A public apology for barfing on the COD
January 30th, 2012 | Aviation Carrier On-Board Delivery plane Carriers Chow COMPTUEX Enterprise Life at Sea Naval aviation Navy | Posted by Joshua Stewart
Dear VRC-40 “The Rawhides,”
I’m just writing to apologize for getting airsick in your C-2A Greyhound. It was certainly unintentional. You handled the plane with steady hands as we flew from Naval Air Station Mayport, Fla., to the carrier Enterprise last week. We even had weather on our side, allowing for a particularly calm flight.
If only my stomach was able to manage my breakfast as well as you flew the COD.
Usually I handle flights pretty well, but the combination of the smell of aviation fuel, the lack of windows, the heat and the sheer grittiness of the Navy’s draft horse airplane was more than I could manage. I didn’t even make it halfway through our quick flight. By the time we were headed into our approach, I wasn’t as excited about going from 100 to zero mph in less than two seconds as much as I was excited about just getting out of that torture chamber.
This C-2A Greyhound lands on the carrier Enterprise with a reporter who is very sorry he got airsick. // Navy
Please don’t think anything less of me for this; better-known reporters have handled it just as poorly (one former SWO who took a COD with a certain cable news star told me “Wolf ralphed” during a flight to the carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower). And please don’t forget that I cleaned up after myself. I just wish I had had an airsick bag
While I’m feeling contrite, I should also apologize to the cooks who made breakfast before our flight back at Mayport … that was your banana muffin with green apple syrup that ended up in the seat next to me. This was not a commentary on your culinary skills; it was certainly delicious on the way down.
And to everyone else on the carrier who heard about my illness, from the chief medical officer who gave me a motion sickness patch (if you’re curious, they certainly work and I’m available for paid endorsements) to the three people who provided me with stacks of airsick bags for my return flight (I thankfully didn’t need to use them for their intended purposes, but I’ll hold onto them to carry lunches through the year), I appreciate all of your help.
Once again, I apologize for my faux pas and I hope I can one day fly with you again.
Sincerely,
Josh Stewart
Google wants to pay to upgrade and save Hangar One
December 12th, 2011 | NASA Naval aviation Navy | Posted by Chris Kelly
Hangar One, built in 1933 at Moffett Field in Mountain View, Calif., is currently in a state of undress.
That’s because the corrugated siding covering the massive hangar, deemed toxic to the environment, is being replaced. Just to note, it’s a Navy hangar, but NASA is footing the bill to take care of it.
This project has been ongoing since May, but news broke on Friday that Google is offering to pay 100 percent of the costs, that’s $33 million, associated with renovating Hangar One. So what’s the catch?
Google would like to use two-thirds of the hangar’s space to store eight private jets — including a Dornier Alpha jet.
Right now, there’s still a budget battle on-going and NASA is evaluating Google’s offer.
[H/T to the Mercury News and Techcrunch]
And then there are two
November 28th, 2011 | Aviation Naval aviation Unmanned systems | Posted by Gidget Fuentes
The second X-47B Unmanned Combat Air Systems Demonstration, or UCAS.-D, took to the air Nov. 22 for its own maiden flight. The Navy eyes the X-47B bomber for its future unmanned fleet. (Northrop Grumman Corp. photo)
Nearly three years ago, the Navy and defense giant Northrop Grumman Corp. unveiled the X-47B unmanned air system in Palmdale, Calif., showing off the bat-wing-like tailless and pilotless autonomous bomber that is designed to take off and land on aircraft carriers. In February, the first air vehicle made history when it completed its first real flight, a half-hour mission over the California desert.
On Nov. 22, the second air vehicle, known as AV-2, took off in the hazy blue skies at nearby Edwards Air Force Base and flew up to 5,000 feet as it cut some race patterns over a dry lakebed before landing to wrap up a successful 27-minute flight, according to Northrop Grumman, the program’s prime contractor.
That first flight of the second demonstration aircraft will propel the program closer to actual flight deck landings and carrier trials that are planned to take place in 2013. But first, there’s at least a year’s worth of flight testing at Patuxent River, Md. “With two aircraft now available, we can increase the amount of aircraft performance data we gather, which will allow us to meet our required aircraft capability demonstration goals in a timely manner,” Carl Johnson, Northrop Grumman’s vice president and program manager for its aerospace systems sector, said in a Nov. 28 announcement.
The company will send one of the air vehicles to Pax River by the end of this year, where it will continue with flight and systems testing that will eventually lead to the X-47B’s first carrier shot and trap.
Down and dirty
September 19th, 2011 | Carrier On-Board Delivery plane Carriers Maintenance Maritime operations Naval aviation Photos Ships Training | Posted by Bill McMichael
The carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower is underway in the Atlantic conducting carrier qualifications for naval aviators, but it’s the unglamorous and often tedious work below decks that keeps the fliers going.
Aviation Structural Mechanic 3rd Class David Zaveson and Aviation Structural Mechanic Airman Eric Bieber of Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron 5 conduct routine maintenance on an SH-60F Seahawk aboard the carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower. // U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Tony Bloom
A zillion things can go wrong with an aircraft — especially aircraft that operate in a maritime environment and bounce onto aircraft carriers. That requires checking everything from the big stuff to internal leakage.
