From the Navy News Service (click on the pic for hi res)
EAST CHINA SEA (Mar. 5, 2007) – An F/A-18E Super Hornet, assigned to the
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Targets of Opportunityblog advertising is good for you Credo"Sign on, young man, and sail with me. The stature of our homeland is no more than the measure of ourselves. Our job is to keep her free. Our will is to keep the torch of freedom burning for all. To this solemn purpose we call on the young, the brave, the strong, and the free. Heed my call, Come to the sea. Come Sail with me." -- John Paul Jones "Pardon him, Theodotus; he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature" --George Bernard Shaw, "Caesar and Cleopatra" "And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."--Friedrich Nietzsche "A kind Providence has placed in our breasts a hatred of the unjust and cruel, in order that we may preserve ourselves from cruelty and injustice. They who bear cruelty, are accomplices in it. The pretended gentleness which excludes that charitable rancour, produces an indifference which is half an approbation. They never will love where they ought to love, who do not hate where they ought to hate."--Edmund Burke “You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours.”--General Sir Charles Napier "Μολὼν λαβέ" -- Leonidas "Blogito Ergo Sum" -- Neptunus Lex Amazon AssociateFor the Effort!Winnar! Subscribe CategoriesPagesTagsacademy
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Would you rather be a “fighting redcock” or a “blue blaster”?
Craig, As long as you asked…and please don’t take it personally…but I’d much rather be a rompin-stompin, mother-scratchin,hard chargin,lady-lovin, balls to the wall…albiet terminially delusional Snake Eater… than a mealy mouthed, pampered prince of the air service “Fighting Redcock” or “Blue Blaster”…sweet Jesus… they sound like opposing badmiton teams. Best
PS,Lex, Agree…wicked good pictures…, not sure “Groovy” adequately describes their wonderfulness.
I could never be a Redcock, since the were my sister squadron when I commanded the SHWFOTS.
But they did have that YCBAR thing going for them. I s’pose.
YCBAR: I think that’s what Peter Venkman would call “an important safety tip.”
SHWFOTS: Don’t know that one.
Shipmates,
That might all be true, but still….
There seemed to me to be nothing better than tooling around at 10K, monitoring some poor besotted commie boomer, knowing you had him dead to rights, while eating freshly prepared bruchetta, with a fruit and cheese platter on the side, and perhaps some fresh-squeezed juice. Also had selected music playing on the background ICS channels…..
Cold War was hell…. Hell I tell you!
Respects,
I was just amused by the “An F/A-18E Super Hornet … takes flight on a re-fueling mission.” Is there any other kind for a strike fighter?
– Max
I read this and immediately thought ” there have to be some very, very ‘interesting’ wordplays” used by other units on names like the “Fighting Red Cocks.” There’s parts of L.A. that would be at perpetual war over the insults…..
Whoever thought up that unit name could not have been thinking clearly, right? Now, Blue Blasters . . . that rocks. And after a couple drinks it easily changes to something less polite. I like it.
For the record, Max – the SuperHornet was the tanker not the customer on this mission.
And SHWFOTS? Sh!t hot, world famous, orange-tailed shrikes.
Shipmates,
…..”Now, Blue Blasters . . . that rocks. And after a couple drinks it easily changes to something less polite.”
Like, say, Glue masters, or boo tasters, or shoe plasters?????
Seems to me a litle lame, especially by Airdale standards…..
How ’bout Death Dealers, or Skull F*%$s, or Soul Eaters? Now THOSE are monikers…. Blue Man Group…. that’s G**….
Respects,
Shipmates,
Oooppsss… sorry there… didn’t mean to wax all Coulter on you. I’ll try to do better next post. Honest….
Blue Blasters…..Bwhahahahahahha””’ It is to laugh……… What an Airforce name…..
Respects,
What kind of plane is that in the background, behind the Hummer?
