Chuck was my last copilot while I was on active duty. He's an exceptional stick, good heads-up, great skills and an all-around great guy (for an Academy grad). I got him on my crew when he was a 1LT, and we worked together on a special ops crew for my last year with the 305th.
Now, I know I mentioned Chuck was a great pilot.... and my best example was going out to Red Flag that year. We were in formation with another KC-135, flying the RT as number two. Formation spacing on the tanker is maintained by radar tracking and DME. We were in and out of the weather and deviating for thunderstorms, when out radar crapped out. This meant we had to maintain visual contact with our lead aircraft, and if separated we could not detect and avoid any of those thunderstorms. Since we had the RT (KC-135 modified to receive fuel as well as other spec. ops mods) it was as simple as maintaining physical contact with the Lead tanker's boom. Getting the contact is tricky enough, but we had to stay connected to the Lead for over 1 1/2 hours straight. Chuck and I would have to relieve each other about every 10 minutes. Swapping control while in contact was not my first option, but neither one of us could have held on for that long. If it weren't for my trust in him it's doubtful we would have been able to continue. He'll forever be a part of my fondest memories of my Active Duty years.
I know he's out there somewhere, probably still in uniform and still the same as he was as a First Lieutenant.
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