Air Force investigators say an F-16 pilot misidentified a sport utility vehicle when he blasted it with a 20 mm cannon in April.
The Air Force says the pilot momentarily lost visual contact with a target while using night-vision goggles at the Utah Test and Training Range.
Moments later, he misidentified the parked SUV and hit it with rounds from the plane's cannon. It was about 1.5 miles away from the target.
Two soldiers inside the vehicle received minor injuries as they scrambled to get out. The 388th Fighter Wing at Utah's Hill Air Force Base has taken administrative actions against the pilot, including a change in his qualifications. He's also been required to get more training.
The pilot's name was not released Wednesday.

John writes:

Jim:

I responded to the guy who sent this saying:
What they don't say is what this vehicle was doing out there on the range.
This happens on the Barry Goldwater range here, where the druggies are using those dirt roads like interstates. Well, if you stand downrange and make yourself look like a target, you may get shot.
Years ago we had this happen at the Avon Park gunnery range south of Disney World. A state employee drove his pickup across the range, right past the big targets, without stopping at the Hq to inquire if the range was hot or cold. He wanted to check the levels at the Kissimmee Canal. His gauging station was located right behind one of the big targets. I mean a HUGE bullseye.
The range was hot.
He took two 20mm slugs (ball, thankfully) thru the back of his cab, right behind his head. He drove back to the Hq and surrendered his vehicle sticker. Then went off somewhere to have the truck's seats cleaned.
I'll bet that Avis SUV didn't have a sticker. Hey, dummy.

Editor: Last fall, I wrote: "Phillips Sweet, of San Jose, CA, feels like Howard Carter. Carter, you'll remember, was the archeologist who shined a light through a hole in a desert wall and said he saw "wonderful things." In Carter's story, it was King Tut's tomb. For Phillips Sweet, the hole in the wall was a hangar door. Behind it..wow!"

That story appears in the following page of News Pix, which you can "click over" and review when you reach the end of this column. Right now, though, Phillips brings us up to date on his new/old Stinson as the project begins in earnest:

Phillips Sweet's Stinson SR-9.

Phillips Sweet: May 5th, 2008: Last week, I went to Tucson and pulled the Wright and dropped the prop off at Golden State Propellers in San Luis Obispo, CA for a rebuild and dropped the Wright off at Holloway Engineering in Quincy, CA for the tear down and rebuild.

I'll know more about the rebuild once Holloway has had a chance to open up the engine. I put a few gallons of fuel in the tanks with no leaks and clean fuel draining out so I'm hopeful we're good on the fuel system. I pulled the fuel filter and fuel selector valve for rebuild at my shop, and brought home the aluminum oil tank for some polishing.


I plan to clean up and paint the firewall before I put the engine back in the plane. Schedule right now is to have the engine ready by mid-July with the plane flying to California in early September. This plane has been at Ryan Field since 1952 so I have mixed feelings about flying it to California where I live, but with all things in life, change is inevitable.

Other nice shots:

When Phillips first towed her out of the hangar which was her nest for many years.

Noble nose.

If you want to know everything about your airplane's surface, give her a bath.

Posing for a picture.

Later, tucked in with a "little buddy" to wait for the next step.

--Phillips

Editor: Carry on, Phillips and keep us informed. Good luck.

To see the beginning of this story and others, click here. . .