Robert E. Irion, Sandy, Utah: an interview by Benjamin Bahlmann, September 20, 2002: Saving the legacy tape no. 537, 538, and 539

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Robert . Irion pt mb r 20'h 2002 pa That didn't show on your indicator lights in your cockpit. It show d ifth y r down and locked and everything showed down "locked,' but with the fairing d or not in position properly they'd give you the red light and want you to go around try to rai e and lower it and finally get them down. So I made a lot of headaches for Russ Peasley by the fact that he had to work on the adjustments to that actuator mechanism time after time after time trying to get it right. Anyhow, he got his three hundred hours of- they got a bronze star if they got three hundred hours without an abort on a plane. I never aborted any - I flew seventy­four missions I never had an abort. But I sweated a couple of them, days when this thing was having trouble with the gear. One day after I had- one day I wasn't scheduled and one of the guys in my flight, Jim Woolery, a new pilot, was flying my airplane. And he came back in to the hut and I was still in bed and he comes in and he throws his goggles down and helmet and everything and stuff. Says, "I knew it was going to happen!" I said, "What's the matter, Jim? What's going on?" He said, "I got an abort on your airplane! I had to bring it back because I couldn't get the fairing doors to close! Never could get the gear clear up." He said, "I had to bring it back and Russ is going to loose his perfect record!" I said, "Hey, don't worry about Russ. He's got over three hundred hours in; he's already got his bronze star. He's on a new cycle now." I said, "Hey, he isn't going to holler too bad at you." I said, "It was going to happen someday, just as well you as me." 63