losing your wings.....

three solid traits....i agree...

o Flying ability/skill
o Aggressiveness
o Good judgement

On 23 Oct 2005 16:14:34 -0700, "~^ beancounter ~^"
wrote:

three solid traits....i agree...

o Flying ability/skill
o Aggressiveness
o Good judgement


I saw a similar fly-by a few years ago. A B-1, except that the pilot
set it up ahead of time. And it was awesome :-).

http://www.helenair.com/articles/200.../helena/1e.txt

"Mike Kanze" wrote in
:

beancounter,

i liked the loooong nose...

But with the nosewheel strut located aft of the pilot's cockpit, it
took a bit more than the average amount of faith to follow the
director's signals when hanging out beyond the deck edge...at
night...in the rain.

This rarely bothered RAN friends of mine, who were cooped up in that
aft cockpit with those tiny slits for windows.


Sounds scary...

Mike, what tolerance do they use when they're directing the plane? I
would have thought, say, 5 feet, here and there wouldn't matter (why
direct the nose over the edge and risk the nosewheel hitting the 'kerb'
or whatever it's called?), but your comment makes it sound like they do
it much tighter.

--
Nick

On Mon, 24 Oct 2005 21:19:35 +1000, NickC
wrote:

"Mike Kanze" wrote in
:

beancounter,

i liked the loooong nose...

But with the nosewheel strut located aft of the pilot's cockpit, it
took a bit more than the average amount of faith to follow the
director's signals when hanging out beyond the deck edge...at
night...in the rain.

This rarely bothered RAN friends of mine, who were cooped up in that
aft cockpit with those tiny slits for windows.


Sounds scary...

Mike, what tolerance do they use when they're directing the plane? I
would have thought, say, 5 feet, here and there wouldn't matter (why
direct the nose over the edge and risk the nosewheel hitting the 'kerb'
or whatever it's called?), but your comment makes it sound like they do
it much tighter.

I can't tell you the "tollerance" that a Yellow Shirt might use,
beyond the fact that it would be considered bad form to put a wheel in
the scupper drain (and even worse form to put one over the side :-) ).

Space on the flight deck is a very precious comodity and tollerances
are very tight. "Hanger rash" is not unknown, but not a good thing.

Being directed at night under the red lights is a spooky experience,
even in a Stoof. It a Viggie it would require a real "act of faith"
by the pilot! ;-)

Bill Kambic

"NickC" wrote in message
...
"Mike Kanze" wrote in
:

beancounter,

i liked the loooong nose...

But with the nosewheel strut located aft of the pilot's cockpit, it
took a bit more than the average amount of faith to follow the
director's signals when hanging out beyond the deck edge...at
night...in the rain.

This rarely bothered RAN friends of mine, who were cooped up in that
aft cockpit with those tiny slits for windows.


Sounds scary...

Mike, what tolerance do they use when they're directing the plane? I
would have thought, say, 5 feet, here and there wouldn't matter (why
direct the nose over the edge and risk the nosewheel hitting the 'kerb'
or whatever it's called?), but your comment makes it sound like they do
it much tighter.

Very tight. The F-8 had a similar configuration ... the nose wheel was
behind the cockpit (albeit not nearly as far as on the A-5). First aircraft
on recovery would be taxied outboard of cat one (maybe 6" from main mount to
scupper) and get a hard pivot at the bow to set up the tow for the next
cycle. The yellow shirts were aggressive in their use of the limited deck
space on a 27C ship. They'd try to get you cockpit over water prior to the
turn, but there was a point where the feet just couldn't get off the brakes
while he's calmly giving you a come forward signal with the wands on a
black-ass night (you're looking over your shoulder while he's doing this).
Eventually, he realized you weren't going to give him those last few inches
and he'd signal the turn with a rather disgusted motion.

BUT, it couldn't compare to a Vig doing the hard turn to spot on Cat 4.
That was a leap of faith.

