I had a flashback today as I read stories about that mondo-jumbo jet landing and then taking off from that tiny airport in Wichita, Kan.

The Boeing 747 Dreamlifter, specially outfitted to haul airplane parts around the world, landed at the wrong strip in Kansas. It was headed for McConnell Air Force Base, with its much longer runway.

http://www.10news.com/news/giant-747-dreamlifter-jet-stuck-after-landing-at-wrong-airport-in-kansas11212013

My flashback returned me to Marble Mountain in what used to be called South Vietnam. I arrived there in March 1969 and reported for duty as an aircraft mechanic with the 245th Aviation Company, which comprised OV-1 Mohawks, one of the Army’s premier surveillance airplanes. We shared the small strip, just south of Da Nang, with the 16th Marine Air Group — aka MAG 16. Our strip was short, as our Mohawks were essentially a short takeoff and landing bird, as were the OV-10 Bronco gunships the Marines flew across the way. We also had a couple of UH-1 Huey helicopter companies, as did the Marines.

I can’t remember the precise length of our strip. I think it was around 4,000 feet.

Well, I awoke one morning, walked out of my barracks — and noticed a TWA Boeing 707 jetliner vertical stabilizer towering over our complex.

The plane was supposed to land across town, at the big Air Force Base equipped to handle aircraft at that size. I cannot remember how in the world that big ol’ jet ended up at our strip. But there it was.

The bird sat there the entire day and took off the next morning. They dumped almost all the fuel from the plane, leaving just enough to keep it in the air for five or so minutes as it flew to “Da Nang Main.”

The Dreamlifter that landed mistakenly in Wichita this week likely had to do the same thing to get into the air.

Pilots who make mistakes like this do have a way of redeeming themselves. I recall thinking in the spring of ’69 that the guy who lifted the 707 off the ground in Da Nang and landed it over yonder may have saved his job.