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I sent an email several days ago. Hope to get a response after the holidays.

Same here on the KH. Its especially bad around unrep time. There are days you cant drink the water on the boat due to the fuel taste. I have heard from some SWO's onboard that the same tanks are used for fuel and freshwater. ie they add freshwater to the fuel tanks when they get low in order...

Well the airframe might be the same, but it would be nice to have the IFR, a real moving map, upgraded engines, as well as terrain following radar. As for the tailwheel placement. Some people worry about doing low altitude flares/quick stops and smacking the tail into the ground with the Navy...

I dont know exactly what you are referring to with this comment. We dont only do CSAR, however one of the big issues is that the new helos dont have the legs to do a real CSAR or NSW/SOF role. Unless there is a lily pad or FARP very close, the new platforms cant go very far on a bag of gas...

You dont really leave a helo "deconfigured." It takes about 10 minutes to take a 60F/H that is flying plane guard, or even ASW and throw in the gun arm and m240 or GAU. The ASE gear takes a little longer just because you have to shut down to install flares and such. But you never leave a helo...

The Sierra has several issues one of which is the airframe cracks. (The cause of which changes depending on who you talk to.) As for 53 slots. I wouldnt get your hopes up. We just got a new pilot who came from the old HM squadron out of Corpus. He winged right before I did, and went HM. He...

Sadly that will probably never happen. When was the last time the Navy really went overland to do a CSAR mission? Long time. When was the last time we employed weapons overland? The air ambulance thing is pretty tame compared with what the army and air force helos do. I think we got...

What a pig of an aircraft. It wouldnt be too bad if they had maybe upgraded the engines like the army and other 60 users did. But then Im sure we would get into transmission issues. Sadly I think alot of that weight is in outdated systems that just got thrown in. ie pneumatic buoy launcher.

Yeah, for a master helo, the 60 is not the best decision. Sadly I think in the future we will be reaping the pain of being stuck with this platform for the next 20-30 years. Especially with all of the concessions that are being made on the models we are stuck with.

Yeah that is our helo hovering down low in the pic. We had 2 up taking pics. The other one was taking the "official picture." And yes the freakin B-52 couldnt seem to find the center carrier.

There is nothing wrong with that, and I know some people who do. I actually had a flight surgeon tell me that when it gets harder to pass the vision test, drink a ton of water and then use eye drops before going in for the test.

Some people tend to get the whammy for Anthro when they are perfectly within regs. The problem is that NAMI/NOMI screw up the measurements almost all the time. Most people never realize it because its not enough to completely screw you. But if they tell you that your measurements disqualify...

CAG is moving to Iwakuni. At least that is the big plan. I dont know why we arent moving. Probably because there isnt enough room in Iwakuni, and there is no reason for us to move. All of our training routes are up here, and there is nothing down there for us to use. The Japanese have far...

CVW-5 will probably still be here till 2010 or so. Even when the airwing moves HS-14 and HSL-51 are staying in Atsugi. The Japanese will just have more of the base to themselves and the fixed wing presence will almost be nonexistant.

Nice, though myself and some other people I know are still waiting on orders from 2 years ago.

I dont know about the other HS squadrons, but 14 has plenty of hours. We added a few more helos and other stuff. Im getting over 30 hours a month on the beach and about 40 or so on the boat. During exercises that jumps up a decent amount.

That was the word we all got when his orders came in.

From what I gathered they deal with IED disposal.

That was our old CAG. Kind of a bum deal he ended up with though.

Thanks again for the great magazine. I know our ready room will enjoy reading it.

We do print charts from PFPS, and I have tried ECHUM. Still not the most accurate, and I would have to say that the map support office out here isnt the greatest. I prefer a good wire check to some guy updating electronic charts anyway.

Good luck getting decent charts OCONUS. Google earth does the best job of any imagery I have seen, and thats not the best for picking out wires. Right now we just wire check routes constantly and chum up the few charts that we do have.

Amen to that. I have been saying the same thing numerous times on these forums and always get chewed out. Unfortunately its all a result of money and politics.

When I was in VT-27 my cross country was back to VMI. We brought the mids out to the bird and as we were leaving, there was even a TH-57 that had flown in to do something similar with one of the other units in the area.

Actually at some point the rest of the photos will be out and there should be one of our helos in those. Nothing like flying a TERF flight and doing LZ work up at Fuji in the snow. Good times. I just need to find those pictures I have.

Once you finish the HS RAG, you will be a PQM in both the F and H models. Though you probably wont see a H until your fleet squadron.

I have a Billet description sheet floating around on my work computer from when I was GSO. Let me know if you would like me to email it to you. As everyone has said so far, your job is to assist the SO. Ask him what he expects of you. Safety standdowns should be your job to organize and run...

My trick is to do them according to the Navy rules. When you go down, only the bottom part of your shoulder blades has to touch the deck. When you go up, your elbows only have to touch your thighs. If you remember this, you can do the entire situp in a kind of rolling motion, instead of a more...

