They don’t fade away, either.
In fact, some of them end up getting told by Marine infantry:
Otherwise known (along with Gretzky’s Tale) as a cautionary example of what can happen to an email once you pull the trigger on that thang.
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Really good sea stories never dieBy lex, on September 19th, 2007
10 comments to Really good sea stories never die |
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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Cap’n,
I do enjoy a good ‘After Action Report’!
Something tells me that was not the only ‘strip’ that got peeled off.
Awesome story…just another fun night in Naval Aviation. Ain’t no one flying today can top those men and women, either.
For those ignorant folks (like me, for example), can someone explain what a “cat seal” is and what it is supposed to do (besides damaging F-18 engines when taken aloft, that is)?
Linc
Whew!!! Good music too!!
Sorry, Linc – the catapult track is basically a three-inch groove down the deck with a piston below deck attached to a “shuttle” assembly above deck. The aircraft launch bar connects to that shuttle and drags the jet airborne (or, at least, off the end) when the cat fires.
In between launch and recovery the catapult track is sealed by a series of thick and hard rubber strips about as big as your forearm. The seals keep fuel and oil from leaking into the cat well to prevent cat fires (being steam driven, they get pretty hot) as well as to help prevent corrosion.
They’re supposed to be removed and dragged off the deck for launches. One of these apparently was not and when the shuttle hit the back end it rose up and then down into the engine intake.
The rest of the story is all about consequences.
Hee hee… he said “cat fires”
Thanks for the knowledge, Lex. I also just finished reading the Gretzky story. Wow.
Obviously, events like these pretty much suck to live through (with the alternative being much, much worse), but which are most excellent to hear about in the telling afterwards.
Linc
A good story is a good story, no matter how old it is.
That Beowulf thing is, what, 1200 years old? And it’s still a good story.
If the story is actually true, why that’s even better!
What you said, Lincolnstern. Agreed.
It has to be pretty amazing to actually be able to tell a story like that. It can be difficult, while reading stories like this, to be mindful of the fact that, at the time the event actually occurred, the outcome was in doubt. For me, the choices were a)he ejects and is returned safely to the carrier or b)he manages to return the plane safely to the ship. Even reading a story like this, I tend to forget how dangerous your jobs are.
Great account…amazing flying…as I said on another thread the best war stories are the ones you survive to tell about. Best