tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post195435089409765551..comments2024-03-29T02:32:07.583-07:00Comments on Chant du Départ: Bailout, Bailout, BailoutOldAFSargehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comBlogger68125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-19056841069258814912018-08-22T13:16:17.183-07:002018-08-22T13:16:17.183-07:00D4,
I'd been in the Eagle for about a year whe...D4,<br />I'd been in the Eagle for about a year when the jet got upgraded to a ring laser Gyro INS. According to the specs, if the INS show you within 5' of your starting point on shutdown, you were supposed to write it up. Navigation skills went through the roof. Map reading skills quickly became non-existent. I had just become a Flt Commander. One of my techniques was not to have the coordinates for turnpoints on the briefing card, but would have a map with times and headings on them for distribution to the flight. I'd take off get to the start point and hand the lead off to #3. Since we'd do this in either the ROK or PI, it would tend to be pretty entertaining. Eventually, both my assigned element leads got the message. Then I started on the wingmen...<br /><br />Pretty soon, I had a fairly competent flight with navigation being a skill.juvathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09096708575138552532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-70482401389970097562018-08-22T13:08:06.550-07:002018-08-22T13:08:06.550-07:00Victor, absolutely right. The thought which goes ...Victor, absolutely right. The thought which goes through my mind (but fortunately stops before exiting the lips)is "You didn't have them last year. WTF changed?"juvathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09096708575138552532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-46573071462221940062018-08-22T13:06:17.194-07:002018-08-22T13:06:17.194-07:00Which is ok, as long as the aircraft is somewhat i...Which is ok, as long as the aircraft is somewhat in controlled flight. Not so much otherwise.juvathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09096708575138552532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-11499460317070951532018-08-22T07:41:21.811-07:002018-08-22T07:41:21.811-07:00Sounds like today's pilot's lament - "...Sounds like today's pilot's lament - "I can't fly without the AFCS!"<br />Dave's Daily Day Dreamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17491764990082380190noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-1278364266812057862018-08-22T02:09:23.857-07:002018-08-22T02:09:23.857-07:00"Where are MY laptops? I can't teach wit..."Where are MY laptops? I can't teach without them."<br /><br />I'm a graduate of education in college and taught for several years. That statement above from the third paragraph of Juvat's post just makes me sad. You can't teach without computers???!!!! Looks like a sad state to be in ... over-dependence on technology. A computer should just be one of the tools in a teacher's arsenal. Not the end all be all. It's just like saying that if you're a doctor, you can't cure someone without the aid of all the high-tech gadgetry now common in hospitals and health care centers.<br /><br />- VictorAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-54311258874333989662018-08-21T19:10:21.180-07:002018-08-21T19:10:21.180-07:00Good one, we just had to open the door and jump......Good one, we just had to open the door and jump... sigh...Old NFOhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16404197287935017147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-4987429978153157152018-08-21T05:57:08.253-07:002018-08-21T05:57:08.253-07:00Shack, 4, pressing!
(Translation: "Direct hi...Shack, 4, pressing!<br /><br />(Translation: "Direct hit on the Target; 4th airplane in the flight; you dropped the bomb at or below minimum altitude"juvathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09096708575138552532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-85245173847406704882018-08-21T05:51:29.087-07:002018-08-21T05:51:29.087-07:00Nope, no tension whatsoever!Nope, no tension whatsoever!juvathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09096708575138552532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-22056901491443573202018-08-21T05:51:04.922-07:002018-08-21T05:51:04.922-07:00As a budding woodworker, I can see why someone wou...As a budding woodworker, I can see why someone would go to great effort to obtain the crate. <br /><br />I'm not sure I'm all that comfortable with det cord exploding not very far from my cranium though. A rocket strapped to my but though.....juvathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09096708575138552532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-10584989562088462702018-08-21T05:48:46.790-07:002018-08-21T05:48:46.790-07:00Yeah, flying, regardless of the machine, had an in...Yeah, flying, regardless of the machine, had an infinite number of possible ways to kill you. Hence, my preference to be lucky rather than good.juvathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09096708575138552532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-15513615007700931512018-08-21T05:47:19.197-07:002018-08-21T05:47:19.197-07:00Commas have always been my nemesis. Mea Culpa! Me...Commas have always been my nemesis. Mea Culpa! Mea Culpa! Mea Maxima Culpa!juvathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09096708575138552532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-3178980798866963302018-08-21T05:43:44.209-07:002018-08-21T05:43:44.209-07:00I'll confess, I've never watched that movi...I'll confess, I've never watched that movie. Didn't know a C-123 had ejection seats (said completely tongue-in-cheek).juvathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09096708575138552532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-55201833406557763282018-08-21T05:39:55.399-07:002018-08-21T05:39:55.399-07:00Ah yes, the early F-104. I had a long talk once w...Ah yes, the early F-104. I had a long talk once with a guy that had flown them. He said the accepted technique was to roll the aircraft inverted, if at all possible, then eject. Given that it was a single engine jet and losing an engine right after liftoff, that might be a bit "sporty". juvathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09096708575138552532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-57415052561168521202018-08-21T05:37:22.834-07:002018-08-21T05:37:22.834-07:00They go well with the 300 round magazines that mos...They go well with the 300 round magazines that most Hollywood submachine guns are equipped with.OldAFSargehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-2393092854256920652018-08-20T22:02:43.518-07:002018-08-20T22:02:43.518-07:00Now that's a story. Purposely trolling for mi...Now that's a story. Purposely trolling for mines? Yeah, that will make for a nice, quiet day without any tension at all.Beanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15293778848879361153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-19464563109087270042018-08-20T22:00:23.109-07:002018-08-20T22:00:23.109-07:00Did they ever find