I got up early this morning to tag along with our family friend Carl for a day at his office. Carl’s company has the contract at Tyndall Air Force Base to recover the drones used by fighter planes for target practice. The drones, known as BQM-167s, are rocket-launched, turbofan-powered, unmanned aircraft about 20 feet long with an 11 foot wingspan. His crew clears the launch range and stands by to recover the drone, if needed.
After Carl picked me up at the hotel we picked up Jim, one of Carl’s workers. Together we drove to a diner near the base where we had breakfast. Then Carl gave me a tour of his office and the boats, both located a short distance from the end of the Tyndall runway.
Once the big boats left port we headed over to the other side of St. Andrews Sound, where we would board our Air Force patrol boat and shoo away any fishermen who strayed into the launch box. Carl fired up the twin Yamaha 200 HP outboards and steered the 25′ boat into the middle of the sound.
The base allows local fishermen to launch their boats from its property and we counted two boat trailers on the way into the base. It didn’t take long for us to locate the boaters that went with the trailers. Carl’s employee Donna climbed onto the bow and let the boaters know they would have to stay clear.
Once the boaters got the word to stay clear it became a waiting game until launch time. Carl sometimes fishes or shells during this time. We headed over to the sea-side of the sound and Carl and I spent a little time on the beach finding seashells. While Carl and I were on the beach Donna spotted another boater who appeared across the sound and went out to warn them of the impending launch.
When we were back on the boat we headed over to the edge of the launch box and dropped anchor. Then it became a waiting game. We listened to the radio traffic as the air force set up the drone launch.
I looked up to see something rapidly approaching us. “Check this out!” I shouted. “We’re going to get overflown!” Rising above the trees behind us, an Air Force F-4 Phantom II, ancient by fighter plane standards, was heading directly for us: it was the lead targeters of today’s mission. Within a few seconds the F-4 roared directly overhead at an altitude of a few hundred feet! I snapped photo after photo as the jet filled the camera’s frame. This was obviously going to be fun!
We watched a few of the radar planes take their positions in the sky, but not a whole lot happened directly after. We watched the boaters and chatted until we heard the radio announce 90 seconds until launch and heard the drone’s engine revving on the beach. Whoa, that’s not much warning! I scrambled to get the right lens on my camera and orient myself to the launch area.
Somehow there was a miscommunication as the drone didn’t launch until at least two minutes later. We heard the radio countdown and the drone’s engine revving from the launch pad. As the launch director called launch we saw the rocket ignite, sending the drone sledding up the rails and into the sky. As it gained altitude, the F-4 that flew over us pulled up right next to the drone, just like clockwork! Not even Carl had seen this kind of stunt before. We stood in awe as the drone and the F-4 headed out to sea.
The launch had happened 12 minutes ahead of schedule, leaving us to believe we would soon be cut loose. That was not to be, though, as the nature of the mission was a bit different. We floated around the sound for about 90 minutes before we got word to return to base. Those 200 HP outboards had us at the boathouse in no time.
I said goodbye to Carl as he dropped me off at the condo. The family and I then grabbed lunch together before Kelly took some time to herself to run down the beach. The kids and I rested a bit in the condo while we waited for her to return.
I heard from my mom that an injured bird was on the beach. Many people had stopped to see it but no one had yet tried to help it. I did a few Google searches to find a wildlife rehabilitator to help the bird and after calling no less than five numbers I found an animal hospital that would take it.
Kelly returned just about the time the tide was coming in. The bird was close to the waves and might not be reachable if we waited much longer. We grabbed two towels and the family went down to get the bird and take it in for help.
It turned out to be a loon, with a beak a bit sharper than I expected! It didn’t like me approaching it with the towel and tried to run but didn’t get too far. One towel wasn’t enough, though, as it struggled to escape as we returned. Fortunately, Kelly threw the other towel over its head, making it much calmer than it was.
The whole animal rescue family loaded into the minivan and we drove over to the animal hospital, where we turned the loon over to the staff. We then celebrated our successful rescue with ice cream at the local Brewster’s.
After getting cleaned up, we joined a big group of my relatives at a local seafood restaurant for dinner. After a good plate of grouper and some fun conversation, we returned back to our condo and crashed for the night. It was a full day indeed!
