Looking for gouge? Ask your Stupid Questions about Naval Aviation here (Part 1)

[Harrier Dude]

Much truth to the sim levels. There will be no two seat trainer version. That sounds bad, but the jet will be incredibly easy to fly. More so than even a Hornet. Employing it will be a challenge, but sims will take augment that as well.

 

[Fog]

Let's hope the Marines are better at it than they were 40 years ago. I went down to Glynco after Banana School for the RIO pipeline. Upon arrival, I learned there was a pool of about 50 marines waiting for the RIO pipeline: it seems the USMC was getting a lot of A-6's at this time which caused them to increase dramatically the number of SNFO's sent to Pensacola. Trouble was, someone at USMC HQ forgot to get an allotment of marine spaces in the BJN pipeline. So the USMC solved this problem by sending all their NFO's thru the RIO pipeline. Don't know how long this lasted, but the Navy input to the RIO pipeline went from 7/class to 2. I went on to the EW pipeline & eventually got back to F-4's several years later. Don't mean to knock the corps, but most Marine NFO friends of mine said they never used the radar anyway: they just called altitude during bombing runs. Lord knows what happened to the Marine A-6 B/N's who went through the RIO pipeline. Maybe there are some still around who are on this board.

 

[GroundPounder]

The Air Department on a carrier is split into Divisions:

V1 Flight Deck
V2 Catapults/Arresting Gear
V3 Hangar Deck
v4 Fuels
V5/V0 Admin

A shooter is a division officer of one of the above divisions. V2 is so large (200+ folks) that usually the newer shooters on board are branch officers within V2. Add on collaterals, and tower/bridge duties, you have yourself a full time job.

So here is the dumb ass question; How much time would you spend shooting vice your " side " jobs? Is the job of shooter desirable or something that you get stuck with.

 

[navybackseater]

9. What is a 1MC? a headache
What are the best two words to come out of a 1MC? taps taps

11. Why are Air Force guys so ghey? (Just wanted to see if Huggy was paying attention.)
"they call them Aviators in the Navy, supposedly they are better than pilots" (from The Right Stuff)

13. What is the difference between the O-3 Level and the third deck?
One YOU walk all over, the other one walks all over YOU.


16. Why are some patches round, some triangles?
One is a circle made by NFOs one a circle made by pilots

18. What is a 'bosun?
they guy/gal who paints the ship

19. On the flight deck, who wears a blue shirt and a yellow float coat?
they guy/gal in coveralls who lost his yellow shirt

21. On the radio around the ship, who is "Tower" and who is "Bridge"?
Ones the tall guy, the other is the guy who won't get off his arse.

22. What is a single weight setting?
What you need to pass the PRT weigh ins

25. Why are Navy Pilots so damned cool?
you got me on that one....I can't think of a single cool thing. ~

 

[jarhead]

FWIW, I flew the cockpit demonstrator for the F-35 last week and it was really amazing. It truly is the best of both worlds between Hornet and Harrier and a HUGE leap forward for us.

From what I gather, avionics-wise, it's going to be a gigantic leap forward, incorporating a lot of stuff from the F-22 program... but here’s some issues I have -

- with the 40k+ thrust, have they figured out how they are going to land on any boat (or any expeditionary airfield) without burning a hole in it? (~ 35k empty weight vs 40k thrust … I’d imagine it’s gonna be a pig to fly & it has the lowest T-W & lowest max G's of the 3 F-35's)

- the Corps is vesting it's aviation future on 2 expensive aircraft that requires precise maintenance, i.e. no more using a sledge hammers or a roll of duck tape to fix stuff. And you can't spend a shit-ton of money on a lo-observable aircraft and not wash or paint it in several months. With this in mind, the Corps will have to do a better job with overall maintenance of these aircraft which means spending more money and quit half-assing it.

- no gun (the strap on is a joke with its limited A-A capability & >200rds - do we not learn from past mistakes? seems the USAF did), limited range & ordnance w/o externals and no AIM-9's unless you strap them on the wingtips ... why spend the money on a stealthy platform if the only way to make it tactically worthwhile is to strap all the shit on externally and making it un-stealthy as well as adding more drag? Along the same lines, we are taking ourselves out of any day 1 or 2 strikes with this platform … it’s the least capable of the F-35’s & the Marines won’t be on a carrier (i.e. “tip of the spear”).

- no more tailhook for us jarheads ...

STOVL is a niche and buys us limited range & overall capability .. if we're really in it for CAS, then gimmie a MAG of F/A-18F's, A-10's, AC-130's ...

