Approach articles from April 2000

Approach archives from April 2000

SAR Helos in the Storm.
April 1, 2000... We published an overview of shorebased hurricane SAR in the February issue ("Rescuing the People At Home"). Here's a variation on the great work many squadron crews did in this most difficult of domestic emergencies in recent years. ...

Who Should Call, "Knock It Off"?(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... Tonight was the big night for crossing the century mark on night-vision goggles. The brief and hot-seat went smoothly, but we noticed isolated rain showers and cloud buildup. No big deal. We could get in some good instrument work. We launched...

"Whoa!".(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... Time slowed down as I replayed events, verified that we had, in fact, hit our numbers, and we were, in fact, about to die. Not the thing you want to hear from your pilot at the bottom of a low pull-out at the end of a 45-degree bombing run....

My Vibrating Approach.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... Your first "real" in-flight emergency makes you realize what we do for a living is sometimes dangerous. I was on my first cruise as an H2P, with an SH-60B detachment attached to a guided-missile cruiser in the Arabian Gulf. After conducting...

THE RED BADGE OF DISCOURAGE.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... To this day, I still fondly recall the words drilled into every graduate of Aviation Officer Candidate School by their friendly Marine Corps drill instructor: "Lack of attention to detail can get you killed, can-de-date!" If nothing else, it...

Electrical Fire Off the Cat.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... I had been in the squadron only a few weeks. Having just completed CQs in the FRS, I had less than 20 night cat shots and arrested landings under my belt. I had moved to Japan just a few days afterward so I could be in the window to bounce at...

You Are What You Eat.
April 1, 2000... We made our operational power checks on all three engines route to our operating area. The power checks would tell us how much torque each engine could produce. It was a cool, winter day, and the MH-53E was relatively light, so this procedure...

A Long Way To Go For Chicken Shawarma Takeout.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... Our carrier and air wing had received orders to make an emergency deployment to the Persian Gulf. We were reacting to Saddam Hussein's flouting of UN demands that he disclose and allow inspection of sites developing nuclear and biological...

A Busy Time in the FCLP Pattern.
April 1, 2000... The plane was flying, but it was not the Hornet I knew. Developing routines and habits are the cornerstones for survival in aviation. We practice and practice. Whether it's learning emergency procedures in the simulator or flying the FCLP...

Gus and I Share the Feeling.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... I wanted to be an astronaut when I was a kid, and I vividly remember watching the TV coverage of their triumphant return after each mission. Now I have something in common with one of the astronauts -- Gus Grissom, my hero and unknowing...

Hummer-Hole Hazard.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... One of the benefits of flying E-2s is that our aircraft are almost always spotted in the "Hummer hole," beside the island. Because of the valet parking, we are rarely forced to wander about the flight deck looking at numbers. Since E-2s...

The Bag-Ex Could Have Bagged Us!(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... It started as we read the schedule for the next day just before crawling into the rack. We had an early after noon, front-seat bag-ex (a good deal), a landing at 1630, a NATOPS lecture I was briefing at 1715, a Personal Development Board at...

No Moon, No CSC.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... The Hornet's advanced systems can give a false sense of security. The loss of one system interface can affect many displays and aircraft capabilities. It's up to the pilot to realize the effects on the aircraft and fall back on basic aviation...

HIFR Horror.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... It was another typical summer day in the Arabian Gulf. The temperature was approximately 130 degrees F, and we were flying a mission in the north, supporting Operation Southern Watch. While monitoring the shipping traffic near the Iraqi coast,...

My Hornet Cobra Maneuver.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... I was excited because this was going to be my first afterburner catapult shot. I was sitting at midrats when I overheard several other pilots talking about how the new guy from one of the Hornet squadrons tried to kill himself off the...

You Pick: Cheap Lesson or Expensive Mishap.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... "Wake up, wake up, boss. We gotta talk." That plea came from my roommate, the MMCO, early one morning as we neared the end of a six-month cruise in the Persian Gulf. As I tried to shake off the previous night's sleep, he showed me a small...

AIR Wing.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 1, 2000... LCdr. Enderson Moves On As this issue arrives in ready rooms, we at the Naval Safety Center, and especialy the publications branch, will have said good-by to LCdr. Mark Enderson. He arrived for a second tour at NSC in 1997 and served in a...

BROWNSHOES IN ACTION COMIX.
April 1, 2000... "The kind real aviators like" The LSO debrief was a bit unorthodox as the young aviator In question was forced to empty his navbag... "What's this? Does this tape belong to you?" Bingo... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The CAG...