Love that stuff Lewis,
My old man used to work as a metalbasher in 27Sqn, fixing Caribous, or whatever else limped in. Highlight of those times were the F-15Cs that visited from Kadena AFB in '95.
The nosegear snapped on one during a landing, and it slid down the runway, sucking in a gob full of debris. In it came for an overhaul...
2 days later, a pair of shrink wrapped P&W F100's arrived, and work began. It was beautiful seeing that bird getting open heart surgery every day after school. We had a pile of tours, and had my grubby 15 yr old mitts all over the thing.
Sitting in the corner, 24/7, was a pudgy USAF security woman, complete with M-16, 4 grenades, a cardboard box full of mags, 34cm TV/VCR, and all the videos she could stay awake for. One cool chick...
Sadly, these days, no un-essential staff would be allowed within 50m, under the current political/security climate
On reflection, I wonder how they let me wander through the base unnattended so often.
As you saw with the F/A-18, the F-15 pilots let rip with shenannigans on their way out
