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
Hmmmm, given recent “events” and documented airframe concerns, must be some muck-raking in the works…I reckon they don’t care about the legacy (I love saying that!) Hornet wing hinges.
On the other hand, I may be entirely off-base above and what they are writing an article on is quality of life stuff for those that never grab a wire but collect per diem instead!
b2
Sorry, can’t help. Was Sensor Operator, enlisted type, not bus driver with commission.
Yeah, same here.
However, I’m sure that the Chief and I could keep them entertained with interesting tidbits about life in the back of the bus…..
After all, SOMEONE has to bring the peeps driving the bus their coffee and grilled steak & eggs with caramelized onions, tossed salad, and fruit compote for desert.
It’s not like we didn’t have any other work to do, mind you…..
And somebody had to vacuum the plane and make sure the galley was properly cleaned before landing and that the head was cleaned and serviced on postflight. Just part of the job, sir. No tip required.
Retired or active duty only? If he wants retired too, let me know. My Dad fits that billet.
With the exception of Bou’s papa, whom I have no doubt is a fine man, do you think people here would actually admit to flying those things?
Hey hey hey now……. it might not be as spiffy lookin’ as some hot fighter job, but that old warhorse of a turboprop can put a world of hurt of several thousand tons of Russian Boomer.
And do it while serving up a home-cooked meal to the crew, with cold sodas and sparkling water.
Like the AW motto says:
“We will locate your faintest whispers…..target your slightest movements…..gaze upon the heat of your body…..we will hear your pounding heart in the deepest oceans…..and when you finally become aware of our presence…..we will have already begun your departure…..forever!”
I had forgotten about the vacuuming the plane before landing routine. Certainly more fun than emptying the pisser after a nice 11 hour relo flight with a full plane.
But the “gourmet” cooking in the back sure was fun and it made our Persian excursion memorable.
Plus eating and drinking in front of that agile fast mover (who had just intercepted us) hanging off our wing was a bonus.
Chief,
Not to mention all the post-brief, pre-flight fun of drawing and loading sonobouys, putting on fuel and pulling plugs and covers BEFORE we did our own equipment preflights. Then putting the plane to bed before heading over to a 2-3 hour debrief. Long daze, hard work, but incredibly rewarding and I wouldn’t change a minute of it.
My Avatar aside, I’ve only sipped the P3 Kool Aid. Not a full on drinker.
I bet it’s an article about how as long as the P-3 driver can keep eyes on the Hornet and get low, the fighter bubba doesn’t have a chance of killin us.
Unless he has 9X.
Damn.
Is it true a P-3 driver once got a DFC for making a “no steak” take-off, followed by an emergency coffee pot failure on short final landing?
Probably. I once heard a rumour about a flight that aborted because someone forgot to bring the Grey Poupon.
Must’ve been an Update III mod, because in the old daze, with the P-3B, you made do with French’s yellow and you liked it.
Nose- Heh. Yup, he’s a good guy. P-2Vs and P-3s, but his best duty was not the flight billets. He had some seriously cool jobs.
AW1Tim,
I am sceptical. I just can’t imagine Maintenance Control releasing the aircraft safe for flight missing essentials.
Nose: The P-3 pilots I’ve known were quite proud of it– lots of multiengine time, and when they deployed to Sigonella they got per diem for it. They’re were getting over and they damn well knew it.
I’ve family that was an SH-60B SAR crewman/SO for a while. We had the fortune of being in the Gulf and on cruise at the same time once. Made for an interesting night in Bahrain.
At any rate, I shoot Teh Bro an e-mail one night and ask how the flight was. (I’d been up in CIC and heard him over BG common talking to someone via UHF/VHF.) He comes back with:
There was some discussion (followed by a large amount of ranting on his part) some time later about how exactly one is supposed to eat chili in a helicopter. All this discussion about hot meals whilst flying reminded me of that.
@AW1 Tim: one of the department heads in my last command was a P-3 stick wiggler. Mentioned to me once that a COFFEE LOW light was reason for an in-flight abort.
AW1 Tim,
I agree – those long days were loads of fun. Was a P-3c UI -UIII guy with only one bounce flight on a TP-3A.
My last squadron was disestablished as part of the reserves P-3 drawdown or whatever you call it, so I’m finishing out the career in a TSC.
A fellow up in Oceanside was a P-3 pilot in the late 60′s and early 70′s before going off to law school. The fellow did have Navy aviation in his veins–his dad was a PBY pilot and son was born in Coronado whilst Dad was XO of a patrol boat squadron. When the young ‘un got up to piloting his very own P-3–and mouthing off at the old man as young hot shot pilots will do, he told dad: “PBYs take off at 90 knots, cruise at 90 knots, land at 90 knots, and a PBY pilot lives to be 90 years old.”
