APPLE PICKING

At Pease AFB in 1961 or '62 we occasionally went apple picking with our H-43s. (In the orchard where we started the fire). Our commander had expressly forbid any more of that sort of foolishness, so of course, once the urge for a nice sweet apple came on us while flying around the flagpole, we decided to sneak over there for a few. Since the best of the apples were in the upper branches of the trees, we would simply hover right in the tops and reach out for what we wanted. On landing after one of these excursions one fine day, our Det. Commander came storming out to confront the AC and the rest of us demanding to know why we had disobeyed his explicit instructions. We were at a loss to understand how he knew what we had done until we looked down in the right front bear paw and saw two bright red shiny apples. Shucks, foiled again!
(John Dorgan)