Actually, you never saw "double-anchor wings" until 1968…NFOs (I think also called Naval Aviation Observers (NAO) until 1968) wore the old-style "flying toilet seat" wings before that (think Naval Aircrew Wings without the letters "AC").
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Remembering API - Back In The Day...
- Thread starter BusyBee604
- Start date
Of course, today this would be considered A. Hazing and B. Alcohol abuse.
Skipper, the Commodore is on the phone.....
The Dilbert Dunker is no more. It was there when I went through, and I actually thought it had the potential to be great training, but I think the POs running the dunker took things a little too literally. I went through it 3 times (eventually just being told to "move along") because I "bumped my head on the (imaginary) wing." Riiiight. Like I wouldn't have figured that out in reality. It's now not really necessary since the majority (and soon, all) of SNAs/SNFOs now ride in ejection seat aircraft through training.
Seriously, though, for the time, I thought it was a great trainer...even after multiple rides.
Seriously, though, for the time, I thought it was a great trainer...even after multiple rides.
Well, to be honest, except maybe for the very few non-rocket seat equipped acft still flying off the boat (T-28s, A-3s, A-1s, etc.), it was as much of a "gut check and right of passage" as anything else. Cool, tho...
Never played with the Dilbert, but I think the helo dunker accomplishes the same right of passage very effectively.
According ro Croakerfish, our RW Bros still have a Helo Dunker, as they still occasionally have to ditch. I guess the SH-3A had some sort of emergency floatation setup. Our (RANGER) Sea King "Fetch 53", shown ditched and afloat after engine problem(s), and back onboard after recovery - circa late '60s.
BzB
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Today's "Helo Dunker" certainly qualifies…having to "qualify" in it three times, I can tell you I hated it much more than I ever hated the "Dilbert" thing.
Truth be told, however, I don't see why fixed-wing types have to experience it…until every Chaplain and Doctor/Corpsman in the battle group has been through it. They do the helo thing much more than I ever did…
As someone who went through Bootcamp. Aircrew, OCS, and API:
API is a joke, Bootcamp was a boring joke, Aircrew was at least physically demanding (and time consuming), and OCS was pretty difficult for the first 5-7 weeks.
I'd say OCS was by far the most demanding and if I had to repeat the first three weeks of OCS or go back to SERE, I'd be practicing the peoples posish...
Pickle
API is a joke, Bootcamp was a boring joke, Aircrew was at least physically demanding (and time consuming), and OCS was pretty difficult for the first 5-7 weeks.
I'd say OCS was by far the most demanding and if I had to repeat the first three weeks of OCS or go back to SERE, I'd be practicing the peoples posish...
Pickle
I was 2 years behind BzB (NavCad class 38-58) and we still had solo bars. I've still got mine. There was no one saltier than a NavCad 1st class in VA (prop) pipeline - double solo bar, two dips in your pisscutter and leather jacket. My preflight class was mostly prior enlisted. The class ahead of ours was the last one to get the one week orientation at Saufley so we were combined when we finished hell week, but the class was still more than half priors. I had classmates who were 26, at least two who were 18, at least four who got divorced to come in the program, etc. To get through the swim program one had to pass the Red Cross class A tests although tests through triple A were given to better one's grade. You had to take each test when given, whether you had passed any of the prior tests or not.
Today's "Helo Dunker" certainly qualifies…having to "qualify" in it three times, I can tell you I hated it much more than I ever hated the "Dilbert" thing.
Truth be told, however, I don't see why fixed-wing types have to experience it…until every Chaplain and Doctor/Corpsman in the battle group has been through it. They do the helo thing much more than I ever did…
So you're not totally effed when your helo ditches due to an emergency on the way back to the boat after pulling your happy ass out of the water. If memory serves, that's happened within the last decade or so. All students pull the handle in the ejection seat trainer these days. It seems that the theory is that your seat is 0/0 and is very reliable so you're going to punch regardless and won't get stuck riding it in while strapped into a plane... Unless you're a COD or E2 jockey, then the helo dunker is more applicable.
I knew a guy in A-7's who had a hook-point separation failure on a night trap and rode it into the water. He said he didn't eject initially because he wasn't sure of the aircraft attitude ( it was, as he said, a dark-ass night) and was afraid he would be out of the envelope. After entering the water, he couldn't get the canopy open due to the water pressure, so he pulled the lower ejection handle. Flight deck crewmen had thrown their flashlights over the side to mark the position and that helped orient him to which way was up. He swam towards the lights and was rescued. The underwater ejection had caused compression fractures in his back and after spending the night in sick bay, he was loaded onto a helo the next day for a long trip to the beach. At the last minute, it was decided there was a more serious injury to another shipmate, and due to fuel and weight considerations, they took him back off the helo and loaded the other man aboard. As the helo lifted off, it had some sort of catastrophic failure and crashed into the sea, killing all on board. They guy I knew eventually made a complete recovery, ended up being the CO of VA-105, and was T-boned in a car crash by a drunk driver, shortening his CO tour and ending his flying career due to head injuries.
I think you may be right. Then again, I too would much rather ride the Dilbert Dunker than do the helo stuff. But the helo dunker is actually pretty damn good training (that I've not had to use). They've also since "fixed" the SWEAT chair, which usually is what got my heart rate up. Now it's much better training while also not being as big a deal.