Stupid questions about Naval Aviation (Pt 2)

[nugget61]

Though the film has some issues and doesn't necessarily give you the whole picture of Navy life, I'd suggest you check out the PBS series Carrier. It's on their website and does a decent job showing you a day in the life of people onboard.

http://www.hulu.com/carrier

 

[scoolbubba]

how much gas is in one of those external tanks?

 

[brownshoe]

how much gas is in one of those external tanks?

You know that’s a question I’d like answered as well. I’m ashamed of myself for not knowing if they held any gas at all, because I loaded many of them on A-4’s. I’d always thought buddy stores just held the apparatus for transferring the fuel. However, the drop tanks on aircraft of my era usually held 2000 pounds each though. Not sure about the modern aircraft.

Steve

 

[Single Seat]

480 Gallons or about 3200 #'s. Legacy Hornet, 330/2200.

 

[Single Seat]

damn, that's a lot of go juice

A five wet E is something like 29K #'s of gas.

 

[A4sForever]

Pure adrenaline compared with the 340K #s of go-juice, and 590K #s total for the MIGHTY KC-10 extender. Taking up most of a 12K foot long runway in a hot arabic summer? Suck factor reads at max

... You guys are dangerous...

O.K. ... since we're all "measuring our drip-sticks" ... fuel, that is ...

... how 'bout an A-6 Bomb-Truck max GW cat shot w/ full internals & 28 Mk 82's hangin' every which way but loose ...

Or ... how 'bout a Boeing "Whale" w/ "full internals" (but no Mk 82's *sigh*) at a max GW "cat shot" of @ 836,000#.

The 747-200B (for example) can carry a maximum payload of 144,520 pounds for 6,900 miles at a "cost-efficient" cruising speed of 565 MPH (Mach number of 0.85 -- I actually found a little better fuel specs @ 0.86 ) at an altitude of approximately 35,000 feet. With a maximum fuel load and a reduced payload of 87,800 pounds, you can go @ 8700 miles.

Then throw in a hot, humid day anywhere in the Far East ... or JFK for that matter ...

We are dangerous ...

 

[xj220]

What's the narrowest runway you were allowed to fly off of in the 747? What are P-3s limited to? We all know it's not really length that matters, but girth.

 

[A4sForever]

What's the narrowest runway you were allowed to fly off of in the 747? What are P-3s limited to? We all know it's not really length that matters, but girth.....

The "book standard" was 150 feet ... you need to be able to turn around ... but I've had it a "little less" w/ body-gear steering and a little skill & cunning applied in the turn ... when the need arose ...

 

[Mumbles]

Going from bouncing on a 300' wide runway at Fairchild or Moses Lake and then doing the round robin over to Bellingham to bounce on the 150' RWY can really mess with your sight picture.

 

[btlawson22]

I was wondering what communication was like when you were at sea; meaning do cell phones work? can you bring your own computer? or do you need to use the ships coms? How often can you call or talk to home?

I also heard that your spouse can follow you to ports if you do go into port sometime, is that a possibility?

My OR did not know what SNA meant, I am assuming it means pilot?

 

[BACONATOR]

I was wondering what communication was like when you were at sea; meaning do cell phones work? can you bring your own computer? or do you need to use the ships coms? How often can you call or talk to home?

I also heard that your spouse can follow you to ports if you do go into port sometime, is that a possibility?

My OR did not know what SNA meant, I am assuming it means pilot?

Sure. And when that port-call gets canceled, you can wave at the shore as you pass her by.

 

[BullGator]

I was wondering what communication was like when you were at sea; meaning do cell phones work? can you bring your own computer? or do you need to use the ships coms? How often can you call or talk to home?

I also heard that your spouse can follow you to ports if you do go into port sometime, is that a possibility?

My OR did not know what SNA meant, I am assuming it means pilot?

SNA = student naval aviator.

I shouldn't even attempt to answer your other questions as I'm in no position to, but I'll try: I'm betting you wouldn't get service on the ship and you'd need an international cell plan to call at ports, and you probably need to use the ship's computers to get a signal (maybe a internet room or more?) and for security reasons. Any one qualified that has been on a carrier (NA or not), please correct me.

 

[bunk22]

I was wondering what communication was like when you were at sea; meaning do cell phones work? can you bring your own computer? or do you need to use the ships coms? How often can you call or talk to home?

I also heard that your spouse can follow you to ports if you do go into port sometime, is that a possibility?

My OR did not know what SNA meant, I am assuming it means pilot?

Want to talk to your significat other every day? Be a COD guy or P-3 type. You can bring your own computer and even your cell phone. Don't count on the cell phone working on the ship. Email often hit and miss. If you're on ship, yep, have to use ship comms. You could also wait and call the girlfriend/wife from a bar during a port visit

 

[ea6bflyr]

I was wondering what communication was like when you were at sea; meaning do cell phones work? can you bring your own computer? or do you need to use the ships coms? How often can you call or talk to home?

The ship has Sailor Phones and POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service). You can use an AT&T calling card to make personal calls. Some squadrons allow personnel to use the POTS lines with a calling card as well. These phones are at the mercy of operational commitments and shut down frequently.

I was able to call my wife once a week every week while on deployment. You also have email.

We also had MWR tele-conferences about once a month. You could have your spouse go to the base and do a live video-conference. My wife didn't like these because they are very emotional for the spouse at home.

Cell phones no workie underway. Satellite phones are not allowed. If you wanted to use a cell phone in port, I'd suggest some sort of international plan.

-ea6bflyr

 

[bucks87]

How much time over a career is usually spent assigned to a flying job aand how much is assigned to something else? I understand it depends on person/aircraft/many other things but I was just looking for a ballpark here.