Why it's good to be in Naval Aviation

[A4sForever]

The Reserve Mafia just passed this around its circuit:

A great Change Of Command dinner speech by CDR "Beef" Wellington, former VFA-203 Blue Dolphins CO.

It's a GREAT speech, to be sure ... but fuck him. I know who he is & for the record: most airlines do not hire a 'majority' of single-seat jocks/drivers simply 'cause they are NOT in the 'majority' of the available aviation gene pool ... so that's bullshit right off the bat -- and he's lucky he got the job, FWIW. (He did say: 'no slack is given & none taken' ... did he not ??? )

"On every trip when you first sit down next to a guy (that 'guy' would be the Captain, motherfucker) ... questions get asked about what flying the F-18 is like ... what this business of Naval Aviation is all about ... ??"This is also so much bullshit, I can hardly believe he said it. Airline pilots -- 95% at least -- are consummate pro's and they DO NOT shrink in the presence of an F'inA-18 driver w/ a big watch and a fragile ego (or even an A4/A6 driver ) ... and they DON'T ask pathetic questions about 'what's it like' and the 'business of Naval Aviation' ... this guy is livin' in a fucking fantasy and I'd tell him that to his face. Of course, I don't have '3 years' in the airlines .... only @ 25K hours in the air, so what do I know ... ???

He also forgot to mention in his 'how great we art' narrative: rolling in & visual dive-bombing @ night through an undercast w/illumination only by para-flares ... definitely a 'special moment', primarily 'cause when you do it -- it's for the FIRST time. They don't teach it in the RAG ...

And, also for the record -- I've had just as many 'leadership/character building' moments in the airlines ... and MORE shitty approaches to mins ... and MORE aircraft mechanicals airborne than at any time in 20 years of Navy flyin' ...

You KNOW that I LOVE Naval Aviation in almost all cases ... but stuff like this really pisses me off. I fully realize his speech is meant to be a paean to Naval Aviation, but it's a botched job. While it salutes NAVAIR, it shows ZERO respect for his current crewmembers and his current lot in life -- a life AND a paycheck that he's fucking LUCKY to have, truth be told ... and that's a below average in headwork on my gradesheet. I'm sure his current crewmembers would be interested in knowing what 'high' regard he holds them in .... but in any case, anyone who's dripping w/ so much ego is NEVER gonna' stop tellin' 'guys' he was an F'inA-18 driver.

It's not possible. It's just not in him ... :icon_wink

'Sir Wellington' would NOT like flyin' in my cockpit. And if I asked him 'his experience' -- typical when you haven't flown w/ the guy -- if I later found out he'd lied to me -- he'd regret it. It would definitely be a 'reckoning' on his appreciation of an airline pilot's job ...

When I'm '90' and sittin' on the BEACH w/ a blond beach-babe in one hand & a Mai'tai' in the other (let others sit on the 'porch' in their rocking chair) ... I'm gonna' tell 'em that during my years of useful consciousness:

I was a NAVAL AVIATOR AND AN AIRLINE PILOT ... !!!

Believe it.

End of rant @ ego-trips ... I need a drink. I think I'll go make one .. or two ...

 

[jfulginiti]

Great speech blah blah blah..... speaking of drinking..... in prep for movers coming in 9 days..... just finished a bottle of tequila and a bottle of JW.... about to hit the rum..... Oohrah Semper Fi Devil Dog Yut Yut!

 

[phrogdriver]

How totally pumped up with adrenaline you are when you pick up a "man overboard"! Probably the best feeling I have ever had..

I can only imagine...because when I HEAR "man overboard," I'm just hurredly rolling out of my rack, trying to put on PT gear, and then scurrying to the ready room to take attendance.

The most exiting thing to happen during man overboard for me is when the ship's XO has taken a Marine hostage and some shop submitted a false muster!

 

[Catmando]

It's a GREAT speech, to be sure ... but fuck him. I know who he is & for the record: most airlines do not hire a 'majority' of single-seat jocks/drivers simply 'cause they are NOT in the 'majority' of the available aviation gene pool ... so that's bullshit right off the bat -- and he's lucky he got the job, FWIW. (He did say: 'no slack is given & none taken' ... did he not ??? )

"On every trip when you first sit down next to a guy (that 'guy' would be the Captain, motherfucker) ... questions get asked about what flying the F-18 is like ... what this business of Naval Aviation is all about ... ??"This is also so much bullshit, I can hardly believe he said it. Airline pilots -- 95% at least -- are consummate pro's and they DO NOT shrink in the presence of an F'inA-18 driver w/ a big watch and a fragile ego (or even an A4/A6 driver ) ... and they DON'T ask pathetic questions about 'what's it like' and the 'business of Naval Aviation' ... this guy is livin' in a fucking fantasy and I'd tell him that to his face. Of course, I only have @ 25K hours in the air, so what do I know ... ???

He also forgot to mention in his 'how great we art' narrative: rolling in & visual dive-bombing @ night through an undercast w/illumination only by para-flares ... definitely a 'special moment', primarily 'cause when you do it -- it's for the FIRST time. They don't teach it in the RAG ...

And, also for the record -- I've had just as many 'leadership/character building' moments in the airlines ... and MORE shitty approaches to mins ... and MORE aircraft mechanicals airborne than at any time in 20 years of Navy flyin' ...

