SSAAD
01-21-2007, 02:36 PM
Interesting tidbits about F-16 induction in the PAF.
Memoirs of Bud Yinger - Program Manager - F-16 Operation in Pakistan
I retired in 1980 after completing 31 years of service to the Company. However, my career did not end there. During the A-7 Program years, Bill Plumlee, Director of Manufacturing for General Dynamics, visited LTV’s airport operations to determine how the Vought programs were running. The F-16 was just getting into production, so Bill and I met for an exchange of technical information. Later, after I had retired, Bill called me to see if I would be interested in working for General Dynamics Services Company handling overseas assignments for F-16’s. I went to Pakistan, eventually serving as Program Manager for the F-16 operation in Pakistan for two years. We taught the Pakistanis to support and maintain the F-16. We also built a computerized depot and a precision measuring lab for calibration of equipment. This effort was funded by the U.S. Air Force.
I was fortunate enough to be able to take my wife, Grace, with me to Pakistan. This was fortunate for our whole team because she is a Registered Nurse and took care of our team on many occasions. Most medicines were available “downtown” and the Chemists would sell her anything. We lived on a Pakistani military base. The PAF had built six new bungalows for our married team members, and four 4-plex houses for our single engineers and technicians. We were able to purchase food from the Embassy in Islamabad and have it trucked to Sargodha. It was very expensive, and we tried to live off the local economy as much as possible. We had a talented group of people. Our talents and imaginations were put to the test to find entertainment and to keep our sanity. We built a state-of-the-art tennis court and many hours were spent there. It was an especially exciting day when we were able to get two television stations cabled into our homes. We had a room full of tapes and hired a Pakistani man to keep it running twelve hours a day, seven days a week. All of our tapes were from the Dallas/Ft. Worth stations and air expedited to us. Sporting events such as the Super Bowl, World Series, etc. came about two weeks after the actual event, but were very enjoyable, even if we happened to know the outcome. Grace and I both consider those two years as some of the best of our lives. We made many friends with whom we are still in contact.
The F-16’s were flown from Ft. Worth to Iceland to Ramstein, Germany, then to Saudi Arabia by USAF pilots. PAF pilots and our techs and plane captains were flown to Dhahran in Lockheed C-130’s. The PAF pilots would fly the F-16’s to Sargodha and our crew would return via C-130. PAF pilots trained on the two-place F-16’s “D” models, and then soloed in the F-16 “C” models. There are many stories that could be told here, but one that stands out involves the loss of an F-16 (but not the pilot) and took place on a night training mission. The pilot made his normal approach for landing, touched down, and was rolling out when he felt the plane make contact with something on the runway. It turned out to be a 300-pound wild boar. The boar and the F-16 were totaled, but the pilot didn’t get a scratch. The PAF tried many experiments to keep boar off the runway, one of which was to play American rock music. I guess they thought that should keep anything away. Nothing of this nature worked. What did work was to install a single wire electric fence around the perimeter of the runway. There was never another incident. Many of the young F-16 pilots of those days are now Air Vice Marshals.
After two years, I was assigned to the Navy F-16, which had the Top Gun operations at Miramar and Key West. I was in charge of the Key West operation. There were twelve aircraft on the East Coast and twelve on the West Coast. Eventually, the planes were stored at Davis Monthan, due to lack of funding and spare parts. I retired from General Dynamics in 1989 (this time for good).
http://www.vought.com/heritage/special/html/sycareer.html
Memoirs of Bud Yinger - Program Manager - F-16 Operation in Pakistan
I retired in 1980 after completing 31 years of service to the Company. However, my career did not end there. During the A-7 Program years, Bill Plumlee, Director of Manufacturing for General Dynamics, visited LTV’s airport operations to determine how the Vought programs were running. The F-16 was just getting into production, so Bill and I met for an exchange of technical information. Later, after I had retired, Bill called me to see if I would be interested in working for General Dynamics Services Company handling overseas assignments for F-16’s. I went to Pakistan, eventually serving as Program Manager for the F-16 operation in Pakistan for two years. We taught the Pakistanis to support and maintain the F-16. We also built a computerized depot and a precision measuring lab for calibration of equipment. This effort was funded by the U.S. Air Force.
I was fortunate enough to be able to take my wife, Grace, with me to Pakistan. This was fortunate for our whole team because she is a Registered Nurse and took care of our team on many occasions. Most medicines were available “downtown” and the Chemists would sell her anything. We lived on a Pakistani military base. The PAF had built six new bungalows for our married team members, and four 4-plex houses for our single engineers and technicians. We were able to purchase food from the Embassy in Islamabad and have it trucked to Sargodha. It was very expensive, and we tried to live off the local economy as much as possible. We had a talented group of people. Our talents and imaginations were put to the test to find entertainment and to keep our sanity. We built a state-of-the-art tennis court and many hours were spent there. It was an especially exciting day when we were able to get two television stations cabled into our homes. We had a room full of tapes and hired a Pakistani man to keep it running twelve hours a day, seven days a week. All of our tapes were from the Dallas/Ft. Worth stations and air expedited to us. Sporting events such as the Super Bowl, World Series, etc. came about two weeks after the actual event, but were very enjoyable, even if we happened to know the outcome. Grace and I both consider those two years as some of the best of our lives. We made many friends with whom we are still in contact.
The F-16’s were flown from Ft. Worth to Iceland to Ramstein, Germany, then to Saudi Arabia by USAF pilots. PAF pilots and our techs and plane captains were flown to Dhahran in Lockheed C-130’s. The PAF pilots would fly the F-16’s to Sargodha and our crew would return via C-130. PAF pilots trained on the two-place F-16’s “D” models, and then soloed in the F-16 “C” models. There are many stories that could be told here, but one that stands out involves the loss of an F-16 (but not the pilot) and took place on a night training mission. The pilot made his normal approach for landing, touched down, and was rolling out when he felt the plane make contact with something on the runway. It turned out to be a 300-pound wild boar. The boar and the F-16 were totaled, but the pilot didn’t get a scratch. The PAF tried many experiments to keep boar off the runway, one of which was to play American rock music. I guess they thought that should keep anything away. Nothing of this nature worked. What did work was to install a single wire electric fence around the perimeter of the runway. There was never another incident. Many of the young F-16 pilots of those days are now Air Vice Marshals.
After two years, I was assigned to the Navy F-16, which had the Top Gun operations at Miramar and Key West. I was in charge of the Key West operation. There were twelve aircraft on the East Coast and twelve on the West Coast. Eventually, the planes were stored at Davis Monthan, due to lack of funding and spare parts. I retired from General Dynamics in 1989 (this time for good).
http://www.vought.com/heritage/special/html/sycareer.html