Stupid Questions about Naval Aviation (Part 3)

[helolumpy]

When jets that used the bridle on carriers that did not have a bridle arrester (the little finger sticking off the bow of older carriers) the bridle would go flying forward over the bow and land in the water.
IIRC both the T-2 and TA-4 both used bridles but the T-45 does not require it.

 

[Coota0]

Thanks for the quick replies, I've been rereading Stephen Coonts and got to wondering.

 

[MIDNJAC]

Are the Hornets pretty similar, or is there a lot of extra prep time required to go from, say, an A+ to a D?

The biggest difference is between A/B and C/D. There were a lot of differences cockpit wise, as well as some systems between the two eras. Then you have some differences among the C/D's when you start with later lot night attack jets. C and D are really almost identical from the pilot's perspective, though there are a few minor differences (nothing major enough to really notice). All in all, they are all pretty similar, and it was not uncommon in the RAG to start out in a chuck, have that break, man up a delta, have that break, and finally go flying in a bro. Biggest thing you notice when you first fly a B is that the display menus are slightly different, and the engine indicators and fuel gauge are all F'd up and look like they are from 1960.

 

[Coota0]

Got a series of stupid questions:

For the A-6/F-14/F-4/F/A-18 folks; do you always fly with the same crew or does it change up or does it depend on the community/squadron?
Do you always have the same crew for your wingman?

For the S-3/EA-6/E-2 and helo folks; do you always fly with the same crew?
E-2/ Helos, do you always fly with the same pilot but maybe have different NFOs?
S-3/EA-6/E-2; If you fly with different NFOs, does the same group of NFOs stay together or are they mix and match too?

 

[Brett327]

Nobody ever always flies with the same crew in any platform. You might be "crewed" with certain people, but it's by no means exclusive. Crews change, missions change, people go on leave, med down, etc. You'll end up flying with everyone in the squadron, regardless of designator.

Brett

 

[HokiePilot]

I think P-3 crews regularly fly together when deployed.

 

[PropAddict]

I think P-3 crews regularly fly together when deployed.

That's the great image "they" would like us to project.

But, c'mon: if a two person, all officer crew of a Hornet can't always be kept together to fly, do you really think a P-3 crew of 5 O's and 6 E's can?

On deployment, it CAN be a little better, but we have plenty of loopholes to allow us to fly with certain components of the crew for certain missions and still call it "flying together as a crew." For instance, out of an 11 person crew, you may only need 3 people on the flight to say "Crew X flew this flight together." The other 80% of the crew can be a mishmash of random folks who have never worked together before.

 

[Brett327]

Does the VP community still operate on the TAC-NUC crew concept?

 

[CommodoreMid]

Yup. Need 2/4 to have a "crew."

Keeping crews together when you only have 6 3Ps gets fun.

 

[Flugelman]

Yup. Need 2/4 to have a "crew."

Keeping crews together when you only have 6 3Ps gets fun.

So a 2P can't fill a 3P position if needed?

Many moons ago the crews were pretty well kept together, on deployment. Back home, not so much...

People go med down for various reasons on deployment and must be left behind for a mission. Drives skeds nuts. Ask me how I know...

 

[CommodoreMid]

They can, but when you're short 2Ps as well it doesn't really help.

 

[Brett327]

Yup. Need 2/4 to have a "crew."

Keeping crews together when you only have 6 3Ps gets fun.

Interesting. I think the requirements were more stringent for "operational" on top back in the day (could have been squadron or PATWING SOP though). If I recall correctly, Jez, TACCO and PPC had to be present.

Brett

 

[OnTopTime]

I thought that TAC NUC was PPC, TC, SS1 and SS3. Others could be mixed and matched. But, on deployment, my experience was that we almost always flew with the same guys, even the FEs and the IFT. When you have a great crew with excellent camaraderie, even one substitution can have a negative impact.

 

[scoolbubba]

It only takes one monkey wrench to wreck the best laid plans for keeping a crew together. Start cobbling crews together, hit a high op-tempo, and you might end up flying with 4 or 5 sandbaggin' bodies for damn near a month.

I have slightly more leeway to walk into skeds and say "eff that. I'm not flying with websan (insert other interchangeable hinge here), put my 2p on that" but only because I'm a skeds-o. I'm slowly getting my crew back together, and it usually involves some kind of a drug deal.

Now that we have sims on deployment, scheduling can only get more awesome. FML.

 

[HAL Pilot]

Back in the day it was Tacco, PPC, SS1 & SS3. You had to have at least 3 of the 4 and you could only do 1 out of 3 quals/on tops this way (without all 4).