Why it's good to be in Naval Aviation

[HooverPilot]

RTB from the boat at dusk, following the coast at 500'. No need to even talk, just watch the scenery.

Being in Fallon and having the CO tell you and 2 other JO's, go to Norfolk, meet the CV in the oparea, join their sink-ex, shoot a Harpoon, go home to Jax for the weekend and be back on Monday. Call me when you get back. Again, that doesn't happen in corporate America.

 

[hornetframer]

For Singer6...
I was in said airwing in Atsugi Japan for around 4 1/2 years (and across the street for 3). Our squadrons would go on det to Okinawa or Guam for LIVE-FIRE exercises. They would go out f*ck stuff up and come back saying You guys helped get in great training, we need to show you the video of the Maverick we shot off. That target is no longer usable. As maintainers (which I was at the time) we thought it was awesome that they were able to bomb targets because we gave them good UP airplanes. We also were able to see some of the unclassified videos THAT ROCKED!!!

Aviation is awesome whether you are an enlisted maintainer or aircrew (officer or enlisted).

Also, Pilots aand NFOs don't have duty every 3-4 days like SWOs. Maybe 2-3 times a month (unless you are med down)!!!

 

[phrogpilot73]

I flew into icing while on a cross country in HTs... There were some breakdowns in crew coordination, etc... Anyway - I "volunteered" to write an article for Approach (I think it ended up being the June 2001 issue). Of COURSE it was published about a month and a half before I check into the squadron. I walk into my new squadron's ready room and my article is hanging on the board, with my name highlighted, and callsign suggestions are written on the board. Everything from Mr. Freeze to Frosty. Ended up getting "Stinky"...

And I'll never forget my own wing chasing deer at 50 ft in the HTs in the name of "training"

 

[rare21]

And I'll never forget my own wing chasing deer at 50 ft in the HTs in the name of "training"

haha, reminds me of when we raced the crash crew fire truck to the CAL zone at 5 feet at Harold.

flying at 500 feet above Pensacola Beach and passing another TH-57 going the opposite way. Then saying "I loved you in Wall Street!" a la Hot Shots part Deux

 

[Super18Ordie]

Loading up 10 Legacy Hornets with bombs the flight night of Operation Iraqi Freedom and watching all 10 of them come back empty

 

[wink]

I love naval aviation because it is brutally real, honest and at its core deadly business. I remember taking the hit for launching a TALD late at the openning of a huge airwing strike at Fallon. The stick monkey screwed it up so I was forced to launch late but on azmuth. Our actions altered the entire strike's effectiveness. In the airwing debrief we were ravaged. I stood up and took it like a man, no BS. I was proud to do so because the training is so vital. Every single one of those guys would have done the same thing. Great people in NAVAIR.

 

[nittany03]

Going down Star Wars Canyon in El Centro as a midshipman in the backseat of an F-14. All the fun of flying jets and none of the work.

Leading my form partner and instructor into the break in Primary, looking back and seeing two more T-34s tucked tight in parade under my wing. Doing my second-to-last Primary cruise form hop as wing, going into a tail chase barrel roll and watching the world literally revolving around me.

Taking a picture of me and my folks in front of a T-45 during my Advanced RI cross-country and watching it spead like e-mail wildfire to all of our relatives and distant acquaintances. Our son, the jet stud. Realizing how damn proud they are.

Spending 5 days on the road during my Primary cross country. Two memories in particular. Doing a VNAV from NAS Jax to NAS Atlanta and watching the sun set as I took off. Fun watching the rest of the world turn in and the day end from 2000 feet, and playing the "I wonder what life is like in [fill in the town I'm flying over]" game. Picked up IFR to shoot approaches into NAS Atlanta, and my instructor took the controls shortly thereafter. Peeked outside the cockpit to find myself almost right over downtown Atlanta at 3000 feet, with the city and the skyscrapers lit up like Christmas morning.

Two days later, VNAVing from Lakeland down over the Everglades and then almost the full length of the Florida Keys at dusk. Landed totally beat after shooting probably 15 approaches that day, and then opened the canopy to have a warm ocean breeze carry the smell of salt spray and mangroves into my cockpit. Welcome to God's Country. Randomly running into two other studs I knew on Duval Street whom I had no clue were down there.

 

[wink]

Going down Star Wars Canyon in El Centro

Wait 'til you get to fly the canyon in Qatar.

 

[Pugs]

Or the Wet one LL in Western Saudi.... Look for the grounded freighter on feet wet.
Pugs

 

[BlkPny]

Getting scrambled by a SEAL team that's surrounded by sleeping bad guys. Being asked to place 5-inch rockets 5 meters in all directions from their smoke, and being able to do it without hurting a single good guy.
Letting them buy you a beer a few nights later.

 

[JIMC5499]

Being the first person to help a wet and cold A-7 driver out of the back of the helo that you helped launch in under 10 minutes in the North Atlantic. Thay guy was hugging everybody. Few days later in England he was buying everyone in the squadron drinks.

 

[gregsivers]

Going to New Orleans for my primary XC and getting paid for it. On the way there wedid a VNAV from Acadiana to NO and dropped down and flew right over the Mississippi all the way into NO as the sun was setting. Flying past the Louis Armstong Airport and being able to see airliners landing and then right over downtown on our way into Lakefront was a great way to end primary. The sh!tty part was seeing it all get flooded 2 weeks later by Katrina.

 

[bunk22]

That night in Sydney, after a long days haul of trash, meeting up with several hotties at the local pub. I think we could see the ship from the beach, in between the boozing and skinny dipping of course. Wait, never mind. COD story of living, breathing, partying and $%@#$%$ on the beach :tongue2_1

 

[nyy]

wow you guys live my dreams

 

[ea6bflyr]

Getting to do my first Mission Commander hop on a Low-Level from Whidbey to Fallon. Full JO crew...all for the sake of a repair part for one of our broken jets in Fallon. What an awesome ride. Knowing that the CO trusts you and your crew implicitly...what a feeling.

ea6bflyr