Aviation Machinist’s Mate 2nd Class (AW/SW) Orrintell Whyte checks for oil leaks on the tail gear of an HH-60H Seahawk of Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron 5 in Ike's hangar bay. // U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Albert Jones
All the work has to be tracked.
Aviation Electrician’s Mate 1st Class (AW/SW) Christopher Carbee of Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron 5 writes his findings in a log during a final inspection on an HH-60H in the hangar bay of the Eisenhower. // U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Albert Jones
Then there’s the support for the support — the ancillary work.
Aviation Support Equipment Technician Airman Katrina Everett, right, and Aviation Support Equipment Technician Airman Mark Perkins fix a leak on the hydraulic tank of a spotting dolly in Ike's hangar bay. // U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Nathan Parde
These unsung efforts underpin what everyone is hoping for topside: safe flight operations.
Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Handling) 1st Class (AW) Jason Winfrey directs a C-2A Greyhound, assigned to Airborne Early Warning Squadron 120, on the flight deck of the carrier Eisenhower. Ike is currently underway conducting carrier qualifications. // U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Albert Jones
Advice from a guy who has done it before
September 13th, 2011 | Aviation Naval aviation Navy Officers | Posted by Joshua Stewart
The Tailhook Reunion and Symposium hosted a winging ceremony, a first for the annual meet-up. Two Navy and two Marine Corps officers received their wings. But before things were made official for Lt. j.g. Erik Michael Sink, 1st Lt. Jeffrey C. Monroe, Lt. j.g. Gregory Brett Maters and 1st Lt. Reid Savid, retired Adm. Tim Keating, formerly CO of Northern Command and Pacific Command, gave some advice that will help out any aviator headed to their first squadron.
- Don’t forget about mom and dad.
- Learn how to be a good wingman. “The best combat leaders I know … they were great wingmen. It’s a hard job to be in position, to be prepared.
- “Have fun, it’s hard enough work.”
- “Work hard. The fate of our nation is on your shoulders. It sounds like a momentous statement. It is. It’s meant to be.”
And with not much else, the four young pilots received their golden wings.
A little love for the fleet workhorse
August 18th, 2011 | Carrier On-Board Delivery plane Carriers Class A mishaps Flight deck certification Logistics Maritime operations Naval aviation Navy Photos Sea trials | Posted by Bill McMichael
A lengthy post-availability at-sea period just ended for the carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower, which blitzed through sea trials, flight deck certification, carrier quals, and 3M (Maintenance Material Management) inspections following nine months of shipyard work that ended in mid-June.
During that time, Ike’s primary lifelines to shore were the reliable Carrier On-Board Delivery planes that deliver mail to ship and shore and carry personnel and spare parts back and forth. Filling the bill for Ike was Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 40 out of Naval Station Norfolk’s Chambers Field.
A VRC-40 COD aircraft performs an arrested landing aboard the carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower Aug. 17. // U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Nathan Parde
It goes without saying that CODs “deliver the mail.” According to VRC-40′s website, the squadron’s detachments deliver more than 3 million pounds of letters and packages every year and tally more than 1,000 arrested landings like the one pictured above.
They’re not very sexy, it’s not the most comfortable ride and it’s not much fun when you get stuck in the pattern because the flight deck is busy or fouled and you can’t even see out the window. But they’re not built for comfort. They get the job done. Personally, I love ‘em. There’s nothing routine about an arrested landing or cat shot, and CODs get you safely to ship and shore. The squadron, which celebrated its 50th anniversary last July, says it recently completed its 20th straight year free of Class A mishaps. Impressive, to say the least.
That flag
August 2nd, 2011 | Aviation Foreign navies Helicopters Historical Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Maritime operations Naval aviation Navy Pearl Harbor Photos Ships The Pacific Training World War II | Posted by Bill McMichael
I remember a 1990-ish visit to a Japanese submarine base and being dumbfounded to see the subs flying the rising sun flag off their stern masts. Dumbfounded, because being, ahem, of a certain age, I associated the flag — a red disc with red and white “beams” extending outward — with the aggressive World War II-era regime that launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in an effort to exercise total dominance over the Pacific. Its use was banned in 1945 following the surrender to the United States and its allies, but many Americans don’t realize that it was re-adopted in 1954 as the war flag and naval ensign of the Japan Ground and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, respectively.
This isn’t news to U.S. sailors stationed in Japan, now a staunch U.S. ally, or those who’ve trained with the Japanese navy — such as the Norfolk-based sailors assigned to Destroyer Squadron 26, taking part in a “PASSEX” with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Training Squadron — manned by newly commissioned Japanese surface warfare officers — through today off the U.S. East Coast.
The Japan Maritime Self Defense Force training ship KASHIMA passes the destroyer Nitze during a passing exercise. // U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Marie Brindovas, PASSEX Public Affairs.
