then watching the con trail disappear off to the N/E.

ron10 · 05-17-2010, 11:38 AM

that was cool.

franknbeans · 05-17-2010, 11:48 AM

that would be a very cool thing to see. . .

Legend · 05-17-2010, 11:50 AM

Cool!

My father-in-law worked on these and the SR71...awesome!

Rob53 · 05-17-2010, 01:02 PM

Well, this has made me go looking through old photos to see if I took any while I was at U-Tapao, of the U2. Sure enough, I guess I worked the entry control point to the U2 that night, and snapped this photo in the morning before beibg relieved by day shift ABD. yeah, a glider with a jet engine, I remember loving watch her go up, for two reason. One, it was awesome, two it meant it was almost time to get off work! I've attached the only pic I took of the U2 while at U-Tapao. What a great place that was to spend a year. Worked the midnight shift the whole time, the southern boundary of the base was the gulf of Thailand, the base radio station played requests all night for us, and the tropical breeze off the gulf was great. Let me see, Thai sticks went for ...hmmmmmm I believe it was 20 sticks for $5.00 Those were the days!

Rob53 · 05-17-2010, 01:06 PM

Forgot to attach the pic!

Oh yeah, one last memory, and I'll quit! It was on this post, as an entry control point that I had the weirdest experice one night there. I was sitting on the tarmac, with my back against the hanger, when something walked across my hand! It was a stinkin fish! They had puddle jumpoer of klong jumper walking fish ober there! Scared the crap outta me. I jumped up and had my M16 ready to blow the crap out of it, until I saw it was a stinkin walking fish! Just glad it wasn't what I thought it was...... a King Cobra!

ArkySS · 05-17-2010, 01:15 PM

Where do I sign up.....

*CamaroSpike23* · 05-17-2010, 05:44 PM

they were used.... not so much anymore

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showth...ighlight=plane

scritchy · 05-17-2010, 08:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CamaroSpike23

they were used.... not so much anymore

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showth...ighlight=plane

They are still being used pretty extensively as part of OIF and OEF.

8ty8 ls1 · 05-18-2010, 09:43 AM

yeah my buddy was deployed to saudi last year, they used 2 NBM z28's and one impulse blue GTO. he has pictures of them somewhere i'll try to find them.

Arachnyd · 05-18-2010, 11:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rob53

Forgot to attach the pic!

Oh yeah, one last memory, and I'll quit! It was on this post, as an entry control point that I had the weirdest experice one night there. I was sitting on the tarmac, with my back against the hanger, when something walked across my hand! It was a stinkin fish! They had puddle jumpoer of klong jumper walking fish ober there! Scared the crap outta me. I jumped up and had my M16 ready to blow the crap out of it, until I saw it was a stinkin walking fish! Just glad it wasn't what I thought it was...... a King Cobra!

Love it!

05-17-2010, 11:19 AM	#1
Arachnyd Master of all trades Drives: 2many2count Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: West Chester, OH (near cincy) Posts: 732	Camaro Z28s (4th gen) used to land U2 Planes http://jalopnik.com/5537629/the-140%...3Dtrue%26s%3Di 4th gen, but its still pretty cool! __________________ 2010 Camaro SS modified extensively. I stretched the body to make it a 4 door, but I swapped in the 3.6L DI V6 for fuel economy. Then I picked up a corvette body around the V8. I also swapped the body for a C2 Z28. (In short I traded it for three cars, a Corvette Z06r, a C2 Camaro Z28, and a Cadillac CTS Summer Performance package 3.6L DI with Aisin 6spd.)

