'JeffEmig takes aride in an F·15 fig ter
h
FEATURE
--(Right) Jell Emig
By Jim Sa nde rs on
ta xis out for his
LANGLEY AFB, VA, SErf.3
few days after the Steel City National MX, the final round of the AtvlA
National MX Series. in Delmont,
Pen nsylvania, Tea m Kawasaki's Jeff Emig
took a flight he wo n't soon forget - a flight
in an Air Force F-15 Eagle figh ter jet, at
Langley Air Force Base, Virginia.
Emig got the cha nce to go up in the F-15
after meetin g Staff Sgt. Erin O'Connor at a
Na tio nal moto cross earlie r in the ye ar.
O'Connor, an Air Force Recrui ter and a
motocross rider himself, invited Ernig to
come out to Langley and promised him a
rid e in an F-15. And O'Connor lived up to
that promise. .
Briefing began a t 7 o'clock Wednesd ay
morn ing and, wit h pilnt Bob "Roach" Bledsoe at the co ntrols, Emig took off a few
hours later. The take off was a "full afterburner vertical max climb" . in other
words, fast and st raight u p . Th e p lane
headed out ove r the Atlantic, where Emig
tnnk cnn trol of the F-15 an d flew such
maneuvers as a roll-and -loop. Upon land ing, both pilot and passenger we re thumbs
up and all grin>.
"I don't know much about airplanes,
but 1 know from research tha t the F-15 is
fli ght in an F-15
Eagle fighter. St all
Sg1. Erin O'Connor
met Emlg at a
Nat iona l and
arra nged the flight.
1
the best at what it does - air-to-air combat,"
the th re e-ti me AMA National MX a nd
Supercross Cha mpion Emig said . "I have a
life-sized poster of the aircraft on the wall
of my garage that I've stared at dozens of
times; 1 never expected to have a chance to
get close to one, mu ch less fly in it."
(Below) On a couple of
occas ions. Em ig was
allo wed to take the
con tro ls of the F-15 and
perform m aneu~ers .
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