Tornados

The coalition forces here occasionally station a of pair fixed wing fighters above the capitol city or nearby, in case somebody needs a bomb dropped on their heads. The fighters orbit their stations 1 or 2 thousand feet above the altitude at which we fly. They go round and round and we go round and round. We have seen F-16s and British Tornados.

Sometimes they go right over us; but there is a 1000' altitude seperation so they aren't close enough to see real well or to take a good photo. 1000' feet is over 300 yards and these airplanes aren't that big.

Except for the Tornados. The RAF pilots seem to get bored so they interpret the altitude seperation a little different. Their 1000' looks to be about 200' and they look pretty good when they go by that close. Apparently, one of their guys decided that if 200' was good, 100' overhead was better. That would look good, I also imagine it would look as if he was going to hit you (the Tornado got that close to another crew, not my crew.)

We don't see the Tornados come that close anymore. Somebody either told them to knock it off or they left the country.