S/F

 

[Swanee]

words

I still don't understand why the AF variant is the only one with an internal gun. You are going to strap something on that limits a/a capability when you need it most? hmmm... Plus, the old man didn't have anything good to say about the gun pods they used on the Viper...

 

[VetteMuscle427]

I still don't understand why the AF variant is the only one with an internal gun. You are going to strap something on that limits a/a capability when you need it most? hmmm... Plus, the old man didn't have anything good to say about the gun pods they used on the Viper...

I know lots of guys have their panties in a bunch over not having an internal gun... but honestly, what does it buy you? When are you actually going to use it?

Air to air? I'd wager that the AIM-9X/JHMCS is a little bit more effective than the AIM-9B and Falcons used in Vietnam.

Strafing? When? I just don't see lots of situations where a well placed SDB wouldn't do the trick... or where other assets weren't close.

I'm not a fighter guy, but maybe the gun's day has come, and passed. I'm sure it's not entirely useless... but the weight would be better spent on something else.

 

[BigIron]

So here is the dumb ass question; How much time would you spend shooting vice your " side " jobs? Is the job of shooter desirable or something that you get stuck with.

1. 60/40 shooter/divo

2. Desirable is in the eye of the beholder. Guys that select Assistant Nav, Ops Admin, or TAO might think shooter is undesirable. It depends on what orders are available when you negotiate for the disassociated tour. The only reason I came to the ship on a disassociated sea tour is to be a shooter. It's not just a job lying around on the ship that folks get stuck with. It's not a collateral duty.

 

[eurotrash]

Lest we forget the lessons of our Top Gun forefather...

"I"m too close for missiles, I'm switching to guns!"

 

[HueyCobra8151]

Lest we forget the lessons of our Top Gun forefather...

"I"m too close for missiles, I'm switching to guns!"

yeah, but "we live in a world that has walls. And those walls have to be guarded by men with guns."

 

[CWJones411]

Will the F-35 squadrons be designated VF-?

 

[BlkPny]

"Strafing? When? I just don't see lots of situations where a well placed SDB wouldn't do the trick... or where other assets weren't close." VetteMuscle427

If you're going to get serious about CAS for the troops, a gun has some very significant advantages.

1. Accuracy. Granted, I was a lot lower and slower, but I shot bad guys off of the 5-meter wire around an outpost with a SUU-11 minigun with no problems. I've done that with 5-inch rockets too, but I didn't feel as confident.
2. Controlling ammo expenditure. If you are out of heavy ordnance, or if you need to stay on target and keep the bad guys at bay while you are waiting for more air support, the use of just a few rounds on each pass keeps you in the game, and keeps the troops covered.
3. If you have a force, either bad guys or unknown, advancing toward your troops, nothing draws a "line in the sand" (or water, or rice paddy) like a few hundred rounds in front of them. No harm, no foul, very clear message.

On top of that, there's also the fun factor. You pull the trigger, and you can watch the magic show right before your eyes. :icon_tong

 

[guest0321]

Phrog-I'm with Battalion currently. Force doesn't exist anymore, although it'll be back soon.

And sorry my profile isn't filled out. I'm a bit wary of the internet.

 

[highside7r]

War Hoover drivers/crew:
Looking up the empty weight of a buddy store for a non-Navy guy.

 

[jarhead]

Hornets, Harriers, Vipers, Strike Eagles, 'Hawgs have all been strafing in Iraq & Afghan.

Sure, the chances of getting a guns kill these days are fairly slim, but missiles aren't the end all to aerial combat, especially with modern EA ... the worst thing would be to need a gun and not have it (missiles have a min range & can be decoyed, bullets don't & can't be... and if you mix it up with a modern aircraft, your only chance to kill it might be a fleeting snapshot). We haven't been truly tested in aerial combat in many years so we again forget history ... but even the F-22 has a gun. They didn't put a gun in the F-35B or C because they are having a problem with weight ...

I know lots of guys have their panties in a bunch over not having an internal gun... but honestly, what does it buy you? When are you actually going to use it?

Air to air? I'd wager that the AIM-9X/JHMCS is a little bit more effective than the AIM-9B and Falcons used in Vietnam.

Strafing? When? I just don't see lots of situations where a well placed SDB wouldn't do the trick... or where other assets weren't close.

I'm not a fighter guy, but maybe the gun's day has come, and passed. I'm sure it's not entirely useless... but the weight would be better spent on something else.