Follow Up

The front page of the metro section of the Columbus Dispatch today carried a story: Official's F-16 flight no joy ride, aide says

Lt. Gov. Bruce E. Johnson cruised Downtown yesterday in one hot ride, real fast and real loud.

Office workers and residents were surprised by the sudden appearance of an F-16D fighter jet roaring overhead about 2 p.m. In the rear seat, behind the pilot, was Johnson.

The Ohio Air National Guard jet made two quick passes overhead before flying off.

"We had 911 calls galore," a Columbus police dispatch supervisor said. "One lady called me absolutely panicked because they were flying so low."

At least it wasn't only me who was horrified. Unfortunately, despite the article's headline, I kind of doubt that it wasn't a joy ride. His excuse:

Training flights usually do not go over cities, National Guard Lt. Katherine Arvai said. But because Johnson was aboard, the pilot had flight controllers’ permission to make a couple of passes over the Statehouse...

Johnson wasn’t out for a joy ride, said his spokesman, Merle Madrid.

"It’s not just the thrill of riding shotgun in an F-16," Madrid said. "He was learning about the program."

The flight served as an orientation to give Johnson an idea of the plane’s flight characteristics, Arvai said.

And just why exactly does the Lt. Governor need to understand an F-16's characteristics?

The jet was with the 178 th Fighter Wing and flew out of the Springfield Air National Guard Base. Johnson has been instrumental in trying to bring a new mission to the Springfield base, she said. The base is slated to lose its F-16s in 2010 because of the base realignment and closure program.

"This helps him understand what he is helping us fight for," she said.

Ohhhhh, now I get it! Because even though he is already trying to make sure that they don't get their F-16s taken away, maybe he will fight a little harder if he would see just how COOL they are!!! And besides, its not like it cost the tax payers any extra:

The pilot already was scheduled to fly a training mission yesterday and Johnson had some free time in his schedule.