August 5, 20187 yr For you U-2 guys that didn't know, Sooch did his first shot in the Virgin Galactic space ship last week. At 170,000', it was still a low altitude test and he doesn't get astronaut wings yet... but it's great to see him finally get into the saddle after 5 years of training. I guess this makes him the highest flyer within our community. Sooch was an '85 commission; came to the U-2 in late '89; U-2 Solo #544; then did the TPS thing and Palmdale U-2 Flight Test, before coming back as the 1 RS commander. Somewhere in the 90's, I recall him making it into a later round for Space Shuttle selection. The guy has mad pilot skills, and is brilliant. The AF in its infinite wisdom couldn't find a reason to promote him to O-6. Seems to me that it has worked out better for Sooch, and the AF lost another quality leader before they needed to. Congratulations to Sooch!! https://www.space.com/41295-virgin-galactic-reaches-mesosphere-epic-test.html Edited August 5, 20187 yr by HuggyU2
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