Len Lanetti
Cleared for Takeoff
Here are some pictures that a friend from work let me scan. They are from his USMC days in photo recon.
The Russian nuke on a mobile launcher is very interesting and very scary. I don't know if it comes through in the electronic image but from the actual photo I get the distinct impression that it was taken in a clandestine manner.
The F4 flying in formation with the Bear is neat and for some reason not as scary though it probably should be. I don't see a gun protruding from the front of the F4 so it must have been a pretty early model. I figure the picture must have been taken from the backseat of another F4. I remember reading:
- F4 backseaters assigned to intercept Bears often received trainging in the operation of professional grade 35MM SLRs for just this purpose.
- The scariest part of the intercept was that the guns on the Bear would track the F4 while they flew side by side.
- I also remember seeing another picutre where a Bear crewmember is holding up a Playboy centerfold visible through the plexiglass gun mount.
Len
The Russian nuke on a mobile launcher is very interesting and very scary. I don't know if it comes through in the electronic image but from the actual photo I get the distinct impression that it was taken in a clandestine manner.
The F4 flying in formation with the Bear is neat and for some reason not as scary though it probably should be. I don't see a gun protruding from the front of the F4 so it must have been a pretty early model. I figure the picture must have been taken from the backseat of another F4. I remember reading:
- F4 backseaters assigned to intercept Bears often received trainging in the operation of professional grade 35MM SLRs for just this purpose.
- The scariest part of the intercept was that the guns on the Bear would track the F4 while they flew side by side.
- I also remember seeing another picutre where a Bear crewmember is holding up a Playboy centerfold visible through the plexiglass gun mount.
Len
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