Pete rides with a Viper pilot
- Pete Howell
I was down in Iowa over the Thanksgiving 2017 holiday and did a lot of flying in the beautiful weather. Wednesday, I flew down to
Des Moines and flew with Jackson, an amazing young man with cancer (see this link.......) Once I
finished with Jackson, I went on a flight with a young man in AFROTC at Iowa State, Justin, who is a friend of my younger daughter, Kate. Justin just got his PPL and handled the RV like a pro -
which is not surprising considering who his dad is.
Justin's dad is Ken, call sign "Malibu", a retired USAF Lt Col. Malibu was my roommate at Iowa State a long time ago,
but we just called him Ken back then. Ken has well over 3000 hours in the F-16, many of them over in the Middle East, and he now drives A320s for United. He was over in Cedar Rapids
buying a car on Wednesday, but that evening, when we took our wives out for a drink to catch up, we negotiated permission to fly on Thanksgiving day!
We met on Thursday at 11 and flew to southern Iowa to get some gas, you know, so we had a reason to fly for a longer time.
Ken's only real exposure to GA has been 172s and Cherokees - I told him he might like the RV. After we climbed in, he commented on the nice bubble canopy - not quite a Viper, but
nice. He liked getting off the ground quickly and climbing fast - I may have got an "Oh Boy" on take off. I gave him the plane and he did some basic maneuvers and liked how it
handled. Then like a true Viper pilot, he asked where the G meter was and how much he could pull. I told him to keep it under 2.5....... That may have been a mistake, b/c he
does not get his G fix in that A320. We went up, down, left, right, sideways.....I told him no aerobatics, but he had a lot of fun and I was glad when we were back straight and
level! He was smooth as anything flying, and I could tell he loved it. He told me he has some neck issues - common for Viper pilots b/c of the Gs they pull(ed), so lots of G is not
his friend anymore. He flew the RV down to a perfect short final at KCNC and while I was pumping gas, he gave the plane the once over and asked lots of questions.
On the way home, we called Des Moines approach and asked for, and were granted, a city tour. "Just stay out of the 23 final
without calling me" I showed him how fast you can go on 6 GPH of car gas and how slow you can go on 4 GPH. He found his house and we circled until his son came out to the driveway
to look up at two old idiots flying. We finally headed back to Ankeny where I made a landing that at least did not embarrass me.
It was great to catch up with Ken hear some stories from his time in the AF. He sent a note last night and told me he and
Justin are looking for an RV to buy. I told him I know a guy that can help. He also recommended the book "Viper Pilot" by Dan Hampton. Ken flew many missions with "2Dogs", the author, and said he was a great pilot. I really enjoyed the book. Many
libraries have the e-book.
If you are wondering about Ken's call sign, it is about as obvious as they come. He is tall, blonde hair, with piercing blue
eyes. A human "Malibu Ken" doll.... It was a great Holiday, and N789PH turned over 1900hrs, too!
Ken is in the Viper on the right.......
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