I guess the Coffee-Brewing/Serving must have been part of A-school for all the AW’s cause all of the ones I knew who flew S-3′s were expert at it. Oh and they were really the only experts with a Buffer on the whole ship. They could cut an angle at the deck edge that would leave a big smile on a Boatswains Mate, and I am talking about a Blackshoe Boats, not one of those airdale ones.
As an AX, I had plenty of time to admire their handi-work and of course “complement” them on their professionalism.
Never a dull moment back in the days when we really did do ASW.
BT: Jimmy T sends.
Drew,
Thanks for the memory… I had completely forgotten the Chili/Stew with no silverware chump dump on the ’60′s.
The shoe’s never did fail to underwhelm. Just gettin’ back at us for the 0300 flight quarters.
The Danish ships used to send up fresh cookies and wonderful sandwiches. At least they were thankful for the pony.
P3 per diem? Harrumph….
Oh, and let’s not forget the daily ration available on the Deutsches bootsen(sp?) of adult beverages; honor system and all.
HAL-5/HCS-5 (The pride and joy of my life) made their living in whatever bare bones sand lot they were sent to with the SpecWar Team of the hour, with Hop Sing (He really wouldn’t answer to anything else) at the grill and optional showers once a week out of the bag. Ah, home sweet sand box.
Geez, gotta admit, haze gray and underway just didn’t fit our lifestyle, and you P-3 guise…guyz…well, I’ll leave well enough alone. I mind the time when one of our skippers was offered a pineapple cruise on a boat from sandy eggo, and his reply was…umm…never mind…Lex Babes and all…you know…We did C-5′s wherever we went, prior to playing in the sand box. Something about 12 hour balloon up to showtime…
Nose, I must own up to one flight on a Lockeed Electra (civilian P-3)that transported me from MSY to Pensacola. There I was introduced to the Staff Sgt, USMC, head of Indoc BTN. I was/am so convinced of my mistake in joining the Navy that I have never again set foot on the four engined turbo monster again.
Ha! That was great, Boss! I mind the time at Pt Mugu when a certain Marine Occifer-ummm…lessee…that would be Colonel…yeah, okay, O-6 said “The only blight on my military career was my 4 year enlistment in the Navy.” Amidst the snarls surrounding him at the time, there was one former Marine present who enjoyed the aside. His smile and the other’s drew no approval from the others…and they cared so much. He..he..he..he..
Omigosh, it’s our birthday! Whoo Hoo!
I remember very well the P-3s Orions ( a Navy bud had to tell me what they were and their mission) flying out of Weymouth Naval Air Station in the mid- seventies…felt real good then knowing those guys were tracking that old Pecker-Wood Ivan… and I still do…many thanks to you all. Best
all this talk of food…
Yeah well I can heat a mean slider on WRA-37.
900 amps of 1.64Vdc Coaxitron filament warming goodness shouldn’t go to waste.
As an old retired P3 IFT/RO I can’t pass this up. I second all the previous comments about the life aboard what has become the War Pig. You know what burns my ass? No, REALLY… Climbing out on the nacelles to put the inlet covers on before they had cooled sufficiently. Liberty awaits, Ya know… Food was always good, thanks to some talented Ordnancemen. Always had a spoon in the sleeve pencil pocket and a P-38 on the dogtag chain. Worst part was getting the JO’s to pony up for their part of the food bill that the ordie took out of his own pocket for the extras that made meals special. Only had that problem on a couple of crews and the PPC usually set the miscreants straight.
Lots of great memories and stories to tell…
ATCS
USN Ret
Nothing beats a slider in any man’s land or ‘frame, Eagledude…
Of such are America’s meanest and leanest fed!
Hoo Rah!! birthday and such…
The P3 has to be a great airplane since it has the proper Lockheed lineage , but why did they mount the engines upside down?
(from an old whisperHerk driver)
OSD, the eternal debate…did they lack ‘erl’ upside down…and not unnoticed by more than a few…
I’m not clear on this whole vacuum thing. You’re not talking manifold pressures are you? Is all this post flight vacuuming to rid the plane of food crumbs or cigarette ashes?
Curtis,
The P-3 has a cannister vacuum system to clean the “tube” or inside of the fuselage. It consists of a cannister with a filter and two hoses. The shoter one attaches to an opening in the top of the fuselage, and the longer one is stretched throughout the cabin like a direhose to clean up all the dirt and carp that finds it’s way aboard. Food crumbs, bits of stiff tracked in on flight boots, and just general dust knoacked loose by 12 hours of allison turboprop vibrations.
We usually cleaned up about an hour out from base. Collected all the trash, paper cups, wrappers, etc, wiped down and cleaned the galley and vacuumed up everything before setting condition 3 for landing. Sometimes we could dump trash out the unpressurized sonobouy launcher. Most times we didn’t.
