Mach II in the Zipper over Greece  -  Mort Mumma

I was assigned as the Air Offense advisor to the then-Royal Hellenic Air Force in '64-'66.
My office was in downtown Athens on Syntagma Square, but my real place of business
was at Tanagra Air Base, north of Athens.

I'd flown into Greece on Memorial Day weekend of '64, having just learned from  Roscoe Smith, my
counterpart with MAAG-Italy, that two of our four RHAF pilot graduates from the MAP course at
George AFB had died in a TF-104 crash at Tanagra (engine failure in the pattern), just a couple of
days earlier.

Monday AM was reporting time, meeting my new boss, Col. Ed Ambrosen.  We immediately went over
to the Hellenic Air Staff, where I was introduced, queried as to my background and experience, then
asked to serve as IP for an RHAF F-104 program that had just two remaining graduates of our George AFB
course, each with under 50 hours in the bird, and one TF model.

Col. Ambrosen agreed, so, of course, I did.

To shorten the story, 335 TFS, the first RHAF squadron, at Tanagra, went up on alert status six months late.
336 TFS, Araxos AB, went up on schedule.  (Lots of stories buried there!)
Anyway, as their sole IP for many months, I was also their only test pilot.  Aircraft arrived by ship. pickled.
They were towed from Pireaus to the Athenai airport in the wee hours of the morning, de-pickled, readied
for flight test by RHAF and civilians at the Royal Hellenic Aircraft facility at Athenai.

I'd be notified of a bird ready for acceptance test.

Clean bird, clearance filed, aircraft inspected, forms examined, crank it up....taxi to east end of runway, cleared on and off...100%, AB.
fast liftoff, AB climb out over the Saronic Gulf toward Patras, headed for FL 500, with a level-off enroute about FL300 (depending on
temperature, run it out to Mach 2, then bend it on up to FL500.....filling out the flight test card all the way.
At FL500 or slightly above, pull it back to military, wander on down over the Ionian Sea, completing flight test items.
If all was OK, call Athenai, change destination to Tanagra, terminate there.

If two birds were ready on the same day, I'd park in front of Base Ops at Tanagra, fill out the forms, debrief the waiting
maintenance supervisor on the flight line, hop into the back seat of a T-6 waiting for me, with an RHAF pilot in the
front seat.  Off we'd go, thumpety-thump at about 6 to 7000' back down to Athenai, where I'd hop out, go to Ops,
file for another test hop and go again!

What a hoot....Mach 2 and FL500 to 6/7000' and 135 MPH (those T-6s were OLD!)

          Mort