OK Air Warriors, What was your best hop ever? I reckon with all the salt on this forum there are probably a ton of good "There I was..." tales. I wrote the following story for the base paper and you can use it to prime the pump:
The Perfect Flight
A lot of pilots dream of or have experienced at least one perfect flight. The kind of flight that justifies all the hours spent studying and rushing the recruiting process. All those endless nights cramming Bold Face Items before a check ride. In my career I’ve flown flights that not only justified all the effort but, looking back on them, could also be described as “perfect” flights.
The first one that comes to mind was when I was a newly winged aviator waiting to start the A-6 RAG at NAS Oceana. We were on hold for about 6 months, so the Navy was nice enough to give us NATOPS quals in the T-34, which VA-42 kept for logistics, proficiency and target spotting purposes. Some good memories were made in that old primary trainer with the fan up front. Even way back then most pilots never got a chance to fly without supervision. One beautiful morning I was out by my lonesome shooting touch-and goes at Elizabeth City Coast Guard Air Station. On my second pass I noticed a red pick-up truck parked alongside the road just below me. There was a man standing beside it and two kids in the back jumping up and down and pointing every time I flew over. I stayed there doing touch and goes for as long as fuel permitted, happy in the knowledge that, to a couple of 6 year old kids, I was a hero that day.
Another “perfect flight” was one dark night off the Virginia Capes with my A-6 squadron. I was a salty LTJG, newly reported and we were all going out for refresher CQ on EISENHOWER just after she came out of the yards. What I didn’t realize was that a carrier just out from overhaul, with empty fuel and ammo bunkers, bobs around like a cork in rough seas. The VACAPES can be pretty rough in December, at least they were in 1993. I didn’t know enough back then to appreciate how hard that flight was. The ball on the Fresnel lens was only visible as it raced from the top to the bottom, but Paddles was giving good talkdowns each pass and by the end of the night, I had successfully qual’d. That was the flight that convinced me I wanted to become an LSO.
Another memorable flight was during the early days of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. A huge weather system had that entire part of the world enveloped in low clouds, blowing dust or just general “don’t fly at all” weather. In those days there were only about 1000 Special Operations Force (SOF) troops in Northern Iraq versus 10 Iraqi divisions – over 100,000 personnel. A SOF unit in north-eastern Iraq was under imminent danger of being overrun by a large enemy force. With all Tac Air in theater grounded their situation was, at the very least, dire. Our Battle Group Commander made the decision to launch a strike package into 0/0 conditions, with a forecast of 0/0 on return and pretty much throughout the entire Area of Operations. It was two long hours to the big-wing Air Force tanker over southern Turkey, followed by in-flight refueling in the clouds after a RADAR rendezvous. Arriving on station and making contact on the radio, you could hear the explosions and weapons fire in the background they relayed coordinates to use for the attack. Each aircraft made at least two runs against the enemy forces using several different types of weapons. The enemy broke off their assault and never regrouped until after the weather had cleared a few days later, ensuring on-call air support was always available. The flight back to the ship was a repeat of the tanking evolution followed 2 hours later by a 0300 approach down to bare minimums. That one was an eye-opener.
At least five more flights have to be included. They are the five fly-offs after a long deployment back to the warm embrace of my loved ones ashore. Unforgettable.
I’m sure that I could probably puzzle out a couple others and I hope to fly a few more before I’m done, but that’s enough for now. There really isn’t a common thread to these flights and I guess that presents its own lesson. You never know when you’re going to have a “perfect” flight, so be prepared on all of them. Your flying career will present you with untold challenges - some expected and some not. Always be ready meet those challenges and enjoy the ride.
God Bless,
Cowboy
The Perfect Flight
A lot of pilots dream of or have experienced at least one perfect flight. The kind of flight that justifies all the hours spent studying and rushing the recruiting process. All those endless nights cramming Bold Face Items before a check ride. In my career I’ve flown flights that not only justified all the effort but, looking back on them, could also be described as “perfect” flights.
The first one that comes to mind was when I was a newly winged aviator waiting to start the A-6 RAG at NAS Oceana. We were on hold for about 6 months, so the Navy was nice enough to give us NATOPS quals in the T-34, which VA-42 kept for logistics, proficiency and target spotting purposes. Some good memories were made in that old primary trainer with the fan up front. Even way back then most pilots never got a chance to fly without supervision. One beautiful morning I was out by my lonesome shooting touch-and goes at Elizabeth City Coast Guard Air Station. On my second pass I noticed a red pick-up truck parked alongside the road just below me. There was a man standing beside it and two kids in the back jumping up and down and pointing every time I flew over. I stayed there doing touch and goes for as long as fuel permitted, happy in the knowledge that, to a couple of 6 year old kids, I was a hero that day.
Another “perfect flight” was one dark night off the Virginia Capes with my A-6 squadron. I was a salty LTJG, newly reported and we were all going out for refresher CQ on EISENHOWER just after she came out of the yards. What I didn’t realize was that a carrier just out from overhaul, with empty fuel and ammo bunkers, bobs around like a cork in rough seas. The VACAPES can be pretty rough in December, at least they were in 1993. I didn’t know enough back then to appreciate how hard that flight was. The ball on the Fresnel lens was only visible as it raced from the top to the bottom, but Paddles was giving good talkdowns each pass and by the end of the night, I had successfully qual’d. That was the flight that convinced me I wanted to become an LSO.
Another memorable flight was during the early days of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. A huge weather system had that entire part of the world enveloped in low clouds, blowing dust or just general “don’t fly at all” weather. In those days there were only about 1000 Special Operations Force (SOF) troops in Northern Iraq versus 10 Iraqi divisions – over 100,000 personnel. A SOF unit in north-eastern Iraq was under imminent danger of being overrun by a large enemy force. With all Tac Air in theater grounded their situation was, at the very least, dire. Our Battle Group Commander made the decision to launch a strike package into 0/0 conditions, with a forecast of 0/0 on return and pretty much throughout the entire Area of Operations. It was two long hours to the big-wing Air Force tanker over southern Turkey, followed by in-flight refueling in the clouds after a RADAR rendezvous. Arriving on station and making contact on the radio, you could hear the explosions and weapons fire in the background they relayed coordinates to use for the attack. Each aircraft made at least two runs against the enemy forces using several different types of weapons. The enemy broke off their assault and never regrouped until after the weather had cleared a few days later, ensuring on-call air support was always available. The flight back to the ship was a repeat of the tanking evolution followed 2 hours later by a 0300 approach down to bare minimums. That one was an eye-opener.
At least five more flights have to be included. They are the five fly-offs after a long deployment back to the warm embrace of my loved ones ashore. Unforgettable.
I’m sure that I could probably puzzle out a couple others and I hope to fly a few more before I’m done, but that’s enough for now. There really isn’t a common thread to these flights and I guess that presents its own lesson. You never know when you’re going to have a “perfect” flight, so be prepared on all of them. Your flying career will present you with untold challenges - some expected and some not. Always be ready meet those challenges and enjoy the ride.
God Bless,
Cowboy
haha...i still laugh. 