PASSEX is an exercise that tests routine operational challenges and is meant, according to the Navy, to strengthen the partnership between the U.S. and Japan. Tasks include operating a Japanese helo on a U.S. ship.
Sailors assigned to the destroyer Nitze guide a Japanese SH-60 helicopter onto the flight deck. // U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Marie Brindovas, PASSEX Public Affairs.
Today, incidently, is a big date in post-World War II affairs. The final meeting of the “Big Three” nations — the U.S., the Soviet Union and Great Britain — concluded on a sour note. The failure to resolve expected post-war issues at the Potsdam Conference, historians say, helped set the stage for the Cold War.
Good works in Jax
July 29th, 2011 | Carriers CNATRA Community relations Maritime operations Naval aviation Norfolk Naval Shipyard Photos Sea trials Ships | Posted by Bill McMichael
More than 40 sailors from the carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower spent the morning of July 26 sprucing up a resource center for the homeless in Jacksonville Beach, Fla., during a three-day port call in Mayport that began July 25.
Interior Communications Electrician Fireman Donovan Cooper picks weeds from the property of Mission House during a community relations project in Jacksonville Beach, Fla. // U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Nathan Parde
The center, called Mission House, offers food and counseling services to the homeless in the Jacksonville area.
Aviation Ordnanceman Airman Glen Everette picks weeds in front of Mission House. // U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Nathan Parde
Ike’s port call came in the midst of an underway period in the Atlantic following a nine-month maintenance availability at Norfolk Naval Shipyard. While at sea, the carrier successfully completed sea trials and has continued with additional training.
Aviation Ordnanceman Airman Jeremy Prestigiacomo shovels weeds at Mission House. // U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Nathan Parde
Hopefully, these hard-working sailors received some well-deserved time off the rest of the day. After its three-day break, Ike got underway and continued air operations, helping CNATRA prepare naval aviators for future carrier-based operations.
A T-45C Goshawk training aircraft assigned to the Chief of Naval Air Training performs a touch-and-go aboard Ike July 28. // U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Rob Rupp
Hornets, Vikings and carrier Yorktown (?!) in Disney movie
July 8th, 2011 | Aviation Carriers Movies Naval aviation | Posted by Joshua Stewart
It’s not just the littoral combat ship Independence that has a cameo in a Disney movie. All sorts of Navy hardware show up for an upcoming release.
A carrier and at least a squadron’s worth of Super Hornets are featured in “Planes,” a direct-to-video movie expected in 2013. A frame-by-frame review of the trailer shows that in addition to Hornets, there’s what looks like an S-3B Viking in the background of an unidentifiable aircraft carrier (a big “10” is painted on the flight deck, but this ship is clearly is not Yorktown, which was decommissioned in 1970), and a B-2 Spirit (which the Air Force, not the Navy flies) soaring over a mountain range as well.
The plot line is far from clear, but seems to be another “Little Engine that Could” tale, complete with a puny turbo-prop – something that seems like a better fit among Cessnas and other general aviation aircraft — that’s somehow assigned to the carrier.
Not even released yet, the movie is already getting slammed across the blogosphere, with the overall sentiment boiling down to “what is this junk?”
Well, at least the trailer is entertaining and has good background music. Nothing could be more appropriate for a movie about a bunch of overly-animated, smiling, wise-cracking, anthropomorphic aircraft than Rob Zombie’s “More Human than Human.”
50 years ago, a Navy pioneer
May 5th, 2011 | Admirals NASA Naval Academy Naval aviation Naval aviation centennial Photos Space travel | Posted by Bill McMichael
A tip of the hat to the Navy and its Facebook notifications for the reminder that today marked the 50th anniversary of an event frozen in the minds of many Americans of a (ahem!) certain age: the day Navy Cmdr. Alan Shepard became the first American launched into space. His feat captivated the nation, and won back some American pride bruised by Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin beating him into space by 23 days.
The Naval Academy grad and jet test pilot had in 1959 become one of the original Mercury astronauts — the guys with the “Right Stuff,” as Tom Wolfe framed it — and on the morning of May 5, 1961, Shepard, squeezed inside the Freedom 7 space capsule and propelled by a Redstone booster, rocketed 116.5 miles into outer space.
Cmdr. Alan B. Shepard, Jr. sits in his Freedom 7 Mercury capsule, ready for launch. // Photo courtesy of NASA
According to NASA, Shepard said, “That little race between Gagarin and me was really, really close.” After several delays and more than four hours in the capsule, Shepard was ready to go, and he famously urged mission controllers to “fix your little problem and light this candle.”
Shepard’s flight only lasted 15 minutes, 28 seconds.
Shepard’s career as an astronaut wasn’t over. An ear problem that grounded him in 1964 was surgically repaired five years later and in February 1971, Shepard commanded the Apollo 14 mission to the moon. He retired as a rear admiral in 1974.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration today honored Shepard, who died in 1998 at the age of 74, during a ceremony at Cape Canaveral, Fla., where Freedom 7 was launched 50 years earlier.
The U.S. Postal Service also issued a new stamp May 4 honoring Shepard’s 1961 achievement.
There’s a nice video that captures the story at http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/shepard50/