Me, as an Air Force Staff Sergeant, on a USAF C-141 parked on the tarmac at Elmendorf AFB, AK. In 1986, we had flown out of Wright-Patterson AFB, OH, as part of

Me, as an Air Force Staff Sergeant, on a USAF C-141 parked on the tarmac at Elmendorf AFB, AK. In 1986, we had flown out of Wright-Patterson AFB, OH, as part of a "fly-off" antenna test on two C-141s, and the software was HP Basic on an HP 85e. We found a bug in either the RS-232 tape controller piece of the code, or the IEEE-488 frequency input selector code, so I had to patch in on the fly before the next two flights (Elemendorf to Thule AB, Greenland, then Greenland to RAF Lakenheath, England). Once patched, I copied the code and installed it on the similar C-141 parked next to us, and it worked fine for the rest of the trip. I was just a small cog in a big machine, but it was a big career confidence builder, and has stayed with me over the years. Our base office was the Rome Air Development Center Propagation Branch at Hanscom AFB, MA.