UInavy said:
Alright, I'm going to fuel the fire here a bit.... because I can. Is there anyone out there (Intruder Driver included, of course), who has seen the ball from the back then front (or right then left) and cares to comments on the perceived vice actual difficulty?
(apologies if this is the inappropriate forum and thull happens to comment)
Having sat in both seats, I found that, as a pilot, on the nights when I was most terrified, my B/N usually didn't have a clue because I was working so hard to keep my shit together that I probably just seemed quiet and "on and on." With the exception of having vertigo, which I
always shared with my B/N, I found that it was difficult to put into words the different elements of a night landing that were impacting my 'normalcy,' if night landings are ever normal. I tried once, and the result was an occasional comment that, while being an accurate comment from my B/N, wasn't necessary and hearing it through off my focus from the snakes I was fighting in the cockpit.
Having flown in both sides, I don't think the NFO's perceive the stark terror in having to pull or add power, or adjust the flight path, or move the nose for airspeed, when every other sense in your body is telling you that, if you do so, "You're gonna die!".
I even noticed this as a training command instructor in Meridian, which at night is about as dark as the boat if you are approaching from the north or in inclement weather. If I was riding in the front or back on a night instrument approach and the stud was flying, I didn't have the same 'senses' as when I was flying.
Back to the boat, I don't think a B/N can ever appreciate the holy terror in taxiing a jet to the furthest spot on the bow at night, in the rain, far enough into cruise that all the non-skid is gone, with your nose gear on the cat track about three feet from the round down and the sense that your brakes aren't stopping the sliding, and the yellow shirt is signaling you to ADD POWER and keep moving forward another couple feet. That was as bad as the toughest night landing.
On cat shots, as a B/N, even if I had an inner ear sense of 'too much nose up,' and felt the pilot rotating, it was relatively easy to focus on a couple instruments (VSI, altimeter, VGI) and get over it. As a pilot, pulling back on the stick was the last thing I wanted to do in the same situation, yet I didn't have the luxury of focusing on just a couple instruments; I had to rotate even though I felt like I was already in an elevator.
That's my two cents worth.
