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Ya hear a couple of things... and the memories come flooding back. One piece poopy suits... yep... been there, done that. We got one the first week... and one the second week... hence the name "poopy" 'cause that's what they smelled like in mid-summer in P-Cola. I think they marched themselves...

There were the balance beams and the 20 or 30 foot tower to negotiate, too. The bad thing about the first couple of times you went through the course to practice it was that you were already dead from the run from the battalions up the sea wall to the course. We'd do "Geronimo's" all the way...

The first summer I was there (70) the 12-foot wall was "slick" on the back side. You climbed the rope and dropped the 12-feet minus your height on the other side into the "soft" sand. Someone ... or more than one someones.. had screwed up their legs/knees/ankles/feet...etc.. sometime in the...

If the class number they said is correct, it's from 1974 (22-74 is the class number shouted out during one of the marching scenes). Had to be later than 70/71 because the candidates in the movie who were in Indoc Battalion (Poopieville) had helmets... we didn't in either the summer of 70 (as an...

Best: A bunch of stuff. Daughter gets into rowing in high school and 1.5 years later she’s a national junior champ in the quad sculls and then on the Junior National team rowing in Lithuania in the Junior World’s Championships. Then there was 2 years of partial and 2 years of a full ride...

.... continuation of threadjack... Tell the folks who were screwed by the Tailhook witch-hunt in 1990 and for a few years thereafter that things will stay in Vegas...

I went through my first AVROC summer (think PLC, but for Navy) in 1970 and one of the guys in the class was an absolute pain in the arse -- a lazy know-it-all universally despised by all. In 1974 I was a fleet RIO and, along with my pilot, were heloed off the ship into North Island to go to...

In November 1973 there was a mid-air just west of Miramar involving a Cessna 310 and a Piper PA-28. The Piper, with one person on board, fell out of the sky immediately with fatal results to the pilot. The 310 was on a training flight with an instructor and two students. The aircraft was...

From the San Diego Union online edition: Photo coverage of the Camp Pendleton memorial

Sopwith Camel pictured making first launch from wooden flying platform erected on the deck of USS Mississippi (BB-33) during maneuvers at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The maneuvers at Guantanamo Bay on 6 June 1919 marked the first permanent provision for aviation in the fleet organization of the U.S...

You're not going to find a more "back in the day" photo than this one.... Personnel of the Fleet Air Detachment, Atlantic Fleet, pictured in front of five aircraft at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, during winter maneuvers in 1919. The event marked the first permanent provision for aviation in the...

You want "old school" flight schedules? Check out what was used at Corpus Christi in WW II. Student pilots listen to a last minute lecture before they go up on a practice hop at NATC Corpus Christi, 20 May 1943. The schedule board list who flys with who, students ups and downs and status...

Flight schedules for the squadron were printed on a mimeograph machine with spirit fluid (just the smell of that stuff makes memories come flooding back... that is... if they still make the stuff). You had to type REAL HARD on the manual typewriter to cut through the stencil... and correcting...

Star Valley, just off US 89 between Afton and Thayne...

Ahhhh..... Better check your history... How about the fixed wing carriers operated by Canada (3 -- 1946 until 1970), France (fixed-wing carriers from 1927 to the present), Argentina (2 -- 1959 to 1999), Brazil (2 -- 1960 to present) and Australia (3 -- 1948 to 1982)? Wiki Clicky

I, too, got my commission via the AVROC program in 1971. There were actually two programs, the two six-week stints at P-Cola while in college and then commissioning upon graduation from college, and the one eight-week summer at P-Cola and then, after graduation from college, joining a class of...

This is amazing. Just the start, I'm sure, but can you imagine wearing your HUD as a contact lens. You too can become a Terminator... http://news.cnet.com/8301-27083_3-10358849-247.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

The give-away bags this year from Lockheed Martin are more like computer briefcases than the (1) sports bags from the last couple of years or (2) the canvas zipper bags from the previous years. Very nice. See you folks here....

There actually was a program in the '70 where an SNA went through the pipeline and at the same time picked up a masters degree in a technical field (I believe that it was aerospace engineering... at least that was one choice) It didn't last long. A couple of guys I knew went through it and...

You have to be registered to get a Bug Roach ticket/drink tickets (and wristband), but it's only $20 for active-duty registering... plus you get the sweet Lock-Mart sports bag and the goodies within. Or... see above posts about going in with someone.

Oh.... one more thing. You can legally register yourself and have another JO go in with you as your "guest" Therefore scoring a two-for-one... one registration fee... two people. You'll have to pay for the ticketed events (Bug Roach mixer, Awards Lunch, Banquet...), but at least you'll...

AW get-together at Gabe's deli on the lower level of the Nugget Hotel (take the stairs or escalator down from the lobby), Thursday afternoon (Sept 10) at 1700. Go through the line and sit in the Sports Book area just outside of the deli. I understand that not everyone will be there on Thursday...

The Lock-Mart bag that things are stuffed in are nice. The last couple of years they are more like a gym bag. There's usually a chit to get your Newport News T-Shirt (except now, I guess it's Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding). For a few years it was a black T-shirt with something like: "90,000...

You can register once you get there, but to save time, register ahead of time. Your choice... either wait in line and then fill out the paperwork, pay and wait on them to print your nametag or... Just walk over to the "already registered" booth and pick up your Lockheed Martin goodie...

Thursday night: a no-host cocktail party (buy your own drinks...) Friday night: The "Bug" Roach Mixer. You buy a ticket that gets you a few drinks. This is the "must attend" event of Tailhook. Flight suits/Shit-Hots are encouraged and O-1s through O-10s are rubbing shoulders and swapping lies...

