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The first video (yes my children, there are two, your viejo sargento de la Fuerza Aérea is feeling just a tad lazy this weekend, wondering if it's going to snow and how much), has a day trap* in fairly good conditions, then a trap with a bit of cloud and haze, then a night trap, oh boy.
There are two more clips of great interest. The fourth is when the Navy managed to land a C-130 Hercules aboard the USS Forrestal (CV-59), intentionally. Note the message painted on the C-130's nose in the clip, très amusant, oui? The fifth is when a Marine aviator had to come back and land when he had a nose gear malfunction in his Harrier. How he got aboard and his thoughts on that are interesting to say the least. Even Marines can know a bit of fear from time to time.
There are also a few clips from back in World War II of landings that didn't quite go the way you'd like.
The second video is rather long (18 minutes) but I recommend that you watch the whole thing. Lex's old command, VFA-94 the Mighty Shrikes, aka the Shit Hot World Famous Orange Tailed Shrikes, is in the second video as well. This clip is from the PBS series Carrier which aired a few years back. The air boss at the time was actually The WSO's wing commander when she was at Pensacola. I met him at her winging.
Anyhoo, enjoy. For me it's interesting watching the men and women who put it on the line for us doing their jobs. I always feel that we don't pay them nearly enough...
Depending on what the weather is like today, I may be making weather reports, kind of a "live blogging" thing. Don't think I've ever done that before, don't know if it will happen later today or not, we'll see.
* A trap is what the Navy calls an arrested landing on an aircraft carrier. C-130s don't trap, nor do Harriers.
Good videos Sarge for a cold morning, zero here now and minus 35 F up in I-Falls now..... have fun with the snow....... :)
ReplyDeleteStay warm Nylon12!
DeleteStay warm both of you. Winds blowing about 35k right now with a temp of 40. So...coolish. But the heater has been fixed in my workshop so progress on kitche drawers will proceed as shed-yuled.
ReplyDeletePlan to, have three dead tree versions of the Old NFO efforts to peruse which just came in yesterday. I see what you did there juvat, remember.... measure twice!
DeleteJuvat - So far it's mild and pleasant here in Little Rhody, 34° and very little wind. What we call "nice" in these parts.
DeleteNylon12 - Nothing like a good book to pass the time on a cold winter's day/
DeleteIt was interesting how much throttle movement you could see in the second approach. Those guys get kinda busy, huh?
ReplyDeleteI was never assigned to a shipboard squadron during my Navy career, serving in aircraft that were too big, and I liked it that way. Nice thing about patrol squadron deployments is you usually had liberty on the first day. I did go aboard the USS Enterprise out in Subic Bay as guests of some Chiefs we met up at the Chief's club. I made the JO at the brow promise not to untie any ropes whilst I was aboard. ;-)
Yes, it's amazing how that is. Tried my hand at carrier landings in the sim out at Lemoore a few years back. Hard to do, very hard.
DeleteNaval aviators make it look easy. It ain't.
There's a lot to the life, the friends, the shared experience and shared hazards. In recent wars the threat envelope for aviators has not been that serious. Enemy fire wasn't (and isn't) much of a problem for the fast movers. Rotors are a different matter but most of the casualties have been Army or Marine helicopters delivering Navy to the ground action. Still, I miss it. I also miss being that young. But I'm glad to have served when and where and in the capacity that I did.
ReplyDeleteMy son-in-law did two combat tours in the unfriendly skies over Afghanistan off USS Enterprise (CVN-65). The weather was the worst enemy, terrain was probably a very close second. But he won't talk about it, don't blame him.
DeleteYeah, I miss being young, the camaraderie, the occasional excitement (wasn't much in the way of that for a maintainer, but it happened), and wearing the uniform. I'm proud of what I did, loved the folks I served with.
Would I do it again? In a heartbeat.
That reminds me, Lush has gotta have at least a couple sea stories she can share with us!
ReplyDeleteYes, I know. More than one, but she's got her hands full with the brood these days.
DeleteStories most mothers can tell.
So let her tell one to you and you write it up for her!
ReplyDeleteNot a bad idea.
Delete