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Sailors

By lex, on March 12th, 2008

The flight deck is a dangerous place, even for those accustomed to working there. Beware of prop arcs, intakes and exhausts.

dscn2475.jpg

You too, chief.

(H/T to Tailspin for the pic)

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March 12th, 2008 | Tags: | Category: Navy, sailors

18 comments to Sailors

  • Babs
    March 12, 2008 at 11:49 am

    God Bless every man that serves on the deck…

  • Babs
    March 12, 2008 at 11:54 am

    You know, I wrote an essay several years ago for our regional paper about the men and women that serve on the decks of our ships and their commitment. I tried to get people to understand that the LEAST THEY COULD DO WAS VOTE…
    When I see pictures like this, it just breaks my heart because I personally know voters of the “chip and dip” lifestyle that can’t be bothered to vote but sure do have a lot of opinions… I wonder what they would do if I shoved this picture in their faces?

  • Babs
    March 12, 2008 at 11:55 am

    This sailor is supporting your right to be an assh*le… How do you feel about it now?

  • Jim Collins
    March 12, 2008 at 11:59 am

    My first week, on the roof, I spent with a Second Class who was the night shift powerplants troubleshooter. I looked kind of funny holding on to the back of his belt everywhere we went since I was about a foot taller and 80 lbs heavier than he was. He kept saying I was his wind anchor. Took me about an hour to realize why I was holding his belt. He showed me how to survive up there. A year later I had a guy holding on to my belt.

  • Jessica
    March 12, 2008 at 12:01 pm

    My hubby’s job is “On the roof”. These folks put their life in danger all of the time. Even with the best training (and the Navy trains well) accidents can happen. I am just so thankful for people like Babs who supports our Military! This pic is a sad reality.

  • Tailspin
    March 12, 2008 at 12:17 pm

    Connie is a city of five thousand stories. This one happened just before 9/11 during Tiger Cruise, the day before if I recall correctly.

    I had the privilege to be back aboard almost 30 years after crossing the same water headed home from Yankee Station. In fact, as we left Pearl and rendered honors to the Arizona, I pondered what it it must have been like to have your country attacked. A few days later I knew. Pix, if you’re interested, on Flickr. The last few B&Ws are vintage 1973.

    Just curious, Lex; with all the other daily madness do you recall this incident amidst the other traumas? Wouldn’t surprise me if you don’t, but curious if you know any details if you do.

  • lex
    March 12, 2008 at 12:31 pm

    You know, if I’m activating that cell correctly, I believe it was an air wing ordnance chief that got blown down and broke a wrist. I think that FA-18 whose exhaust nozzles you see to the right might have gotten stuck on the four wire and came up on the power without talking to the Boss.

    As slick as the deck was, he’s lucky not to have been blown into something.

  • xairboss
    March 12, 2008 at 1:08 pm

    I recall an Israeli AF general, after observing a CV launch and recovery in the tower, turning to me and stating: “You have no rules.” “No one asks for permission to even taxi, take off or land.” At that point, I pulled out my CV NATOPS and showed it to him and made the point that most, if not all, of the rules and procedures in the Manual were written in blood since we instituted them after someone had been injured or killed in a flight deck mishap.

    For the non Navy airdales, conducting flight ops. is somewhat like trying to put on a production of Swan Lake in a boxing rink using elephants as ballerinas. If you are going to set foot in the boxing rink, you best be aware of what the ballerinas are up to every second you’re in there.

  • JoeC
    March 12, 2008 at 2:23 pm

    I watched TOPGUN again Sunday for the (mumbleth) time. I cranked the home theater up to max on the flight deck scene at the beginning. My wife was screaming at me to turn it down. Later (after I did lower the volume), I told her that that little scene is NOTHING compared to being up on deck during flight ops. I still get watery eyed over that (not that I want to go back at my age), but the shear rush of from the sound is something I’ll treasure. I don’t think there is ANY way to capture the noise level of full flight ops with RA5s, A6s, F4s, A7s, and even F14s (later).

    And even when everything is done right, some aw-sh*t comes along and kills someone. We lost a crewmate on the America to one of those when a test fire of a catapult (after the ’75 overhaul) had the shuttle jam and slung a wire harness around like a whip. The young man didn’t live long enough to be evacuated (IIRC).

    So I pray for those who venture out there. It used to be one of the most dangerous jobs in the world…. and from the picture, looks like it still is.

  • Jessica
    March 12, 2008 at 3:05 pm

    JoeC- on a positive note – if you really enjoy watching the F-14 in action. I would suggest watching Speed and Angels. It has some AWESOME footage of F-14s and is a great documentary. I really enjoyed it and am a big “fan”!

  • JoeC
    March 12, 2008 at 4:12 pm

    Jessica, thank you for the tip! I signed up for updates…I hope they issue Blue Ray HD disks for that! The current ‘release date’ is now June ’08… long after the F14 went to its fate, serving as gate guards and pidgeon roosts on nameless ANG bases and museums. It was a beautiful machine. So one last tribute movie to the recently passed F14… and future fodder for the Discovery Channel.

    (D*mn! I never get on this site without somethin’ Lex put up that doesn’t trigger severe nostalgia. I really can’t blame all this on the good Cap’n though, it was Brian Shul’s nostalgia over the SR71 and a long Sunday afternoon cruising the links)

  • Babs
    March 12, 2008 at 5:00 pm

    My son met meghan several months ago. While I was at his apartment a few months ago I thought of stealing his DVD of Speed and Angels… After all, he had seen it enough times…
    What a terrible Mother I am!

  • Jeopardy
    March 13, 2008 at 5:17 am

    Prop arcs, intakes and exhausts are only 3 of the dozens of things than can injure, maim, or kill you on the flight deck.
    I met Megan and the film’s director at the Speed and Angels premier in DC last year. Really nice bunch of people. I even got them to sign a movie poster that I auctioned off for Valour-IT.

  • JoeC
    March 13, 2008 at 6:29 am

    Question: Does this guy get a toaster?
    http://www.strategypage.com/military_videos/military_photos_2008312215747.aspx

    (This is 11 years old now. My how time flies, except on the internet where almost every mistake captured on video takes on a half life of its own.)

  • jdgjtr
    March 13, 2008 at 1:48 pm

    I spent 3 months on the flightline in Kingsville, TX. I would not say that I was well trained; I wasn’t trained at all. That was a very dangerous job with much potential for tragedy and I always wondered why more people weren’t hurt or even killed. It amazes me still why Naval Aviators cared so little for the enlisted men and women who risked their lives for them daily.

  • lex
    March 13, 2008 at 1:56 pm

    Naval aviators don’t train flight line personnel – their chiefs and petty officers do. If you had gotten hurt, your chief would have been “responsible” for the fact that you hadn’t been trained, but the CO would have been “accountable” for the fact the chief didn’t train you. Probably wouldn’t have done much for your injuries, but that’s how we all too often learn.

    It wasn’t that the guys you saw taxiing around didn’t care about your welfare so much as they were probably unaware that you were frightened, and – working with student naval aviators, who will do unpredictable things at times – they probably had worries of their own.

    You ought never attribute to malice that which can be explained by ignorance.

  • Rick
    March 14, 2008 at 7:54 am

    jdgjtr,
    Did you not go to any type of aviation rate “A” school? FRAMP? GSE courses?
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