You KNOW that I LOVE Naval Aviation in almost all cases ... but stuff like this really pisses me off. I fully realize his speech is meant to be a paean to Naval Aviation, but it's a botched job. While it salutes NAVAIR, it shows ZERO respect for his current crewmembers and his current lot in life -- a life AND a paycheck that he's fucking LUCKY to have, truth be told ... and that's a below average in headwork on my gradesheet. I'm sure his current crewmembers would be interested in knowing what 'high' regard he holds them in .... but in any case, anyone who's dripping w/ so much ego is NEVER gonna' stop tellin' 'guys' he was an F'inA-18 driver.

It's not possible. It's just not in him ... :icon_wink

When I'm '90' and sittin' on the BEACH w/ a blond beach-babe in one hand & a Mai'tai' in the other (let others sit on the 'porch' in their rocking chair) ... I'm gonna' tell 'em that during my years of useful consciousness:

I was a NAVAL AVIATOR AND AN AIRLINE PILOT ... !!!

Believe it.

End of rant @ ego-trips ... I need a drink. I think I'll go make one .. or two ...

Agree with all. You and I seem to have had similar experiences in both professions and we share an informed perspective.

While being a Naval Aviator and an airline pilot exist in two entirely separate universes with few similarities, I thoroughly enjoyed both careers. Each can be very challenging and personally rewarding in their own way. And I have great respect for the people I have had the pleasure to serve with, in both professions. I am fortunate to maintain many old friends from both professions. I consider trashing one profession inappropriately to boost the status of another to be sophomoric.

Like you, I was a NAVAL AVIATOR AND AN AIRLINE PILOT! I'm very fortunate to have had the wonderful experience of both worlds, and am proud of them both...... to which I think I will now toast both. Salude!

 

[Jennifer Båtstad]

Where else but in the navy, can you be flying past a cruise ship where everyone is waving at your helo happy to to see a big grey thing coming close by... only to see them stop waving all of a sudden and cover their mouth with one hand while pointing with the other... why???? becuase the AW is only wearing his gunner's belt and he is mooning the cruise ship from the cabin door!

You can't take those AWs anywhere! Love it!

 

[TheCzar]

Hey guys keep this one rolling. Some motivational stories for us STA-21 Pilot/NFO hopefuls!!!

 

[MIDNJAC]

Hey guys keep this one rolling. Some motivational stories for us STA-21 Pilot/NFO hopefuls!!!

Not really a motivating speech, but here is some food for thought.....I started API in spring of '08, and a little over 3 years later, last week, I took off in a single seat grey jet on a radar-trail departure through about 10k ft of IMC, joined, transited out 150 miles east, did a 2v1 DACT BFM hop with my lead against an F-5E, knocked it off, flew 150+ miles home, and back home shot a PAR to OPNAV mins with a heavy crosswind in driving rain. That flight pretty much tied everything I have learned together into a 1.5 of flight time (with the exception of the boat and in flight refueling), and that was literally only a couple short years after I started. Pretty impressive when you sit back and think how much this business crams into your brain in such a short time, and just how much responsibility is placed on you in the same amount of years. Get ready my STA-21/SNA/SNFO friends, this will be you in a couple very short years!

 

[brownshoe]

^^^
You will meet and work with some amazing people (like this young man above).

You take care TC, and good luck to you.

Steve

 

[aodell]

Anyone want to keep adding to this thread? I read it all in one night--loved it. It certainly made me even more excited for the opportunity to pursue wings.

 

[KBayDog]

Anyone want to keep adding to this thread? I read it all in one night--loved it. It certainly made me even more excited for the opportunity to pursue wings.

Sure!

Here's the best reason to be in Naval Aviation.

 

[aodell]

Sure!

Here's the best reason to be in Naval Aviation.

Well-played, sir, well-played.

 

[John Manly]

In 1975 as we stood up HSL-37 in Hawaii, we piggybacked on the SUBPAC PCO/PXO training program operating in the Lahaina Roadstead. We sent a 3 plane det to Kahului Airport on Maui for 2.5 weeks. The OIC was a LT. Damned tough duty. Fly, sightsee, fly, sightsee, fly, land, have a burger, and do it all over again. We got great training trying to sink the best best submariners in the world. Most of us only had RAG ASW experience, so failure WAS an option initially, but we got increasingly better. For the first year, or so the standard weekend plan was "take an aircraft and put at least 5 hours on it" to build pilot and crewman flight time and to learn the geography of da' Islands. With a number of local guys in the squadron, there was always a neighbor island to RON on with Hawaiian hospitality waiting. As many have said before, I couldn't believe they were paying me to fly in paradise. Hawaii No Ka Oi.

 

[Gatordev]

Hawaii No Ka Oi.

When it comes to flying, I have found no other.

 

[81montedriver]

So I'm flying in a division of 4 Hercs on goggles as -4 in a LL night. We take off from Yuma transit at 15000ft to our checkpoint and then roll in towards our drop zone 30 seconds apart in an IR cooled profile decent. We drop our cargo into the drop zone, defeat a simulated IR threat off the drop zone, climb back up to 15000ft join back up as a four ship and fly back.

Like MID said in his earlier post, this for me was probably one of my most memorable flights thus far and required me to use not just alot of my knowledge from flight school, but most of my tactical knowledge I had picked up in the fleet. All I know is it sucks flying -4 in a Herc formation!

 

[jt71582]

Yesterday I flew a gray aircraft for the very first time. My face hurt from grinning for 2 hours straight. I picked the right profession, and I'm grateful to be here.