In the mid-80’s, the VAW community in an attempt to address soaring OPTEMPO and a shortage of pilots tried the NFO Copilot program, wherein 2nd tour LTs and LCDRs were taken through a FRS NATOPS syllabus and qualified to fly right seat for day/VMC ops off the boat…
By the way, I had 5 night traps before I saw my first “day” VMC trap from the right seat…
-SJS
Call this one – “Generations.” From the left — my Grandpa (father’s side), first generation American of German descent who left his home in Illinois to join the Army and head off to the War to End All Wars, serving in France with the AEF. Next my Grandpa Jack – Army, Signal Corps who served…
Combine P-51’s at full song with a James Horner score and what do you get? Beauty:
Christmas comes at a time of year where we, perforce, count our blessings, tally our losses and generally reflect on the year past. We find this action common across national boundaries and racial divides and, all too commonly, it ends there. The accountants take of the past year and if the blessings outweigh the losses,…
Last couple of weeks we have been serenaded by Brood 2 offspring of the 1996 round of 17-year cicadas. With a background noise like a bad 50’s special effects soundtrack, they’ve been pretty constant but this weekend, overcome at times by the sound of Merlin and Wright piston engines as the CAF brought a P-51,…
Naval Aviators (and by extension, Naval Flight Officers), of the tailhook variety that is, tend to be a peculiar lot. On the one hand we live to fly “at the boat†and yet, the prospect of actually doing anything besides actually aviating is well, anathema – for some. Early on the behavior was learned at…
♫♬…When the Drone is Called Up Yonder I’ll be There…♬♫ (with apologies to James M. Black) 😀 First the news and a congratulatory note to the Navy-Industry team behind today’s launch of the X-47B off the USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77): Of course, as any end-of-deployment flyoff crew knows, it is a heck of…
