First Night Flight!

[MasterBates]

Having something upwards of 250 night approaches 300+ night landings on a small boy, I can fly a SGSI (tri-color VASI) like a mofo. Would like to do it at night Fixed Wing just to do it.

I put in for VFA and VRC, its now in the boards hands. If no deal, the I go back to the HTs. Either way, its cool with me.

 

[bunk22]

Having something upwards of 250 night approaches 300+ night landings on a small boy, I can fly a SGSI (tri-color VASI) like a mofo. Would like to do it at night Fixed Wing just to do it.

I put in for VFA and VRC, its now in the boards hands. If no deal, the I go back to the HTs. Either way, its cool with me.

An old skipper of mine was a former H-3 pilot who flew nights at the boat in both the E-2 and C-2. He always said landing a helo in bad weather at night on a small boy was harder than landing on the carrier at night in a fixed wing. So there you go.

 

[GMan1976]

the hardest part is trying to fully describe it to friends and family... they'll just never know...

 

[gregsivers]

I felt like such a stud on my first BI to be wearing the mask. Who cares that I had no clue what a "GCA" or "penetration" maneuver really were.

I fvcking hated the mask. I couldn't stand wearing the damn thing.

 

[TheBubba]

meh... wearing an 02 mask ain't that bad... of course I'm "growing up" wearing the face leech.

But on topic, I like flying (read backseat driving) at night. Radios are quieter, its more relaxing, and its just more fun overall. Definitely an experience everyone needs to have. You can't beat watching the sunset above 20,000 ft while flying. Not talking about riding in a passenger a/c either... talking about having almost a 360* view of some of the most beautiful sky I've ever seen.

That and night flying makes you realize how small you are compared to the rest of the 'verse.

Ok, I'm done getting all sentimental and stuff. Remind me never to do it again.

 

[gregsivers]

Night is also my favorite time to fly. I'll second the comment about radios being quieter making it more relaxing. One of my night contacts in primary was during a full moon; taking off from Corpus Intl and flying out over the city to the working area and up to Rockport was fascinating. Its a much different way of looking down. One detractor is that depth perception goes down a bit from day. On the river run in Jax one night I had to haul a$$ to squeeze in between 2 P-3s doing touch and gos. Still pretty fun though, doing 120 only 250' above the river.

 

[Gatordev]

Night can definitely be enjoyable. Just remember not to let your guard down while you're enjoying the "relaxed" comms. I spent a night flying over downtown Honolulu at 1000 feet, following the H1. Absolutely beautiful. As we rounded the corner and proceeded north through the Moloka'i channel, it got very dark. no worries, I've got hundreds of hours in the aircraft, I know the area, we're good. It was about then that the radar just didn't look right, and the lights weren't where they were supposed to be (we were unaided, as it was a initial night fam for a PQM). Power and turn....what do you know, there's Mokapu (sp?) Point, which would have prematurely ended our lovely evening.

Okay, lesson learned. No biggie, put that in the experience bag. Two nights later, same event (different PQM), and the same damn thing happened. I was ready this time, but still, it's easy to get too relaxed.

Damn you, Bubba, now you got me all sentimental for Oahu...

 

[hscs]

Not really sure why we continue to fight flying on goggles all of the time. Nights are still scary with them, but we continue to punish ourselves by not having them onboard.

 

[MasterBates]

Not really sure why we continue to fight flying on goggles all of the time. Nights are still scary with them, but we continue to punish ourselves by not having them onboard.

My reasoning is the following:

You do not want having NVG Failure to become an emergency in its own right, beyond the immediate pass the controls and switch batteries.

Some day, the ship MAY NOT be able to get NVG lighting going. Fires, navigation concerns, etc.

Some areas, goggles reduce SA vs unaided. Downtown JAX at night is one of them. You can lose a lot of traffic in the "green haze" that you can see unaided.

Some nights, goggles just do not help, but they increase fatigue.

 

[hscs]

Goggle failures are fairly rare -- and that is why you carry an extra set with you in the plane. And wearing goggles is like running -- you have to wear them to get used to them. Fatigue won't set in as quickly if you are used to using them.

Ships can always turn all lights -- except for the minimal navigation lights. I would rather land without the goggle lighting than go unaided. We have done that plenty of times prior to all of the ships getting goggle compatible lighting.

 

[MasterBates]

I also look at it from the approach/landing standpoint.

Good night, with NVG. I have the TACAN approach. Visible horizon with crummy depth perception.

Bad night with NVG. TACAN Approach. No horizon, just a point of light you are flying toward.

Any night w/o NVG (provided viz is 1/2 mile or more), TACAN approach, SGSI for glideslope backup, Drop lites and lineups for visual line up. HARS for attitude reference (inside 1/4mile) and Mk1 Mod0 eyeball for picking up closure cues. I also "cheat" and use the masthead and stern lights as yet another centerline backup.

For the non-helo bubbas, the standard shipboard approach is a tacan approach with approximated glideslope. Intended for you to pick up the SGSI (tri-color VASI) at 1/2 mile. W/o the SGSI, or on NVGS, it is a descending decelerating approach flown from 200', 50kt, .5 DME to 40/60' (ship class dependent) at about .1 DME over the flight deck.

Comes in the 400' and 200' varieties.

 

[gregsivers]

For the non-helo bubbas, the standard shipboard approach is a tacan approach with approximated glideslope. Intended for you to pick up the SGSI (tri-color VASI) at 1/2 mile. W/o the SGSI, or on NVGS, it is a descending decelerating approach flown from 200', 50kt, .5 DME to 40/60' (ship class dependent) at about .1 DME over the flight deck.

Comes in the 400' and 200' varieties.

I just did the ODLQs a week ago, and its certainly a sobering experience. Not like anything I'd ever done, and when the IP turned off all the ambient light and there was just the ship it got a hard to pick up the closure. I can't wait for the real one to the boat.

 

[hscs]

Do what you want, but you can have my goggles when you beat me over the head and rip them off my helmet.

 

[Gatordev]

...Not like anything I'd ever done, and when the IP turned off all the ambient light and there was just the ship it got a hard to pick up the closure.

RULE #1: NEVER LOOK TO THE BOAT FOR CLOSURE...well, until you're at the end of the approach.

Not that you'd do that, just putting it out there. It's the quickest way to get your feet wet.

 

[gregsivers]

RULE #1: NEVER LOOK TO THE BOAT FOR CLOSURE...well, until you're at the end of the approach.

Not that you'd do that, just putting it out there. It's the quickest way to get your feet wet.

The IP pretty much beat that into our heads during the sim. Both he and my onwing back in HTs talked about the black hole, doesn't sound like fun at all.