I will say, part of me being bald would probably have to do with those times landing with a pitching/rolling deck, at night in a t-storm, during the day in a viscous rain squall, etc. It was usually worse when the nugget was flying and say the top of the screws appeared out of the water. Fun stuff
BTW, saw all your boys out here last weekend. It was nice to see Steamer and Fatsley again. I wonder if his new wife will tolerate his "double fisting" nicotine ingestion techniques. No, the navy would never launch or recover any aircraft in bad weather. Never happens and never will
Yeah, I was bummed I didn't get to go play reindeer games and add to my copious 3 trap total. On the flip side, my liver can't handle hanging with the young guns anymore; or, in the case of our squadron, the grizzled old alcoholics.... (Yours can't be too healthy either...)I was thinking the same thing.
No, the navy would never launch or recover any aircraft in bad weather. Never happens and never will
. Could not see the planes on the bow from the waist cat. We were the all night SSC during a break in two weeks of three airwing 24 hour ops. While we were being taxied to the cat two other Hoovers and a Hummer were not getting aboard and running out of gas. The CAG and ship's skipper were down in air ops working the problem when they heard the cat hit the water brake on our launch. Boy, did they hit the over head. They did not intend to launch us on schedule given the weather and difficulty getting three others aboard. Guess they didn't communicate that very well. Off the cat our mission was canceled and we were ordered to anchor overhead and go max conserve. My pilot for that night was a hinge that had a reputation as being "too safe" (if there is such a thing). Very likeable but not universally respected by the JOs. I have to say he was not only a steady stick that never gave me concern, but a real leader through out the whole ordeal. He was senior and took command in every way of what ended up a gaggle of five planes on a divert of nearly two hours to ADAK. Good times!
Ya, whether we see it coming or not, it happens to us all. The whole senior aviator as leader and example to juniors is no different then parent and child. Who among us with children hasn't heard their own fathers words coming out of their mouths when dealing with their children. You youngsters out there look around. You will become those O-4s you are so suspicious of. So just pick one out now and learn your lessons from him.