N
Nose,
Hard to tell…. it looks like someone was trying to pull it out of the hangar, and then shut the door on it.
Looks like it fod’d a couple of dump ducks on rotation, though…..
Respects,
I know, Lex, I was just amused in that “feeling inadequate” way an F/A-18 jock must feel when he’s carrying the gas and then notes what a real tanker carries.
I blame this on my neighbor.
No, really! See, we had some snow here in God’s Fruited Plains recently, three days of snowfall with 40mph winds. Once the snow and winds died down, I fired up my trusty antique tractor and started pushing snow out of the way.
For four hours I did labor, along with the tractor, and then I heard a bad sound. I thought I might have been spinning a bearing in the transmission, and being only four hours into the task and without having made it from the machine shed to the house, let alone the driveway, my poor back gave a spasm in sympathy of the impending snow-shoveling session.
Then I saw my neighbor, in his 240hp 4wd John Deere happily tooling up my driveway at 20mph with a cell phone plugged into his ear and moving snow like a Colorado avalanche. Finished the job in 15 minutes, he did, accepted a cup of hot chocolate, and then tooled on home via the road the county snowplow operator didn’t dare drive down until the following day.
That bearing noise? It was his *turbocharger* I was hearing, from a 1/4 mile away.
I asked the wife if I could, you know, assert my manliness and spend $120K on a snowblower like his. It was a short conversation and you know the answer.
Thus I’ve great sympathy for the F/A-18 tanker team — we of the practical but minimal crowd having to stick together and all.
AW1: Roger all, except add the per diem check. AWC.
Lex: Where did you get that wonderful picture of a UFO stealing a COD?
“Clearing turn off the angle!”
Snake,
I don’t know anythang about any VFA “B^tt Blasters” but I have heard of the VA-34 “Blue Blasters”. What of it?
http://www.intruderassociation.org/squadrons/va34.htm
Check dat patch. PC or what?
b2
Great link, b2 – check that cockpit picture at the bottom. Cool helmet, but what’s yer man doing? He’s far too wide abeam for overhead holding on an upwind leg, but too low to be the recovery tanker.
Remember, brother: Better to die than look bad. Especially around the ship.
That ain’t no tanker Lex. It’s an “E”! For excellent.
He’s hawkin 2 “Queers” (That means EA-6B Prowlers-Snake-in da old non-PC days) in the stack! What else? Git some cheaters Lex!
Nose- give our brethren a CV NATOPS! LOL.
Blast away Snake! Target rich environment!
B2
Hey Lex…my thoughts exactly must be some FNG nugget screwing the pooch…he’s clearly far to wide abeam(thats the side of the ship…Lex Babes) for an overhead holding on an upwind leg…and he’s way to low to be the recovery tanker. ICSFTH. Best
PS, B-2…Re “Blue Blasters”.. sounds like one of those new energy drinks
They all look like tankers to me, b2
Walked right into it…
(Was that the symbol you were looking for, SE?)
All this man-talk is keeping the Lex Babes lurking, methinks. And Snake – ahem – I’m pretty sure us “girls” know what “wide abeam” means…but:
Upwind leg?
YCBR?
CV NATOPS?
In the meantime – WOOT, Plane Pr0n!
Kris, Are you sure you Lex-Babes(girls??) know there is a difference between…wide abeam and a wide beam…? Just asking. Re Upwind Leg… think sailboat race… the into the wind (upwind leg) course. Best
Snake – well, I can honestly say I knew what wide abeam meant when I saw the photo after reading the comment.
And I’m hoping that wide beam comment was just that…a comment… ICSFTH
No child left behind I say.
