Aerial Recce

[Xtndr50boom]

I saw that one night behind the CVN on approach on a very dark moonless night on WestPac...you literally could follow the glowing line all the way to the boat...

Probably old news to most, but that trail saved the life of at least one Naval Aviator, and a famous one at that:

"Jim Lovell had already had his share of scares. One night in 1954, the novice Navy flier lost his way over the Pacific by following the wrong radio navigation beacon (correct frequency, but the same frequency was also used by another station, leading him away from his ship). He plugged in a self-made gizmo for extra illumination. It blew out his jet fighter's instrument lights. Pondering the impending calamity, he filled his rubberized flight suit with cold sweat. Then, by chance, he saw a pale streak ahead: Phosphorescence from his carrier's wake led him back."

 

[Praying4OCS]

.....ex-submariners that are soon to be in the aviation community.....

Add another to your list.....I guess you could say, I saw the (sun) light.

 

[webmaster]

Here are some of my photos from ontop time...

 

[HAL Pilot]

Lesson learned circa 1987.....never drop a SSQ-57 barrier in front of the surfaced Trident you stumbled upon off the Washington coast so the AW shop can have some new training tapes......

(I was the AW Divo at the time)

 

[webmaster]

Ouch.

 

[jt71582]

Schnugg, do you know what boat this was? Or anyone else? I can't see any numbers. Just wondering, my dad was a bubblehead back in the 'NAS Miramar' days.

 

[HeloBubba]

Here are some of my photos from ontop time...

Was that first pic taken around DG?

 

[HAL Pilot]

Ouch.

An understatement. Have you ever landed, been met by heavily armed guards and escorted along with your tapes, AWs, an extremely pissed off CO and an extremely pissed off Commodore to an extremely pissed off CPWP (admiral) who had already recieved a couple of blasts from C3F and higher? Let's just say it's an experience that you really want to skip.

But about a year later, the tapes did become available for AW training....at the ASWOC (TSC) only and only for the senior AWs with a TS clearance. The Bear Trap analyst enjoyed them too.

Never, never listen to an AWC (my SS1 and Div Chief) who says "Hey Tacco, wouldn't it be cool if...."

It's funny how it all a sudden "it's all good" again when a month later, you get the inital contact on a Soviet boomer "by going outside of your brief" after a base-wide 3 week all squadrons max effort had been futile up to that point.

 

[webmaster]

Was that first pic taken around DG?

Um, no... definitely not, never been there... cough...

 

[webmaster]

HAL, I worked for 2 years on the other side... "Hey, VPLNO, call your VP bubbas and tell them to go away"... or... "find out what plane that was..." sigh...

 

[HeloBubba]

Um, no... definitely not, never been there... cough...

So I guess I should ask what's so special about a picture of just some dumb rocks poking up out of the ocean? Seeing as how there is nothing else to see there, right?

 

[webmaster]

Nah, it was the footprint of freedom alright, and a certain infamous sub.

I have never been foolish enough to have a digital camera around and taking pics when I shouldn't be....