It sounds like a plot point from a movie titled American Pie: The Naval Academy Years, but it actually happened — the U.S. Navy had to apologize because one of their airplanes was used to create a giant contrail penis in the sky of Okanogan County, Washington.
In many coming-of-age movies, an authority figure has to apologize for the young protagonist’s inappropriate and tasteless actions, and the apology sounds so straight-laced that it becomes funny in context. The Navy’s official statement on the matter has pretty much the same effect:
“The Navy holds its aircrew to the highest standards and we find this absolutely unacceptable, of zero training value and we are holding the crew accountable.”
I have questions (of course I have questions!):
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Pilots are often encouraged to take a plane up and fly around as part of maintaining proficiency. Military planes, if they stay out of the way of civilian traffic, can fly with little more than a request to the base tower. There is no route or official plan necessary. In fact, this kind of "taking her up for a spin" is relatively common in Washington State. For example, Boeing often takes planes "up for a spin" as part their testing.
People assume that if it's at a military facility, it doesn't need to be locked up tight and tidy. It's at an army/navy/air force base. What could be safer? My girlfriend's mother and her sister lived on an army base and stole a tank back in the 1930s. Neither had a driver's license. They were seriously chewed out by their father, the general. My girlfriend's mother was always a bit car crazy. She drove ambulances during the war.