“hawkin”- During carrier Case 1 operations (VFR) a stack is the left (port) orbits of all the different real (fixed wing)aircraft the airwing once had (less diversity now)separated by 1000′ with type/squadron aircraft flying in formation (2 or more) waiting for the recovery to begin. In the olden days on a CV(N) that had 110 aircraft aboard that would be 12-15 jets or more each recovery. On the carrier pictured the launch is still going on, hence the “stack” is in effect. “Hawkin the deck” is something I only got to do once or twice- that being reserved for VF or VFA aircraft- only because they are always running outta JP-5 (gas). All this is done BTW, with no voice comms, we just trust that the other guy will do the expected ahead of you, totally unlike a traffic circle in Boston! That Intruder looks like it is at ~ “Angels 5″ (5000 feet MSL (mean sea level)…
See? the acronymns never stop…Someday it’ll all leak outta my head. Lex’s Rhytmes has most of it but he is kinder on the acronyms. Talking on the radio one syllable more than you absolutely have to is showing weakness. Speaking in grunts and by acronym is preferred.
?
No child left behind I say.
“hawkin”- During carrier Case 1 operations (VFR) a stack is the left (port) orbits of all the different real (fixed wing)aircraft the airwing once had (less diversity now)separated by 1000′ with type/squadron aircraft flying in formation (2 or more) waiting for the recovery to begin. In the olden days on a CV(N) that had 110 aircraft aboard that would be 12-15 jets or more each recovery. On the carrier pictured the launch is still going on, hence the “stack” is in effect. “Hawkin the deck” is something I only got to do once or twice- that being reserved for VF or VFA aircraft- only because they are always running outta JP-5 (gas). All this is done BTW, with no voice comms, we just trust that the other guy will do the expected ahead of you, totally unlike a traffic circle in Boston! That Intruder looks like it is at ~ “Angels 5″ (5000 feet MSL (mean sea level)…
See? the acronymns never stop…Someday it’ll all leak outta my head. Lex’s Rhytmes has most of it but he is kinder on the acronyms. Talking on the radio one syllable more than you absolutely have to is showing weakness. Speaking in grunts and by acronym is preferred.
“Queers”- EA-6B Prowlers, VAQ squadron- get it? the “Q”. No, I don’t need rehab.
“non-PC days”- pre 1991
“stack”- see #1 above for more detail or ask Lex, I’m getting typed out…
“cheaters”- spectacles covertly obtained by those airwing pilots of a certain age (like Lex) who feel they need an edge on the “ball” or just want to be able to see their wingman on rendezvous!
“CV NATOPS”- Carrier operating procedures “bible” with all the rules. One of the few things all carrier pilots must know- without the “gouge”! Nose or Lex can fill you in on the meaning of that..of course I (sniff) never had the need for it…
Target rich environment- joke info for those T.V.M.D.C., A. W. or D.M.V.T., A.E.
Figure those out and I’ll buy you a beer! (Not you Lex/Nose)
B2
PS- don’t get a headache Snake!
Geez, thanks B2, whatever I thought I understood before I think I lost now. ‘Tis NOT easy being a a civillian around here. Not for the faint at heart.
Took a guided tour of a military aviation museum today, thought okay, this will be a (relative) breeze, after all I’ve navigated Rhythms, Lex’s sea stories and the Flight Deck. Uh huh. Maybe not so much. Should have had one of you along with me I think. Then again….maybe not?!
Then again, maybe I should print out B2′s post and post it……..somewhere……..?? Nah, too confusing, esp at this time of night!
B-2, The “gouge” is a cheat/crib sheet for those numbskulls unable or unwilling to memorize the wonderful information contained in the “bible”. RE target rich enviroment…not a chance…way to cryptic… not worth the effort the headache or that most generous prize…a BEER… B-2 are you familar with the term Cheap Charlie? Best
PS, Kris, RE my comment # 21 above concerning a wide beam…it was indeed just that a comment… but if the shoe fits…
[...] at “the other side,” Lex had a post with a few minor mistakes. I have, because I know he would do the same for me, fixed the [...]
TVMDC= TV Makes Dumb Children (Add West)
N
Snake – PFFFBBBTTT. (ICSFTH)
Phantoms rule!