Running two identical Pontiac G8 GTO sedans rigged with enough comm gear to talk to the moon, we prepositioned the two cars at the approach end of the runway just off the taxiway. As the slow-moving, single engine 50-plus-year-old airplane crossed the fence, both cars accelerated to nearly 100 mph in just a few seconds. Once behind the gracefully hovering black recce bird, the lead vehicle made altitude calls to the pilot who is unable to adequately view the runway ahead — 10 feet … 6 feet … 3 feet … 2 feet … 10 inches … 2 inches … down — and then the plane rolled to a gradual stop, eventually dipping one wingtip until the ground crew could install the orange taxi wheels for the ride back to the hangar. Once the engine shut down, the ground crew pushed the sunshade over the cockpit, and the canopy came open to reveal the yellow pressure suit clad pilot. These are the same suits made by David Clark that are flown on the Space Shuttle and the now extinct SR-71 Blackbird. The first thing to come out of the cockpit is the stash of red-bordered TOP SECRET profile documents, which I obviously was not allowed to photograph. After the scene was sterilized of classified material, I was able to shoot the pilot being helped out of the jet and ceremoniously welcomed back by his squadron mates.

Typical missions last upwards of nine hours at altitudes greater than 60,000 feet. Truly, this was a rare glimpse at the deployed operations of one of the tightest secret communities on the tip of the spear. Thanks to these unnamed crews, conducting secret ops at an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia.

Erok

More to come.

EROK

More to Come

Erok

Getting tired…

Erok

After a long but uneventful transit via Northwest/KLM through Amsterdam, I made it to Bahrain late Sunday night and was met by Navy 5th Fleet Public Affairs CDR. Chris Sims and LCDR Corey Barker. I managed to grab a very short 5 hours in the rack before reporting for the 2.5 hour COD flight out to Nimitz first thing Monday morning. With all flight off the carrier supporting the ongoing OEF activity in Afghanistan, the boat is operating way south of Bahrain in the Gulf of Oman since all flights are overflying Pakistan to get in-country. Within an hour of trapping aboard Nimitz, I was sitting in the brief with VFA-41 getting the gouge for the planned photo ex that was already in place. The plan was to take a simultaneous covey launch with the Prowler and then chase them up the “Boulevard” air route that all tactical aircraft follow in transit to the Afghan kill boxes, and then circle back and join up with each subsequent strike element as they were shot off the bow behind us. The weather was clear above 5K, but the layer of clouds obscured the Pakistani coastline. As a result, the images I will post show the various strike elements during their transit right up to going “feet dry” over the southern coast of Pakistan, but with clouds instead of desert in the background. There will be some video from the cockpit eventually, but I wanted to get these posted quickly before heading off to Al Udid in Qatar first thing Thursday. I am writing this on from my state room aboard Nimitz on Wednesday morning and will be able to make a data-dump/upload from the Air Unit back in Bahrain. While flying in the helo around the boat yesterday shooting the launch and recovery, one of my cameras was fried by the ship’s radar if you can believe that, so I will be making an emergency run to the camera shop in Bahrain to buy another Nikon D3 to finish up this trip. Thanks for checking in, and I will make another upload hopefully when I get back from Qatar and before heading to Bagram and Camp Bastion in Afghanistan.

Erok out

Next stop, the Sandbox!

Erok

At the controls of my 1968 O-2A Skymaster

Erok

In this case, the M240 is the standard medium weight machine gun employed around the US services with infantry, ships, and aircraft. It fires a NATO standard 7.62mm round and has a selectable rate of fire between 600 and 1000 rounds per minute. A few miles off the shores of Virginia Beach, a civilian contractor operates several rigid inflatable boats or RIBs. One of these RIBS is radio controlled and is towing a daisy chain of salvaged personal watercraft hulls that have been filled with foam, painted day-glow orange and manned by a silhouette target cutout.

Our training mission consisted of a two-ship of the larger MH-60S Seahawks, similar to the Army UH-60 Blackhawk. Each aircraft was armed with a M-240 on either side and two gunners to be qualified. The entire floor was stacked with 300 round boxes of 7.62 ammo and once on station over the range, the two helicopters initiated a racetrack pattern that presented targets to alternating sides of the aircraft for the gunners to engage.

At first, the distances were about 100 yards and proved pretty difficult to affect accurate fire, but as the pilots worked the pattern closer to the targets, the fun quickly ended for the Jet Skis. It was obvious now why the hulls were filled with foam as round after round ate up the targets and whipped the ocean into a jacuzzi of lead and fiberglass. With very little imagination, it was easy to visualize the targets as an unfortunate band of pirates who happened to mess with the wrong container ship.

There were a few rounds left over after the crew chiefs had fired their required counts, so in order to clear out the remaining unspent ordnance, I was obliged to empty the last few boxes as the sun went down. I’m not sure if it is because shooting with a Nikon actually hones my marksmanship or that P3S Modern Warfare is so realistic, but either way, I managed to get an few “atta-boy”s from the flight deck, and that is what really makes this job so damn cool.

Video to follow!

Erok

Check out the rough cut HELO DUNKER footage from NAS Norfolk for the project.

EROK

These days, there is a full-time reserve adversary detachment on base operating under the historic WWII Sundowner squadron colors; VFC-111.  These seasoned reserve aviators fly commercial jobs most of the time, but one week per month on average, they strap on the razor-sharp Northrop F-5 Tiger and  go head-to head with the Navy’s youngest and brightest flying Rhinos and Charlies.  While I was down there, I got my first F-5 backseat ride with Frogger Hughes chasing 3 other Tigers into the Bogey presentation for the students.  After that, I had 2 Rhino flights to shoot multiple ‘merges” and a “Snap-shot” tail-chase.  The images below show some of the results from each of those flights, which were all flown with epic Key West clouds as the background and perfect early morning light.

Enjoy the ride and CHECK-6!

EROK

Over on the shorter “drag platform”, the drill again is to hook into the Koch fitting on the parachute risers that are connected to a pulley system at the other end of the pool.  This device is designed to simulate another bailout scenario of having to disconnect from your parachute in high-wind conditions.  When the instructor rings a bell, you must jump from the platform into the pool facing the direction of travel.  Once in the water, the risers will yank you face-forward through the darkness.  If you follow the training procedure of kicking your legs and twisting the risers over your head to try and reverse your position so you can breath, you are then supposed to release the Koch fittings and swim free.   Like many of these scenarios, it sounds a lot easier than it really is, and many candidates end up being dragged all the way down and back before they are able to finally get free of the parachute risers.

The flash on my camera makes the environment seem much more bright than it actually is when you are going through the class… plus, there are occasional strobe lights

going off to simulate lightning, a loud storm sound-track  of thunder claps and rain with a helicopter hovering over head.  There are also multiple fire-hoses set up along the edge of the pool and on the ceiling that cause a curtain of monsoon rain to add to the realism.  All in all, it is amazing test of concentration and situational awareness.

EROK

Back in the day, drown proofing was a sort of filter exercise that would weed-out weaker swimmers.  The modern approach to this exercise is to familiarize air crew members with the techniques and equipment that they will need to stay alive.  Even without the extended 15 minutes of “drown-proofing” after swimming 3 lengths of the pool, there is still plenty of stamina required to complete this event.

After suiting up in a complete complement of flight gear, including steel toed boots and full torso harness with survival vest, candidates are required to swim 2 lengths of the pool single file.  The course follows several floating balls and winds up in the deep-well of the pool where you then need to demonstrate a technique for prolonged dorwn-proofing.  This is essentially a dead-man’s float where only the top of your head should be visible on the surface as you hold your breath and minimize movement.  Don’t forget, you are already out of breath from the swimming, and staying on the surface is  a lot harder than it sounds.  With all of your gear, even floaters are dragged toward the bottom.  And sinkers are very close to panic.

IF you are able to demonstrate this technique with some measure of control, you are cleared by the instructors to manually inflate your “horse-collar” life preserver.  For some, the vicious cycle of gasping for air, then trying to calmly stay near the surface catches up to them and eventually they are no longer able to stay on the surface.  Obviously, there are safety swimmers in the pool at all times, and as you will see in these photos, more than a few candidates are given assistance to the side of the pool.  The sinkers are allowed to continue with the rest of the training, but are required to reattempt this portion at the end of the day.  Virtually all are eventually successful since the idea is to train them in the techniques of water survival, not screen them for a certain level of performance.

After all, the best fighter pilot in the Navy may not be a natural floater.

EROK

This post is the first in a series that will showcase the world-class survival training beginning with the Helo Dunker.  Sound off if you have ever been through this training and we’ll start a conversation about the specific details that make this device so diabolical, yet realistic.

EROK

In addition, Blue Angel #4, Lieutenant Mark Swinger, callsign “GOPHER” also flew with VF-31 when I was covering the final TOMCAT deployment in the Arabian Sea.  On this Thursday practice demo over San Francisco Bay, the Team was flying both of their #7 two-seat Hornets, one with me in the #2 position, and the other with “Gopher” in the SLOT.  In his backseat was another legacy FELIX Tomcatter from VF-31, LT Blake “SOBBY” Coleman who appears in a lot of the images from that flight.  He is wearing a khaki flight suit and is hard to miss.  The images I am posting today are just a teaser for the high-energy slideshow and video from this flight.  Using the look-back camera footage that rolls on every backseater lucky enough to get a ride, I also shot some of my own hand-held video.

In a the near future, this video will be posted here and you will get to follow the action from inside the cockpit as the demo rolls over San Francisco and crushes me with multiple 7.3Gs maneuvers shaking the entire jet and sending “vapes” over the wings and canopy.

So check back soon and until then, enjoy these shots!

SMOKE ON!

EROK

Over the next 12 months, I will be putting together an epic picture book commemorating 100 years of Naval Aviation.  In order to capture the pinnacle achievements that demonstrate how far the Navy has come in a century, I will be traveling around the world to chronicle all systems serving in naval aviation with still images and video.  I am proud of this partnership with MilitaryTimes.com who has graciously offered to host this BLOG so I may share with you, the incredible travels and amazing people I have already started experienced on this project.

The results of this effort will culminate in a grand, coffee-table style book that will  be released in January 2011 at the official US Navy Centennial observance ceremonies in San Diego.  With sections on each of the current aviation communities in the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard, this book is certain to be the ultimate collection of modern and historic aircraft imagery ever assembled.

Some of you may already be familiar with some of my previous titles including ANYTIME,BABY! : Hail and Farewell to the US Navy F-14 Tomcat. or BLUE WATER OPS: On the Frontline of US Navy Carrier Aviation.

PREVIEW ONLINE:  http://www.vulturesrow.com

For those of you who are, you can expect even more of the same insider access and impossible photographs from both inside the cockpit and aboard ship.  If you are new to this sort of thing, I hope you will find these postings interesting and informative.  My goal has always been to bring back the curious details of carrier life and the rigorous demands of operating tactical aircraft.  This BLOG is a two-way radio, so if you want to know about something I have not yet covered, feel free to chime in and help drive the direction of this book over the next year.

Thanks for checking in, and get ready to launch!  This BLOG is now LIVE!

Erik Hildebrandt

Officially know as the US NAVY LEGACY FLIGHT program, this image shows a “section” of two F/A-18F Super Hornets or “Rhinos” as they are called in the Fleet.  The Rhinos are from VFA-122 based at NAS Lemoore and they were part of this dedicated photo mission with a WWII Corsair flown by Chuck Wentworth based in Paso Robles, CA.  The flight was conducted in support of my latest book, FRONT ROW CENTER4: Inside the Great American Airshow in which the Navy Legacy Flight program is featured.  Similar to the USAF Heritage Flight program, the idea behind these flights is to raise public awareness around the country by executing these formation flights as part of the official air show demo routines. They are incredibly popular with air show crowds, so both the Navy and Air Force support the effort as part of their ongoing recruiting campaigns.  The photo was taken from the open cargo ramp of a C-130J operated by the 143rd Airlift WIng of the Rhode Island Air National Guard based at Quonset Point.  With a standard flight helmet and oxygen mask to cut down on thew wind noise of the open ramp, I am able to communicate directly with the pilots of all the aircraft including the C-130 over a hand-held aviation radio.  This flight started out as a “division” or 4-ship formation of Rhinos that we dragged up from the Salinas air show all the way past the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco Bay.  We ended up just off the coast west of Monterrey where Chuck joined the two demo Rhinos and the other section flew over the hills back to NAS Lemoore.  Total flight time was almost 2 hours and as always, ended with an open trunk and a styrofoam cooler of road-sodas to ease the neck-cramps from flying formation for so long.

Shot just as the sun was setting behind the mountains west of NAS Fallon Nevada, this F/A-18C pilot initiates the start sequence.

Starting with Erik’s re-qualification courses for water survival and aero-medical flight physiology, this site will track his journey throughout the Fleet over the next 24 months as he creates the imagery that will constitute this unprecedented historic record of the United States Naval Air Forces.

Get ready to get wet the next time you log on in Mid- March to read about the Helo Dunker and other aquatic torture devices designed to induce panic and weed out the sinkers from the floaters. The first stop on this journey starts in the pool at NAS Norfolk to get the quals for the next two years of back-seat photo chasing in everything from fast-moving Rhinos to the cushy airline seats of a C-9 and anything in between.

If you like seeing it from the inside and appreciate the chance to ride along, then saddle up and snap a salute to the shooter, because WE are going for not just one, not just two, but a boat load of incredible rides that will throw you back in the seat and make you scream into your mask as you are hurled down the deck and into the adventure of :

FLY NAVY!