05-17-2010, 11:31 AM	#2
Rob53 Drives: 2012 2SS/RS VR Camaro convertible Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Fresno, Ca. Posts: 755	U2 I was at U-Tapao Thailand in the USAF in 1974-75. We had the U2 fly daily missions out of U-Tapao. I was Air Base Defense, so we patrolled the tarmac, and all the base boundaries etc. The U2 would take off at sunrise every morning. The thong I remember most about it was that it had to obtain an altitude of one mile before leaving the proximity of the Air base. Every morning we would watch that U2 spiral almost straight up over the base, then fly off toward N. Vietnam. Once the U2 reached crusing altitude, it was flown from a trailer in the center of the base, which was also a post for us cops at Air Base Defense. Okay the main point of this is that when the U2 returned home, you would know she was headed back, and close by because the Air Force, at that time used a 1974 Chevy 454 El Camino as the chase vehicle. The El Camino would race up and down the runway once, then wait at the north end of the runway for the black bird to fly over head. As soon as it flew over the end of the runway, the El Camino raced down the runway and passed it up, two airmen would jump out of the back of the vehicle, after it passed it and stopped of course, and secure wing extension poles with wheels under each wing. It was a daily ritual for all us cops at U-tapao to watch the U2 come and go. Thanks for reminding me of my experience with the U2, it wqas quite a sight to see as it made it's way to altitude, spiraling almost straight up, then watching the con trail disappear off to the N/E. Last edited by Rob53; 05-17-2010 at 12:37 PM. Reason: spelling error

05-17-2010, 11:48 AM	#4
franknbeans Whipped Drives: 2010 CAMARO Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Pittsburgh-ish - PA Posts: 4,216 View My Garage	that would be a very cool thing to see. . . __________________ Car of the week 7/7/14

05-17-2010, 01:02 PM	#6
Rob53 Drives: 2012 2SS/RS VR Camaro convertible Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Fresno, Ca. Posts: 755	U2 Well, this has made me go looking through old photos to see if I took any while I was at U-Tapao, of the U2. Sure enough, I guess I worked the entry control point to the U2 that night, and snapped this photo in the morning before beibg relieved by day shift ABD. yeah, a glider with a jet engine, I remember loving watch her go up, for two reason. One, it was awesome, two it meant it was almost time to get off work! I've attached the only pic I took of the U2 while at U-Tapao. What a great place that was to spend a year. Worked the midnight shift the whole time, the southern boundary of the base was the gulf of Thailand, the base radio station played requests all night for us, and the tropical breeze off the gulf was great. Let me see, Thai sticks went for ...hmmmmmm I believe it was 20 sticks for $5.00 Those were the days!

05-17-2010, 01:06 PM	#7
Rob53 Drives: 2012 2SS/RS VR Camaro convertible Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Fresno, Ca. Posts: 755	Ooops...the photo Forgot to attach the pic! Oh yeah, one last memory, and I'll quit! It was on this post, as an entry control point that I had the weirdest experice one night there. I was sitting on the tarmac, with my back against the hanger, when something walked across my hand! It was a stinkin fish! They had puddle jumpoer of klong jumper walking fish ober there! Scared the crap outta me. I jumped up and had my M16 ready to blow the crap out of it, until I saw it was a stinkin walking fish! Just glad it wasn't what I thought it was...... a King Cobra! Attached Images

05-17-2010, 11:38 AM	#3
ron10 Drives: 2010 2SS IOM L99 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: LOUISVILLE,KY.. Posts: 7,545	that was cool.

05-17-2010, 11:50 AM	#5
Legend Hello! Drives: 2008 JSB Z06! Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Texas Posts: 2,624 View My Garage	Cool! My father-in-law worked on these and the SR71...awesome!

05-17-2010, 01:15 PM	#8
ArkySS Camaroless for now... Drives: 2014 Blue Topaz Silverado Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Arkansas Posts: 1,411	Where do I sign up..... __________________ It was fun while it lasted.....

05-18-2010, 09:43 AM	#11
8ty8 ls1 Resident Engineer Drives: 2010 Camaro SS, 1988 GMC S-15 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: New Jersey Posts: 766	yeah my buddy was deployed to saudi last year, they used 2 NBM z28's and one impulse blue GTO. he has pictures of them somewhere i'll try to find them. __________________ 12.68 @ 109: LSR cai, Borla S-type axle-back, Tunes

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