Everyone knows that one wipes out a career full of attaboys. What is your
favorite non-fatal "aw ****" story? I thought we could also make a thread
and
tell about the best flying each of us encountered.


I was in VA-95. Fly off during work ups mid 80's from the Enterprise we had
been up for 36 hours or so not counting the cat naps. Since the fly off happens
early in the morning we needed to pack up our gear for the off load since we
would be on the fly off. Then since it is a the work ups and the ships needs to
get the Norex qual done we go down to CVIC and get our foil packs and this time
we don't have to carry "Simulated" weapons but they do hang a single MK 76 on
some of the planes so we have to fly the profile and stop by NFL on our way to
NUW.
I'm dash 2 of a section. I think I was in a KA-6d regardless I didn't have a
"weapon" so I flew with my lead over to Fallon and they make their "Really
Ready" I just lag behind and since it is only a MK 76 they stay at altitude
and do a 40 degree high dive. I'm about 200 yards in trail for the dive just
kind of a sloppy loose form keeping lead in sight and figure I will make an
easy rejoin on the way out. So here we are in a dive I'm watching lead and
thinking that I may not even see the MK 76 fall off the plane since it is small
and I am looking only at the tail aspect. When all of a sudden I see this big
flash and then a drop tank comes off the leads plane it tumbles off the plane
end over end. I pull off real quick since this is something I didn't expect and
who knows what else may come off the leads plane. They pull off and I don't
know if my excited calls or they felt the Drop tank hit the plane but by the
time I rendevous on the right side the BN is sitting there shaking his head. It
was a switcholigy SNFU all the crews fault they selected the drop tank.... No
wait a second it wasn't a drop tank it was a Blivot! It had everybodys dop kit
as well as other incidentals. He dropped the Blivot!!!! Man will this cost big
time at the bar!!!
We had a trusted agent working at strike U ( Orders to the Squadron) so he went
out to the range and spent a day or two looking for our dirty skivies. He
finally located the Blivot it was 6oclock and 6000'. One of the guys who loaded
his stuff in the Blivot had a can of powdered supliment r=that the weight
lifters take it was located in the back of the Blivot so that when it hit it
was forced through everyone elses gear rendering everything unusable. At the
B/N hfairwell we presented him with the pounds of stuff he had destroyed by his
error.
I guess his carreer survived. I saw him 6 months ago as a 3 star BG commander
on a TV interview. I guess the CO forgot to mention this little lesson learned
on his detachment Fit Rep. Trade school ya know.
Sparky
Sorry for the typos