AIR FORCE VS NAVY
A Contest Within A Contest
By George Powell
During the mandatory pilot’s meeting on the eve of the 2002 Championships at Bullseye, the Air Force flag flew proudly on a staff near the podium. As the sun sank slowly in the west and the meeting drew to a close, an alert cadet noticed that the Air Force flag had mysteriously disappeared and that it had been replaced by a blue and gold flag bearing the insignia of the United States Navy. Thus began a contest within a contest between the Navy and Air Force, which lasted for the duration of the Championships.
Through an unidentified intermediary, the Air Force was informed that the missing flag was not, as they may have suspected, in the possession of the Navy, nor was it in neutral territory; but that it could be found “in Air Force territory.” That evening and the next morning a thorough search of the area was conducted. Cadets combed vehicles, aircraft and portopotties -- with negative results.
After all 32 aircraft were launched on Day One of the Championships, the cadets
received the following cryptic four word message from an anonymous source:
“Your flag is flying.” From this crucial piece of intelligence it was deduced
that the flag had to be hidden in one of the Air Force aircraft. This
hypothesis proved correct. The Air Force flag was found folded neatly in the
survival kit of #641 (The E model which appeared on the cover of the May/June
2002 issue of the 1-26 Newsletter.)
Meanwhile (predictably) the Navy flag mysteriously disappeared.
In the spirit of inter-service cooperation and fearing that the situation might deteriorate into something ugly, a truce was called. It was agreed that for the duration of the contest the burning question: “Which flag will fly?” would be determined by superior performance rather than by sneaky stealth. Two elite teams were formed. Ten 1-26s would represent each service:
