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Pt Mugu Airshow - 7-8 Aug
- Thread starter HuggyU2
- Start date
There are one or two worse places to be than Ventura Co. in August. Have fun!
Just to give a balanced perspective:
One of my "good deal" flights while on Active Duty turned to crap because of being stranded at Pt. Mugu. Here is the sequence of events that turned what was supposed to be a weekend-long two-ship cross-country to Monterey, CA, into a weekend of near-hell. Our Noon-ish launch from North Island on Friday was delayed by black-box issues that took a couple of hours to troubleshoot and repair. Pt. Mugu was always scheduled to be a fuel stop, but by the time we got there, we would not have been able to get to Fort Ord AAF before they closed for the night. So on a Friday evening, we found ourselves scrambling around Pt. Mugu looking for berthing for 5 Enlisted and 4 Officers. Once the aircraft were "put to bed" (fueled & turnarounds completed) and berthing secured, we went to find something to eat. We found ourselves walking out the front gate as everything on-base was closed. Lots of stuff out in "town" was closed as well. It was barely 9:00PM. We resorted to walking up to a "Late Night" drive-through to get some food. Once fed, we made our way back to our transient berthing. To say it was sub-standard is an understatement. We made the best of it because we figured we'd get to Monterey in short order on Saturday morning.
When we met out at the airplanes Saturday morning we were in for a surprise. On our SH-2F's there is an exterior door that provides access to switches that are part of the refueling process. When this door is open, the aircraft battery is engaged which, in turn, energizes the switches. This door was left open ALL NIGHT. The battery on Dash 2 was drained. No battery, no DC power, no flight possible. So now Dash 1 gets to fly back to North Island to go get a spare battery. Why didn't we get one from some squadron there at Pt. Mugu, you ask? Good question and I am sure we asked it, but I can't for the life of me remember why (probably because no SDO wanted to call in a Maintenance Chief or the Maintenance Officer on a Saturday to get permission to give us one). The OIC of our little troupe was an O-5, he determined that since it was Dash 2's problem, Dash 2's crew could fly Dash 1 back to NASNI and retrieve a battery. While those of us on the Dash 1 crew could take it easy on a Saturday morning.
The problem was that we could not wander far, for when Dash 1 returned we were going to repair Dash 2 and finish our journey. We waited around on the transient flightline with a broken bird. Begging to look inside other transient aircraft as they came through. It was Summertime and hot outside. We spent plenty of time using the only thing Dash 2 was good for, making shade. We also learned from the transient flight operations folks about the famous Pt. Mugu mosquitoes we had been fighting since the night before. Turns out the wetlands around the base are home to some rare species of frog. And that to help the frogs out, they populated the wetlands with mosquitoes. We figured that it worked out better than planned because the mosquitoes got fat off of the humans and the frogs got fat off of the fat mosquitoes.
Well Dash 1 returned at approximately 1500 hours. Which by the time the batteries were swapped, meant that yet again it was too late to make it to Fort Ord in time. So another night spent in a town that rolled up the sidewalks at 8:00PM and another night in substandard barracks.
We got up Sunday morning and flew back to NASNI as soon as possible. With no epic stories to tell of partying in Monterey, just advice to avoid weekends in Pt. Mugu.
This weekend occurred in 1984 so take it with a grain of salt. Some things might have changed.
One of my "good deal" flights while on Active Duty turned to crap because of being stranded at Pt. Mugu. Here is the sequence of events that turned what was supposed to be a weekend-long two-ship cross-country to Monterey, CA, into a weekend of near-hell. Our Noon-ish launch from North Island on Friday was delayed by black-box issues that took a couple of hours to troubleshoot and repair. Pt. Mugu was always scheduled to be a fuel stop, but by the time we got there, we would not have been able to get to Fort Ord AAF before they closed for the night. So on a Friday evening, we found ourselves scrambling around Pt. Mugu looking for berthing for 5 Enlisted and 4 Officers. Once the aircraft were "put to bed" (fueled & turnarounds completed) and berthing secured, we went to find something to eat. We found ourselves walking out the front gate as everything on-base was closed. Lots of stuff out in "town" was closed as well. It was barely 9:00PM. We resorted to walking up to a "Late Night" drive-through to get some food. Once fed, we made our way back to our transient berthing. To say it was sub-standard is an understatement. We made the best of it because we figured we'd get to Monterey in short order on Saturday morning.
When we met out at the airplanes Saturday morning we were in for a surprise. On our SH-2F's there is an exterior door that provides access to switches that are part of the refueling process. When this door is open, the aircraft battery is engaged which, in turn, energizes the switches. This door was left open ALL NIGHT. The battery on Dash 2 was drained. No battery, no DC power, no flight possible. So now Dash 1 gets to fly back to North Island to go get a spare battery. Why didn't we get one from some squadron there at Pt. Mugu, you ask? Good question and I am sure we asked it, but I can't for the life of me remember why (probably because no SDO wanted to call in a Maintenance Chief or the Maintenance Officer on a Saturday to get permission to give us one). The OIC of our little troupe was an O-5, he determined that since it was Dash 2's problem, Dash 2's crew could fly Dash 1 back to NASNI and retrieve a battery. While those of us on the Dash 1 crew could take it easy on a Saturday morning.
The problem was that we could not wander far, for when Dash 1 returned we were going to repair Dash 2 and finish our journey. We waited around on the transient flightline with a broken bird. Begging to look inside other transient aircraft as they came through. It was Summertime and hot outside. We spent plenty of time using the only thing Dash 2 was good for, making shade. We also learned from the transient flight operations folks about the famous Pt. Mugu mosquitoes we had been fighting since the night before. Turns out the wetlands around the base are home to some rare species of frog. And that to help the frogs out, they populated the wetlands with mosquitoes. We figured that it worked out better than planned because the mosquitoes got fat off of the humans and the frogs got fat off of the fat mosquitoes.
Well Dash 1 returned at approximately 1500 hours. Which by the time the batteries were swapped, meant that yet again it was too late to make it to Fort Ord in time. So another night spent in a town that rolled up the sidewalks at 8:00PM and another night in substandard barracks.
We got up Sunday morning and flew back to NASNI as soon as possible. With no epic stories to tell of partying in Monterey, just advice to avoid weekends in Pt. Mugu.
This weekend occurred in 1984 so take it with a grain of salt. Some things might have changed.
Yeah, not really. There's still nowhere to eat on base, the billeting is substandard, and the town shuts down at sundown. Not a bad place for a planned weekend, but not someplace I'd want to be stranded like you were!
There will be a COD there, so plan on a good time!