Respects,
Ahhh. All this puts me in mind of a story… once upon a time, when I was flyin Bravos out of Barbers Point, we were asked to carry out a special mission during a dfw (dedicated field work – also known as a bounce hop or dedicated fuel waste). We were given a cannister of ashes which were the remains of a retired sailor who had asked to be buried at sea. My crew ordie and I were the observers for the flight and while we were out over the water for part of the flight we decided it was time to send our shipmate home. With the respect that the moment demands, and with nothing but good intentions, my ordie and I had the flight station depressurize and we opened the sonobuoy freefall shoot. So we could dump the ashes at sea, you understand. Unfortunately, nobody ever mentioned negative pressurization or the venturi effect to us. My poor ordie went to dump the cannister down the tube and instead of going down the tube, the ashes came up the tube, pretty forcefully, in a cloud. Poor guy. We ended up vacuuming that bird for more than an hour on the way back to the field. In telling this, I want you to know that, although I get a smile out of it to this day, it was a very respectful and humbling moment to fulfill the final wishes of a shipmate.
AW1, Ah yes, “vacuum the plane.” For those who’ve never seen it, it looks like the hose you vacuum a pool with.
1981, a young CTI3, one of my first dets with VQ as we neared Kef I was told to vacuum the plane.
How?
“When the FE tells you, open that little vent above the Nav station and stick this hose in it.”
Yeah, there was some cannister in the bag he handed me, but I didn’t know where that went. He had told me to stick the hose in the hole, never said anything about a cannister. It must be like vacuuming a pool.
So I stick the hose in the hole and hop down to begin vacuuming. Imagine my surprise as I watch about 20 feet of plastic hose disappear up through that hole. I can still remember the “zzzip” sound it made.
You should’ve seen the look on my supe’s face when I told him, “The hose went out.”
After we land in Kef, this little Air Force pick up drives up with our vacuum hose in the bed. The damn thing had wrapped around the long wire antennas and fallen off the plane when we landed.
That explained that bumping noise we could hear in the aft of the plane after “the hose went out.”
Fod,
Oh yeah… heh.
We had a nugget of an Ardnanceman on a flight who was tired of emptying the urinal by hand after the flight. He got the bright idea to vacuum up the contents after finishing the interior of the tube.
You can imagine what happened next. Although there was sufficient force to suck all that fluid out and spray it all over the upper fuselage and tail surfaces, there wasn’t quire enough to completely pull it all out through the cannister filter, coating the inside of all the flexible hose and the container with a maloderous substance.
It took him forever to get than thing cleaned, and it was the last time anyone asked him to vacuum the plane.
Fortunately we had a washrack to take care of the outside of the aircraft.
On the C’s we only had a “small” vacuum that we had to carry through the cabin. So usually one guy was on the hose end and the other moving the canister and replugging it in as we moved from cockpit to galley.
Another one of those “team” job skills we picked up like buffer and cord tech during the many schools we attended enroute to the fleet.
Lex, I might be able to help you out – got about 10k hrs driving the SNB (Sleek Navy Bomber) so I’m somewhat familiar with the beast even after all these years. 5 deployments to Iceland flying the machine mostly chasing ‘the threat’ over the North Atlantic. Just have them give me a jingle – not sure what they are looking for but can probably get the answer.
Inflight meals – one of the best meals I’ve ever had was a chicken cacciatore the crew ordnanceman made – red and white table cloth and candle to boot – those were the days and the vacuum ritual was always an ‘event’ – thanks to all the P3 Bubbas for the memories.
BTW – HAPPY BIRTHDAY – Lex – believe me you’re just a pup…
BTW – HAPPY BIRTHDAY to all the Marines out there.. Irish
Well, gotta get my P-3 story in here, too.
I was stationed in Iwakuni, supporting the deployed squadron at NASU, in 1974. They sent me TAD to Moffett for some school, and my ride back to Japan was on a P-3 logistics flight.
First leg – NUQ->ADK. Got there, and Wx was too crappy to land. Alt was EDF. The 9 hr flight has turned into a 12 hr flight. RON. No booze avail – AF quarters.
Second leg – EDF-> ADK. About a 3 hr flight. RON. Watched “Silent Running” and got drunk.
Third leg – ADK->RJTA. Seven hr flight. RON2. Got drunk again, twice.
Fourth leg – NJA->RJOI. Two hr flight. Home. Went back to work to rest up.
Total flight time – 22.3 hr in that great grey, multiengine, subsonic trash can. UGH!
By 2025 the P-3 will be healthy again…LOL:
http://www.dcmilitary.com/stories/111308/tester_28190.shtml
Ouch:
http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/11/navy_orions_111708/