Huntsman zips and flips in F-16
He breaks sound barrier — and doesn't lose lunch
In a high-speed guided tour aboard one of the 419th Fighter Wing's F-16s, Huntsman also endured aerial twists and turns — at one point reaching nine G's, or nine times the force of gravity — and buzzed his workplace before returning to Hill Air Force Base.
Going supersonic seemed to suit the governor. "He is the first governor to fly in an F-16 and not lose his lunch," said spokeswoman Tammy Kikuchi.
Maj. Paul Delmonte, an F-16 pilot from the Hill's 419th Fighter Wing, said Huntsman was in for a rough ride. Delmonte said about 70 percent of the guests who take a guest ride on the F-16 get pretty queasy.
"You almost make yourself so nervous," Delmonte said. "There's a little bit of disorientation because the airplane moves so aggressively, sometimes it's difficult to determine where you are in space."
Huntsman looked like he was enjoying himself, giving a thumbs-up before jetting off to the pilots of an Air National Guard refueling tanker that his plane met in midair.
"It's pretty impressive to look out the bottom of a KC-135 and see your boss," said Mike Mower, Huntsman's legislative liaison, who was a passenger along with other governor staff members and news reporters on the large KC-135.
"Thanks very much, thanks for your support," Huntsman said to the crew.
The Utah Air National Guard operates 10 KC-135s out of its Salt Lake base.
The group hosts a variety of missions, from homeland security to combat abroad. A group of airmen recently returned from a 30-day deployment to Turkey where the KC-135 refueled aircraft supporting both Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.
Salazar said crews will work as many as 25 hours straight on some missions.
"We drink a lot of water," Salazar said when asked how he can stay awake for so many hours straight.
E-mail: ldethman@desnews.com
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