What Great Things!

Look at that, my wordiness and wandering fingers have helped me create 50 posts, with this being 51. (I can hear the wind machines now, they've just turned on. It is midnight. Must be chilly out. Sorry, passing thought...) So, I have written 50 posts...hope you are not bored yet. I celebrate with this little poem I wrote tonight. It is about the F-100. The Super Saber. First production aircraft that could break the sound barrier in level flight. Unfortunately, that was in afterburner. Afterburner uses ALOT of fuel, which is dumped directly into the exhaust chamber. One gentleman told me, and I have little reason to doubt him, though I have never seen anything to back him up, that the F-100, with its J-57 engine in afterburner would use up its entire fuel capacity in 11 minutes. It makes sense, since it does take ALOT of fuel to create that extra thrust. So, with that in mind, I offer you this poem, written from a pilot's point of view.

Super Saber Sizzle

Darting upward in dizzying light,
A shaft of silver, an arrow in flight.
I shimmer through with dazzling flare,
And aim for clouds, unsettled air.
The J-57 gives a mighty roar,
Burner lights, and I begin to soar!
My frosted steed is steady between my legs
As I willingly scoff at the regs,
Turn my tail groundward and stall,
Dismiss all sensation as I begin to fall,
Drop the nose earthward and wait,
Check wings level and fuel state,
Pull on around and head back where I’ve flown.
If I run out of gas, I’ll be walking home.

By: Jim R. Huffman