Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!att!cbnews!military
From: ron@hpfcso.fc.hp.com (Ron Miller)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Quality of Saudi Soldier/Pilot?
Message-ID: <1990Sep24.001941.24564@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 24 Sep 90 00:19:41 GMT
References: <1990Sep13.012400.16916@cbnews.att.com>
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From: ron@hpfcso.fc.hp.com (Ron Miller)

> Dan Flak: 
> 
> Translated into flying terms, if Allah wills that you will
> have an accident, then you will have an accident no matter
> how safely you attempt to fly. If Allah wills to protect
> you, then no amount of daring will harm you. If things got
> really hairly some of them would release the controls and
> exclaim, "Allah has it (the aircraft)". I would have to get
> in an aircraft moving at 600 knots, 3 feet away from these
> guys!
> 

I heard from Instructors at a Navy base in Texas (Beeville?) that
training Iranians required a special tool. These guys were instructing
in TA-4s which uses a tandem seating arrangment. 

The special tool was a length of broomstick to make the student
in the front seat let go of the controls when he got anxious and
started talking to Allah in Persian while frozen on the controls!  
(Clue: jab  him on the helmeted head until he let go.)

One of the Iranian students also traded shoes with one of my ROTC
classmates while we were out flying. It was an unapproved, poor, trade.
The Iranian got a nice pair of Corfams...... my classmate got some
Iranian issue substitutes.

All in all, makes you wonder how our elected leaders thought they were
getting a good deal........


Ron