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Bad Flight
- Thread starter Huggy Bear
- Start date
I just had a heinous flight tonight too man. Missed a radio call and it almost ended in a midair. I am still pretty shook up about it, but the beer I just cracked is helping. I don't know what to tell you. I suppose given the whole hours difference I should be asking you how the hell you move on after heinous flights, but I guess what my instructor said in the debrief probably works for everyone. After lead got done with me, my instructor said, "Okay man, relax, forget about this for tonight, think about it tomorrow and NEVER do that again."
Isn't a "Dear John" letter the one where your wife breaks up with you?
I think the one you're thinking of goes something more like "The President of the United States regrets to inform you...."
Bevo can probably attest to this: Every team that is going for the National Championship needs to just squeek one out against an inferior team. It tells them that they are, indeed, mortal.
Maybe a bad flight every-so-often is a good thing?
As a Hawkeye NFO, if you have a bad flight it is broadcast out over the radios to a cast of thousands. God forbid it is at Fallon and it is being recorded and played back during the debrief (happened to me during my worst flight ever).
Public humiliation is a great motivator to do better next time.
Maybe a bad flight every-so-often is a good thing?
As a Hawkeye NFO, if you have a bad flight it is broadcast out over the radios to a cast of thousands. God forbid it is at Fallon and it is being recorded and played back during the debrief (happened to me during my worst flight ever).
Public humiliation is a great motivator to do better next time.
For FedEx? In a heart beat.....Don't want to get that chance of flying cargo planes full of rubber dog shit out of Hong Kong.
MasterBates
Well-Known Member
My most recent bad night/flight:
In the LA, folding wings and starting to taxi out to get gas-
me: FUCK that sucked!
IP: YEP.
I was trying to use laser line-up vice needles, and I did the drunken wander through centerline from about 5 miles out to the start. Then I decided that vs going low when the burble grabbed me again.. going clara high was better.. (safe, but yeah, that's a big correction, barely made it back down to the 4 wire)
I was just totally mongo on the power levers all night, could not settle the ball down to save my life. Keep it energized? Yeah.. Keep it high? Sure. But my right hand needed some ritalin that night.
And of course, I'm the only Cat-1/2 airborne at the time, so ALL my friends are in Ready 7 watching PLAT and laughing their ass off. Someone sketched me a "MB LENS" that has about 5-6 more cells on top...
In the LA, folding wings and starting to taxi out to get gas-
me: FUCK that sucked!
IP: YEP.
I was trying to use laser line-up vice needles, and I did the drunken wander through centerline from about 5 miles out to the start. Then I decided that vs going low when the burble grabbed me again.. going clara high was better.. (safe, but yeah, that's a big correction, barely made it back down to the 4 wire)
I was just totally mongo on the power levers all night, could not settle the ball down to save my life. Keep it energized? Yeah.. Keep it high? Sure. But my right hand needed some ritalin that night.
And of course, I'm the only Cat-1/2 airborne at the time, so ALL my friends are in Ready 7 watching PLAT and laughing their ass off. Someone sketched me a "MB LENS" that has about 5-6 more cells on top...
Don't want to get that chance of flying cargo planes full of rubber dog shit out of Hong Kong.
If there could have been any doubt that the writers didn't know anything about Naval Aviation, the fact that they thought that job would be a bad thing would clear it up.
+1 AMEN ... and amen.
A BAD day flyin' rubber dog shit out of HKG beats a good day sittin' on the ship wondering why everyone keeps shitting in the commode that won't flush -- anyway, anyday, Baby ...
Two representative 'flyin-rubber dog-pooooooo out of Hong Kong' pix, separated by @ 30 years:
images by A4sForever
Big large force strike at Fallon, my first time in the left seat for varsity ball. Completely hosed up everything, near-terminal case of diarrhea mouth on the radio, tried to commit the Prowler's HVAA CAP on a truck on Hwy 50...everything that i could have fucked up short of choking on my own vomit, I did.
And I was flying with the XO. "How'd you think that all went?" "Pretty goddamned ugly and awful, XO." "I'd say that's a fair assessment."
And since it was all on the TACTS range, I got to listen to it all again in an auditorium with 50 of my closest friends. Only thing that saved my ass was a blue-on-blue shot by one of the Hornets...CAG was more pissed about that than an AFU Hawkeye nugget.
And I was flying with the XO. "How'd you think that all went?" "Pretty goddamned ugly and awful, XO." "I'd say that's a fair assessment."
And since it was all on the TACTS range, I got to listen to it all again in an auditorium with 50 of my closest friends. Only thing that saved my ass was a blue-on-blue shot by one of the Hornets...CAG was more pissed about that than an AFU Hawkeye nugget.
Glad that someone else did it, too. You are not alone, Fester.
Hey, I take offense to that remark!
My worst flight ever: ECMO1 at Red Flag Nellis. As we're walking back to the Red Flag building the convo:
Me: Well that sucked.
Buddy: Yeah... that's an understatement.
Me: Yeah. Tell me about it.
Needless to say, he did, and it was perhaps the harshest debrief I have ever had. But it was also the best. I probably learned more from that one flight than any other.
Next flight with the same crew (IR-346) low level through south western WA & nothern OR) went much better.
You learn the most from the occasional shitty flight. If you can admit to your mistakes and say "how do I not do that again", you'll be good to go.
Me: Well that sucked.
Buddy: Yeah... that's an understatement.
Me: Yeah. Tell me about it.
Needless to say, he did, and it was perhaps the harshest debrief I have ever had. But it was also the best. I probably learned more from that one flight than any other.
Next flight with the same crew (IR-346) low level through south western WA & nothern OR) went much better.
You learn the most from the occasional shitty flight. If you can admit to your mistakes and say "how do I not do that again", you'll be good to go.
And if you're really, really on the ball, you learn from the other guy's shitty flights. Some of the dumbest thoughts I ever had were something like, "What an idiot that guy is..." without a follow-up of "I better never..."
This is kinda' where I was goin' ... as I've NEVER had a 'bad' flight.
I've had bad airplanes, bad WX, bad GCAs, bad crew members, bad MX, bad planning, bad hits, bad wingmen, bad LSOs, bad attitudes, bad CO's, bad STUDs, bad Instructors, bad fuel, bad headwork, bad Tex-mex food, bad hangovers, and bad days .... I'm sure there's more ... and lotsa' good luck.
But I've ALWAYS learned from 'em -- all of the 'bad' experiences as well as the 'good' ones -- all of 'em. The experience(s) all rolled together told me a lot about the world, other people, and myself.
Hey?!!? What 'BAD FLIGHT'???
I'm still here, am I not ... ???
The worst flight as an Aviator is better than the best day as a SWO...