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The "V" in VMFA, VMA etc...
- Thread starter Dhc2tacksby
- Start date
Correct but the VQ mission was pretty dang hush hush back then and hence the Q as special mission wink wink. Instead of something more obviously connected to Electronic Recon or Electronic Warfare or ECM. The VPU mission was covered by this at one point as well before they broke out.
I don't know what the difference is in the two jets' tire size, but it can't be that much. Using them as a reference, they seem pretty close. I'm sure the PAX appreciated it.
Brett
Simo visual approaches to runways 28L/R @ SFO .... too many arrivals and not enough runways. The passengers really, really pay attention. You can see their tiny little heads in the other airplane. Not suppose to overtake and pass the other guy once inside the marker ... but it happens.
Again ... visual approach.
Are the approaches to 28 the ones that come in over the bay and get really low before landing? That one always intrigued me as a pax. Just watching the plane getting lower and lower over the water.
Yeah ... and to make matters worse -- sometimes the "controllers"
keep you really, really high until the last moment. No problem in an A-4 -- just roll onto your back and pull the nose through. But in a Boeing 747 ??? I once came up from LAX in a freighter with a cargo stop in SFO on the way to ANC --- the dawn patrol, so traffic should not have been a problem. But that's always been the beauty of the ATC system --- just when nothing makes sense -- that's when it happens.
The photo-negative corollary is, however --- if something makes sense -- it ain't gonna happen .... I think you get the picture. BUT ... I digress, back to the story. We started down sooooooo close and way too high @ SFO. THANKS A LOT, APPROACH !!! I knew it was going to be a challenge --- so I went to idle, threw out the gear, speedbrakes (useless here) and dropped flaps ASAP while doing my best 747 impression of a falling leaf over SFO Bay. NO RIDE @ SIX FLAGS OVER TEXAS WAS EVER ANY BETTER !!!
I knew I wasn't going to make it but heck ... why not "try" ... keep it going, let's see if the "situation" "improves. And of course, we all know how that operation usually turns out.
Finally, my Second Officer (the Bombardier/Navigator equivalent for the B-747) leaned forward in his seat and said : "WE'RE NOT GOING TO MAKE IT!!! WE'LL NEVER FVCKING MAKE IT !!!
To which I calmly replied, in my very best Chuck Yeager Captain's voice --:
" ALLLLLLLLLRIGHT !!! Get me (turning to my First Officer -- a male secretary equivalent in the B-747) a couple of 360's from the tower !!". " Help me, Lord. Help me, Lord " !!! (to myself, of course)
Which he dutifully did .... (the F/O or God ???) and so there you have it --- bright, sunny, beautiful SFO morning with the awe-inspiring sight of a big Boeing 747 doing a death spiral from altitude , 20-25 odd degrees nose down 45 degrees AOB all the way to the turn to final @ 600 feet and about 2-3 miles from the end of RW 28R @ SFO. Landed --- squeaked it on. Never did find out what our "traffic" was that held us so high, so close in.
"I've got it now, GOD" (thinking to myself
) .... No guts, no glory. And "quite the airshow" it was --- the tower offered after landing ..... 
VFA-203 Forever
So You Like To Put fishsticks in your mouth?
A zapper is like a Sticker with the unit logo/patch on it, Not an actual patch (I collect too much squadron geedunk, I know
).Adam
Mefesto said:
I don't recall anything about 1500' of lat sep, but rather a difference with parallel runways of varying centerline distances:
http://www.faa.gov/atpubs/ATC/Chp7/atc0704.html#7-4-4
ATC was a lot of fun, until we had to read the 7110.65....:sleep_125
With the purpose being to "zap" various inanimate (or occasionally animate) objects in the local area of the XC/det/libo port to mark one's territory in a Kilroy-was-here sort of way. Often found on rental cars, bars, FBOs, and strippers.A zapper is like a Sticker with the unit logo/patch on it, Not an actual patch (I collect too much squadron geedunk, I know
Adam
Also good for affixing to another squadron's jet, preferably in a place which while visible, will remain relatively hidden, causing mild consternation when found on preflight . . .
And "quite the airshow" it was --- the tower offered after landing .....
Great story, A4's about the circling whale approach to SFO. Would have loved to witness that.
I can't count the number of times I have had to slam down gear, speed brakes, and rapidly program flaps thinking: "Why the heck did Approach hold us high for so long?" "Why the heck didn't I slow sooner?" "Why the heck didn't I demand lower?" Are we going to make it?" I can see in my peripheral vision, my partner stiffen his back as he peers out front - and down - to the approach end. I wonder how the passengers feel. "Do they know?" "Do they realize what's happening?" "Are they uncomfortable with the flight deck angle?" "Can't S-turn with a "heavy" off my wing." "Don't want to go around if I don't have to." "I'm better than this; how did I get myself into this uncomfortable position?" :bigeyes2_
Then, while all these thoughts are racing through my head, I again look out to check our very close-abeam, heavy traffic for the parallel runway 28. Instantly, I feel much better. Although he is uncomfortably close, he is actually and unbelievably higher, and a little faster than we are! Yes! We weren't so bad off after all! (Comfort is where you find it; and yes, we both land safely.
)
Exhibit A:
Attachments
Dhc2tacksby
Registered User
That photo didn't happen to be taken on Miya Jima?
