If you don't fly a fighter jet ...

This is as close as you are likely to come. Click to full screen and select the HD version.



HT: Neptunus Lex

I was accepted into the naval flight training program my freshman year in college, but the Army stepped up and offered me an ROTC scholarship, so I became a soldier and not a naval aviator. Even so, I learned to fly while stationed at Fort Sill, Okla., in 1977. I was not yet married and was collecting TDY pay for the Artillery officer Basic Course. Flying was not expensive then - the Cessna 150 student pilots used rented "wet" (including fuel) for $14 per hour. Yes, you read right - fly an hour for $14, including gas. The instructor charged $7 on top of that, but after you soloed you didn't need the IP very much.

This was at the flying club there, of course. The only place you could learn to fly on the Army dime was at Fort Rucker, Ala.