"Home of a Naval Aviator" signs going up all over Coronado

[BusyBee604]

Designation #

Do they still give you a number when you wing? I would imagine that would have to be a pretty big number by now.

I was designated NA 52 tears ago. Don't have the number handy, but I recall it had a V then 5 digits, somewhere in the 30000+ range (V-3XXXX). I have always "assumed" that the V stood for fixed-wing?? Helo Drivers: Does your designation number have an H prefix?
BzB, AncientMariner :sleep_125

 

[PerDiem]

I was designated NA 52 tears ago. Don't have the number handy, but I recall it had a V then 5 digits, somewhere in the 30000+ range (V-3XXXX). I have always "assumed" that the V stood for fixed-wing?? Helo Drivers: Does your designation number have an H prefix?
BzB, AncientMariner :sleep_125

I found this little read earlier:

Chief of Naval Air Advanced Training is directed to
commence a series of numbers for the foregoing des-
ignations of Naval Aviators (HTA) Number V-1, V-2, V-
3, etc.

http://www.history.navy.mil/avh-1910/APP01.PDF

 

[MasterBates]

Unrestricted Naval Aviator #26873

If there was a number assigned to the Kingsville Jet and E2 guys, I don't think they know it.

 

[MIDNJAC]

Do they still give you a number when you wing? I would imagine that would have to be a pretty big number by now.

Yes, they give you a little card with your number on it.....at least TW-1 did. The number is pretty big nowadays

 

[helolumpy]

When I got winged in 1993 we got a card with our Naval Aviator number, mine is 22808.

Made for a good vanity license plate; when people asked, it was good for a story

 

[Catmando]

Mine was V-28908 in 1969, so maybe they have changed the numbering system since.

 

[Praying4OCS]

I was designated NA 52 tears ago. Don't have the number handy, but I recall it had a V then 5 digits, somewhere in the 30000+ range (V-3XXXX). I have always "assumed" that the V stood for fixed-wing?? Helo Drivers: Does your designation number have an H prefix?
BzB, AncientMariner :sleep_125

Hmmmm....Didnt see the V nor H unless its on some official list somewhere....Just 30671.

 

[SynixMan]

V --> Volare?

 

[phrogdriver]

"Vo....Lare...woooah"--Dean Martin, man among men.

Never had a letter in front of mine. Guess I'm a slacker. Don't even know what mine is. Not into the sentimental thing.

 

[nittany03]

IIRC, they stopped the numbering sometime after or during Vietnam.

<-- Doesn't have a Naval Aviator or NFO number.

 

[phrogdriver]

So that number I had put on my mug was a fiction?

 

[Jim123]

For whatever reason, Big Navy count "unrestricted" (qualified in helicopters and fixed-wing) NA numbers separately. There is a big book at NHA with all the naval helicopter pilot names and numbers in it starting with 1 and all the way up past 30,000- more or less minus a few details (and my number is in the 25,000 range).

According to www.history.navy.mil Big Navy used to separately count the heavier-than-air numbers separately too... which begs the question of whether us "unrestricted" guys can claim to be truly unrestricted if we didn't qualify in dirigibles, blimps, or balloons. Maybe we could add that to the training syllabus- hot air balloon engine failure procedures, blimp formation, and dirigible oscar patterns!

(I'm gonna assume V-xxx stands for Heavier than Air.)

 

[BusyBee604]

Poopy Bags

Maybe we could add that to the training syllabus- hot air balloon engine failure procedures, blimp formation, and dirigible oscar patterns!

The blimp training would of course include: bagovers, bageron rolls and the famed simulated hissout approaches to mush-and-go landings!:watching3

BTW, I had a NAVCAD Preflight classmate (44-56) who selected LTA after Primary, He did advanced at Lakehurst. After being "1/2"-Winged in '58, he reported to the last remaining ZP Squadron at NAS Moffett. He was the last Pilot trained for LTA, as the Navy got out of the bag business shortly thereafter. I always wondered what happened to Rollie Hassel??:angel_125
BzB

 

[helolumpy]

There was a sim instructor at the VT's in the early 90's named Ace Eastman. (He'd walk out during a 60 min sim to go get a smoke, but I digress)
He asked me during Intermediates what I got, helos or props.
I told him I got my third choice, helos.

He laughed and said he got his third choice in flight school too; blimps!!

He then went on to tell me about how he only had 'half a wing' for his wings and how back in his day, you selected land planes, sea planes or blimps.
I was laughing my ass off in the T-34 sim as I was trying to a TACAN arcing approach. You could see on the screen where he got me laughing because I was even worse then usual!!

 

[Gatordev]

There was a sim instructor at the VT's in the early 90's named Ace Eastman. (He'd walk out during a 60 min sim to go get a smoke, but I digress)
He asked me during Intermediates what I got, helos or props.
I told him I got my third choice, helos.

He laughed and said he got his third choice in flight school too; blimps!!

He then went on to tell me about how he only had 'half a wing' for his wings and how back in his day, you selected land planes, sea planes or blimps.
I was laughing my ass off in the T-34 sim as I was trying to a TACAN arcing approach. You could see on the screen where he got me laughing because I was even worse then usual!!

As of 2008, I think he was still there if you went through Whiting. The last name sounds familiar and in the middle of a sim, he would say he had to make a head call. Right. If you went through in Corpus, he must have a brother.