out what did?Did they ever find out what did?Beanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15293778848879361153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-55587285639720452502018-08-20T21:34:17.824-07:002018-08-20T21:34:17.824-07:00Didn't use it on takeoff, but they cut the wir...Didn't use it on takeoff, but they cut the wires for it thinking that the automatic flight control roll system was to blame. Tunahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04930237104692982421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-20134117279978078592018-08-20T21:13:10.478-07:002018-08-20T21:13:10.478-07:00Early days in '88 I found the crew clustered o...Early days in '88 I found the crew clustered on the fantail enjoying the 100 degree bright sunshine without a bit of shade as we made our 3 knot way up and down the lanes were hunting ever so slowly and carefully. It was a good 70 or 80 men gathered there in the bright sunshine for all the hours of the day except when a handful took the watch in the engine rooms or the machine guns or the bridge and pilot house where they traded the imminent safety of being blown clean off the ship, should it hit a mine, with the chance of being blown clean into the mattress festooned overhead of CIC or the pilot house. We pretty much disdained mattresses in the overhead of the either of the main machinery spaces and after I got there we also forewent wearing the silly Vietnam era flak jackets on watch down there. The bridge, or conning station was on top. You can see it on my header at my place. It was hermaculite or vermaculite or something pseudo-canvassy and the watchstanders up there had the expectation that when push came to detonation forward of the beam they'd be blown clear through it and leave hardly any flesh behind, unless they were unlucky enough to be standing under one or two of the 2X4s that made up the frame of the sun and rain shelter. <br /><br />We didn't really have a planned ejection seat sort of thing. Those back aft would probably not get more than 30 or 50 feet in the air and would be OK unless the splinters of explosively decomposing warship got in the way. Those inside the ship were pretty much screwed but inside was better by far than the endless blazing sun on the fantail. Those of us who lurked in CIC looked at the mattresses in the overhead and wondered if we couldn't have some Serta comfort mattresses instead of those shabby federal prison rejected mattresses from hell.HMS Defianthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10024721130102173694noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-85757724462850122372018-08-20T18:58:17.305-07:002018-08-20T18:58:17.305-07:00Ever seen the boxes they come in? Late 1970s had ...Ever seen the boxes they come in? Late 1970s had occasion to take delivery of a factory refurbished Martin Baker GRU-7 (for an EA-6B) for a trainer shiny and new and entirely innocent of rockets, det cord, CADs (cartridge activated devices, not computer aided design) and other violent things. An friend was very into his woodworking and really wanted a the box they came in. In exchange for some other needed assistance in rigging the seat he got the box and arrived at the loading dock to collect it. Imagine a refrigerator sized (big double door with build in icemaker) box of mahogany, teak and the best English craftmanship. 5 strong man and a boy (and a forklift) loaded it into his pickup trunk for a slow and delicate trip home that exercised the shocks, springs,tires and everything. The front wheels were still on the ground mostly so it must be okay. Unloading without the forklift or the strong men took his whole supply of cold beer and every able bodied man in the neighborhood. <br /><br /><br />I exaggerate a little, but not that much, and the wood went into several bookcases and a couple very nice coffee tables. Navy TACAIR aircraft of that era included F-14s with Martin Baker seats using det cord in the canopy frame that shattered the canopy upon ejection, the A-7E using the ESCAPAC-1 with canopy breakers that flipped up from the top of the seat to cut through the transparency (you were warned to never try to jettison the canopy before ejecting even if you had time because if it didn't separate completely the seat would shoot you into the canopy bow, S-3s with ESCAPACs and loads of canopy material to get rid of, A-6s and EA-6s with det cord and thundering big Martin Baker GRU-7s. The odd EA-3 Electric Whale on det from somewhere had no problems with ejection seats because it didn't have any. Iron Cityhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01582579281154856635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-75817312616288336482018-08-20T18:42:52.915-07:002018-08-20T18:42:52.915-07:00Sarge, what did you think about those 20 second de...Sarge, what did you think about those 20 second delay fuses on those grenades? : )Mike aka Proofhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08931553845065187278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-8561212801700815882018-08-20T17:54:01.119-07:002018-08-20T17:54:01.119-07:00Why would you use autopilot on a takeoff? That do...Why would you use autopilot on a takeoff? That doesn't make much sense to me. I can see using an auto landing system, within certain parameters, but still... Are the auto systems that good or supposed to be that good?Beanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15293778848879361153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-67196122029164437612018-08-20T17:49:11.254-07:002018-08-20T17:49:11.254-07:00Mmmmm. The smell of freshly mixed gunpowder. The...Mmmmm. The smell of freshly mixed gunpowder. The even better smell of freshly set-off gunpowder... And kids (and/or their parents) these days are scared of a little boo-boo.Beanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15293778848879361153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-86738783218023267182018-08-20T17:47:01.646-07:002018-08-20T17:47:01.646-07:00And now I suddenly realized one of the many varied...And now I suddenly realized one of the many varied reasons you put me up to posting here. You were the FNG for the longest time... :)Beanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15293778848879361153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-21680437468373084602018-08-20T17:04:28.641-07:002018-08-20T17:04:28.641-07:00Yippee ki yay...Yippee ki yay...OldAFSargehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-66616381536629355882018-08-20T15:12:26.391-07:002018-08-20T15:12:26.391-07:00Fortunate to have zero zero seats in the War Hoove...Fortunate to have zero zero seats in the War Hoover, and I was even more fortunate to never need them. We had a fit of uncommanded rolls off the catapult in the 80s though, and zero zero didn't help when the plane was at 90+ degrees left aileron roll 2 seconds after launch. 4 guys dead in a quick instant was the result. A couple others fared better- 2 of 4 survived. No more autopilot was the fix, which sucked, but never had an issue again.Tunahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04930237104692982421noreply@blogger.com