April 27, 2001

Inside the Beltway

John McCaslin

Political tidbits and other shenanigans from around the nation's capital.

Heroic dogfight

The newspapers in Taipei, where life is lived under the shadow of Beijing's belligerence, often have a little fun tweaking the dragon. Consider this account of "the heroic dogfight," by Wun Wing Lo of the Taiwan Daily Gazette:

"In a heroic dogfight over international waters off the mainland China coast, a ´60s era American-built Lockheed Electra airliner with 24 U.S. passenger/observers aboard chewed up one of China's best state-of-the-art supersonic fighter aircraft. The Americans, utilizing the infrequently seen combat tactic of straight and level flight, often accomplished by relying solely on autopilot, engaged the unfortunate combat jet and knocked it out of the air using only one of the EP-3's four formidable rotating air mass propellers. After the action the crew and passenger/observers dropped in on China´s Hainan Island Resort for some much-deserved R&R as guests of the Chinese government."

-- Anonymous, April 27, 2001

Answers

Maybe Wings don't get along with Wangs?

-- Anonymous, April 27, 2001

-- Anonymous, April 28, 2001