Fixed it... I guess they had enough after the F-4 and A-7 buys.

Not one but two of the high-level bad guys taken out... one by the U.S. and one in a power struggle to take his place. Clicky

Actually, since it was originally a Northrop design (YF-17), McDonnell Douglas was supposed to make the sea-based version (since they had expertise in that arena), and Northrop had the F-18L (for land-based FMS version). The guy I flew with for 18 months in the Regular Navy got out and went to...

Maybe Friday before the Bug Roach Mixer would be better? I'm open to moving things around. Or maybe a table at the Mixer for people to cycle by before they become too blitzed... The floor is open for dialog...

More reasons to go to Tailhook. The people who are there. You'll get a chance to meet folks that you otherwise would not have a prayer to be around. A partial list of some of the folks I've rubbed shoulders with at a Tailhook reunion: Alan Shepard (first American in space), Admiral George...

This year will be my 27th Tailhook. Started in '77... missed 84-88 (daughter born in 84... work conflicts the other 4 years) ... made all since. Be there... 'nuff said. Oh... and make your hotel reservations like... yesterday. Go to http://www.Tailhook.org for more info or...

Clicky Ok... it's the U.S. Air Force Academy... but the message is universal for those in basic training... be the "gray man" ... don't stand out. The fellow in the middle of the sea of blue made the mistake of shooting off him mouth, and paid the price. You don't boast that you're going...

"Slime" lights didn't come in until the F-4S mods to the F-4Js starting in around 1980-ish. None of the F-4s (be they F-4B or F-4J) had formation lights out of the factory and none were installed until NARF North Island began modding F-4Js to the F-4S standard. Black noses meant nothing. Some...

A friend sent me an e-mail he received from an airline pilot friend concerning the recent Continental Airlines tragedy (yeah, I know... the dreaded FWD:FWD:FWD:.... etc.... e-mail :) ) ********** Years ago a Braniff (I think) B747 captain died en route from Honolulu to Dallas. The copilot...

Very true. The CAG Ops Officer could only fly with one specific RO... the designated (by the skipper) "CAG OPs O Control Officer" As a senior JG, he was probably the best RO in the squadron. After he left active duty he became an airline pilot (he was a graduate of Purdue University's...

Not so much an "I almost died" story... but more of "someone's out to kill me" type of thing... or maybe just throw stuff at me to see if I was awake. We were between cruises and in the middle of turnaround. We were at Miramar. The boat was at Alameda. I was the "ready room officer" which...

Thread Revival time.... News release from NAS Fallon this week. Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center dedicates Ault Auditorium Story and Photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist Christopher Shimana, Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center Public Affairs. FALLON, Nev. ( June 12, 2009) -...

Here's the caption from the photo: 040626-N-8704K-004 Valletta, Malta (June 26, 2004) - The conventionally powered aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy (CV 67) pulls into the port of Valletta, Malta, for a scheduled port visit. Kennedy is one of seven aircraft carriers participating in...

Here's a link to a story of two former Army helo pilots (and West Point grads) who made the Army-Navy football game flyover in 2006 flying Navy Hornets. Clicky

As it has been... forever. Here's a cartoon from the USS Kitty Hawk (CVA-63) 1972 cruise. Nick Chriss and Jerry Watson, two fighter guys (VF-213) teamed up to spear the air wing and ship on a daily basis on the back of the Air Plan. From the Spring 1984 issue of The Hook magazine... used...

There were two squadrons, VSF-1 and VSF-3, that were formed to provide fighter cover for CVS (anti-submarine) carriers. In addition, there were several cruises of these CVS boats that fighter cover was provided by USMC squadrons, or dets from H&MS organizations. Only one actual deployment...

And another Hornet in 1941/early 42 colors

From Rich Dann, (used by permission...) a concept for a Hornet painted up like an F3F from the late '30s

From the Tailhook Association Archives VAQ-131 delivery van at NAS Alameda. The squadron was flying the EKA-3B EW/tanker aircraft before they moved to Whidbey a few years later and transitioned to the EA-6B. Notice the A-3 refueling probe mounted above the driver's door. Photo taken 13...

No, wasn't Goose. This was the 13 January 1975 section touch-and-go fiasco by VF-21. Planes touched wings on the said maneuver... dash-1 (the squadron CO) was literally turned 90 degrees and skidded down the east/west runway pointing north for a short while. He horsed it into the air, stalled it...

Both the F-4 and F-14 had a command eject select handle. In the F-4, after installation of the Mk 7 Martin Baker seat in the late 1960s (which added zero-zero capability and a rocket assist motor), there was a valve with a T-handle in the back seat. At first it was mounted high on the RIO's...

From the Tailhook archives, some Crossing the Line stuff from the 1920s and '30s. The Royal Court of King Neptune check out the polywogs on USS Langley (CV-1), 20 May 1936. Polywogs in the pool in front of the Royal court Polywogs run the gauntlet after the pool.. Warren K...

Heard somewhere around the Interwebs: "Maybe is should be called SCARE Force One..."

More uniform follies from days gone by: Caption: The long and the short of two Navy female "Yeomanettes" that did outstanding work during World War I for Naval Aviation. USN via Coronado Historical Association So.... do you think straw hats and chin straps are worthy of a comeback?

Pretty much "ops-normal" flight ops. The closest to an over-rotation was the VF-21 Phantom at the end of the clip. On a really colorful shot you could see the entire top of the aircraft and then it would usually fall off on a wing and flutter off into the distance.