R / John

mike...ah...yea....it musta have felt weird to "taxi out over the edge"
while, doing a tight turn to park...at least at night you wouldn't have
to stare down at , say the indian ocean..sliding by @ 30 kts ;-) ...
those planes "looked fast" just tied down on the flight deck....

i can, it depends on a number of things 1) the
pilot you are directing and their ability to react
2) the pitching and other environmentals of the
deck you are working on 3) the risk the yellow
shirt deemes is approprate 4) the need for "space"
on the current deck...


"I can't tell you the "tollerance" that
a Yellow Shirt might use"...

Nick,

Mike, what tolerance do they use when they're directing the plane?

Not sure I know what you are asking. Besides, I'm not a Viggie type - just
had a couple of buddies in my BJN class become RANs after our winging, so
all my Viggie knowledge is 2nd hand.

--
Mike Kanze

436 Greenbrier Road
Half Moon Bay, California 94019-2259
USA

650-726-7890

"A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big
enough to take from you everything you have."

- President Gerald R. Ford


"NickC" wrote in message
...
"Mike Kanze" wrote in
:

beancounter,

i liked the loooong nose...

But with the nosewheel strut located aft of the pilot's cockpit, it
took a bit more than the average amount of faith to follow the
director's signals when hanging out beyond the deck edge...at
night...in the rain.

This rarely bothered RAN friends of mine, who were cooped up in that
aft cockpit with those tiny slits for windows.


Sounds scary...

Mike, what tolerance do they use when they're directing the plane? I
would have thought, say, 5 feet, here and there wouldn't matter (why
direct the nose over the edge and risk the nosewheel hitting the 'kerb'
or whatever it's called?), but your comment makes it sound like they do
it much tighter.

--
Nick

Another thought for this thread re this pilot's actions:

"What would Gramps (Grampaw Pettibone) say?"

I suspect the august gentleman would not speak kindly of this guy's actions,
and would include any number of "Great horned toadies!" "Jumpin'
Jehoshepats!" and similar Gramps invective.

--
Mike Kanze

"A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big
enough to take from you everything you have."

- President Gerald R. Ford


"~^ beancounter ~^" wrote in message
ups.com...
years and years to earn...seconds to lose...

---------------------------------------
SAN LUIS OBISPO - At a quarter past noon on Jan. 21, a U.S. Navy F-18
Super Hornet jet fighter flown by a combat-tested pilot named Richard
Webb appeared over the Edna Valley and streaked toward San Luis Obispo
County Regional Airport.

On its first pass, the Super Hornet screamed along at more than 650
miles an hour, just 96 feet above the main runway. Soon it circled
back, touched down on the tarmac for an instant, then went into a steep
climb, afterburner roaring, and disappeared in the skies.

[rest snipped]

John Carrier wrote:

The yellow shirts were aggressive in their use of the limited deck
space on a 27C ship. They'd try to get you cockpit over water prior to the
turn, but there was a point where the feet just couldn't get off the brakes
while he's calmly giving you a come forward signal with the wands on a
black-ass night (you're looking over your shoulder while he's doing this).
Eventually, he realized you weren't going to give him those last few inches
and he'd signal the turn with a rather disgusted motion.

BUT, it couldn't compare to a Vig doing the hard turn to spot on Cat 4.
That was a leap of faith.

Hi, John. Believe it or not, it was the same with an S-3 - often the
yella shirt was standing off to the side, guiding the aircraft's nose
out over the side. LT Snyder and LT Lyman were two young guys in my
first squadron (Topcats) and I had an agreement with them that during
tight spotting, I'd be somewhere nearby to visually confirm that they
weren't at/near the skupper. Opposite was CDR Aunchman - that cool
headed race car driver would roll right up to it and make a smooth turn
away from the water that made us gasp more than once.

"Shiiiiit, did you see that??" .. and he'd have a wry smile looking
back at us.

Hope all is well on your end.
v/r
Gordon