Eye of the Viper by Peter Aleshire

Author:Peter Aleshire
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781599217222
Publisher: Lyons Press

11

BUSTER TAKES CHARGE

LIEUTENANT COLONEL Gerald Lanagan—“Buster”—enters the squadron with a show of quiet confidence, knowing he’ll have to earn his place now that he’s arrived to replace Festus.

That won’t be easy. Festus ran the squadron for several years and had it down cold. He managed that perfect blend of distance and familiarity—both stern and friendly. He was a gifted flier who had handpicked his flight commanders—with whom he played golf regularly. He knew the base and how to get things done.

Buster, who has never run a training squadron, takes over halfway through the B-course. He has reviewed the files—the long, detailed evaluations of every single mission. The students are nearly through BFM, the second major phase of the program. Soon they’ll start all-out dogfighting, the most dangerous phase of the program.

Rex has four busts—with all the hard stuff still ahead. In his most recent bust, he bungled simulated emergency procedures for an engine flameout. Another time, while flying into a merge and trying to get to an offensive position, he overreacted as soon as the IP jinked, ending up out of position and vulnerable. He has always managed to pull himself together and pass the ride when he re-did it, but he can’t get off CAP.

Pong has two busts—one for repeatedly going through the simulated floor, demonstrating a worrisome lack of awareness in the air. He missed the right altitude by a good 300 feet, enough to spur a midair collision. He kept speeding up and slowing down by as much as 50 knots, which screwed up his formation flying and his merges. He kept missing his turns, ending up wide of the flight lead and forced to speed up and slow down to slide, sloppily, into position.

Gimmie has two busts—one for screwing up her radar settings, one for poor maneuvering and going through the floor in a disastrous flight with Rage. She wasn’t aggressive enough in her turns, pulling 7 g’s when she should have whipped into 9 g’s. She had trouble working the targeting system in the HUD, trouble picking the right missiles for air-to-air. On a couple of nose-to-nose merges, she seemed indecisive—so the IPs had to jink to avoid a head-on. She flew formations too erratically.

Pap, who all the IPs initially figured would blow through the course and get the Top Gun prize, has suddenly faltered. He busted one ride for a variety of problems—including screwing up his air-to-air radar settings and flying through the floor. On several nose-to-nose merges, he failed to offset—going right at the IP and forcing him to roll to avoid a collision. He mismanaged the targeting in the HUD.

Beaker has busted one ride, for flying through the floor while maneuvering. He would set up the run at his enemy properly, but then overreact or point his nose too low in the merge, throwing himself out of position.

Even Jack has developed problems, although everyone figured that with all that family fighter history he’d breeze through. He’s a puzzle. Most of the time, he flies perfectly.

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