Usually the most reliable mechanic is yourself. If you have a bit of mechanical skill then I would highly recommend taking your car to the auto hobby shop on base. They have people working there who are pretty knowledgeable and are perfectly happy to help you repair your car. I do all my car...

We still do buttonhooks in HS. Mainly in the TERF environment, but it also comes in handy for dip to dip.

You can still be "selected" for HS Japan in the RAG. That is probably why it doesnt just say HS San Diego. Its all about needs of the navy, and there are some other reasons we have for that.

The reason that the selection choices say HS west instead of a specific squadron is because when you go West, you can either stay in San Diego, or be sent to Japan. Sometimes that choice is up to you, and sometimes you get voluntold. Although I have heard they are letting people select HS-14...

You can ship a car to Japan. The Navy just tries to talk everyone out of it. There are a few extra fees and inspections before the Japanese will let you register it. Though there is really no reason to bring a car over here. My first car over here was free, my second only cost $700 and my...

Reminds me of a helo pilot I know of. He always claimed that if he had to shoot a single engine approach anywhere, he would bring it in low and fast. That way instead of needing a crapload of power at the bottom to arrest his descent, he could just bottom the collective and let the Nr build so...

Holding rank can help you. I held rank my 2nd class year, but didnt like dealing with the commandant's BS. I think the biggest thing that helped my (and I know it helped others), is to be known in the unit. I didnt volunteer for rank in the unit, but I was always helping out with things that...

I dont think the Japanese military will expand until we are forced out. (Which based on recent incidents could eventually happen.) It is interesting to note that America's approval rating is higher in Japan than in any of our other Allied Countries. Their equipment is top notch, actually quite...

Actually if you do well at VMI, your chances of picking up a pilot slot are very high. Definately participate in all of NROTC activities. (Like we have a choice there right?) Do some extracurricular stuff like the club sports. What is your major? That can play a large factor in how well you...

A friend of mine had issues in aviation and wanted to stay in. He was told that there is/will be no more genav. He tried to redes but at the time was told no joy. So he volunteered for IA's in order to not be kicked out. Now he wants to transfer to the army to do intel work and suddenly...

If you end up with a squadron on deployment, bring a book or two to read, check out the ship, and go see the other squadrons and politely ask about getting a ride. Generally helo squadrons do better at getting you flight time, as do the E-2 guys. Dont spend all your time sleeping and above all...

Only one more cruise in her you say?? Thats what we say too and unfortunately the big navy heads think otherwise. Shes out of SRA soon and we'll be stuck with her till sometime in late '08 maybe '09. At one time the Kitty might have been nice, but that time isnt now...

Ive flown in some crappy weather off of the carrier and seen people fly in worse. Off the coast of Australia we had numerous hard landings and at least 4 blown tires from hard traps and bolters. One guy hit the tanker 3 times with a blown tire. We did more combat FOD walkdowns than I could...

We use ours for deck calls in HS as well. And we are trying to send all our new AW's to get their PC qual. Luckily our AWC follows our thinking on that one. Nothing like a good AW1 or AWC in back when your trying to figure out if that slight noise return is a bottomed diesel sub or not. And...

I would say that your dependence on a good crew chief depends on what mission you are doing. We dont call them Crew Chief's, just seasoned AW's in the back. Trust me, they help alot when hunting subs, and are key in CSAR, DLQ's, etc. At least in the HS world, they have alot of knowledge on...

Actually Brimble was out of date when I went through. The most current info came from BryanWeatherup. Not that any of that info is that hard. Probably the most helpful part is the instrument stuff with form fillable flight plans and jet logs.

Its a hard argument on either side. These guys are over there supporting our troops and interests. They are being paid well for a reason. Maybe if Congress realized how valuable the military is, the pay might even out. But you cant blame a guy for doing the same job for more money...

My dad has been flying RC planes for years and recently I bought him a helo because he has been dying to fly it. They are definately harder to fly than the planes and break alot easier. I would recommend a walkera dragonfly or eflite. (The coaxial rotor ones are cheap and easy to fly, but...

Unless you go to Japan. Here we typically deploy for 2-3 months. Then we are back for anywhere from 1 to 5 months, then back out again. The good part is that we deploy so often that we dont ever do workups. We are always in a ready state. I actually prefer this deployment cycle to being on...

There are plenty of good options out there. My personal favorite is the switchblade designed for cutting harnesses. I think the one I have is Gerber. You have to provide proof that you are in the military essentially in a flying slot to buy one though...

Never found the guy who went in. Had to call off all the searching till sometime the next morning and spent the next 2 days looking. The XO was flying one of the birds that night and actually discussed doing a doppler approach and dialing in the pots. The unanimous vote from the boat was...

I'll throw in mine. Last cruise we had a man overboard right before sunset with weather moving in. So of course we ended up with 3 helos airborne looking for the guy. By the time the birds start hitting redlight, the weather had turned to 0'-0' and it was dark. You couldnt see any of the...