Approach articles from May 2002

Approach archives from May 2002

Correction.(Correction Notice)
May 1, 2002... The table of contents in the January 2002 issue incorrectly refered to a S-3 "Hummer crew", The correct term is Hoover.

7 seconds from destiny.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Anyone who has spent a summer in the Arabian Gulf knows misery. The heat is oppressive, and you realize it the moment you step through the watertight door onto the weather deck of any ship in the gulf. The temperature and moisture of the air...

When the unthinkable happens: being prepared for a real-world search and rescue.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... We were several hundred miles off the coast of Sri Lanka and enjoying the transit home from our Western Pacific deployment. Then, after 99 miserable days in Arabian Gulf, our air wing suffered a sudden and tragic loss. An F-14D and its crew...

First, it gets better.
May 1, 2002... It's a beautiful Monday morning at NAS Patuxent River, Md., and I am doing what we all love best on such days: sitting in a safety stand-down at the base theater. The day will get better, and then much worse. The "better" part is that the...

Sraight to the moon, Alice! Somewhere between 20- and 25-degrees nose up, the stall-warning horn went off.
May 1, 2002... I was happily walking onto the flight deck. The sun just was setting, and I would have a pinky launch for my second-ever, night cat shot. We were off the California coast in W-291, and I was CQ-ing in the mighty Prowler. It was a cold start,...

Innocent clouds, or are they?(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... The day started like any normal one on the boat: I was up early for chow, then off to the ready room for the first brief of the day. I didn't know I would face my hardest decision yet as a new carrier-aircraft-plane commander (CAPC) in the...

Look Ma--no hands.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Did you ever have one of those days where nothing goes right? Have you ever heard the safety quote, "All you have to do is break a link in the mishap chain of events and everything will be OK"? Yes on the former and no on the latter--for me....

Single engine in the Gulf, no problem.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Everything began normally on a routine night AIC hop in the Arabian Gulf. The weather was typical: a balmy 98 degrees Fahrenheit, with 100 percent humidity. The launch and the flight went according to the brief. The real fun began after I...

What happened to my beautiful day?(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... This story isn't about landing a stricken plane on deck with one engine out, no gas, at night in a hurricane. Just the opposite--but I still did something I never thought I would do. I was an H2P on my first deployment. We were somewhere in...

I heard something. (ORM Corner).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... It was another day of flight ops on cruise, mostly unit-level training, and it started to feel like Groundhog Day. We were scheduled to control air intercepts and a self-escort strike, just a walk in the park for our stacked crew. We had three...

Chalk up another one for "the chamber".(fighter pilots experience with hypoxia)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... I was a salty RAG student, almost two-thirds through the grueling FA-18 syllabus. After a successful strike detachment, our class had a week to relax before anxiously jumping into the fighter-weps phase of training. It was Friday, and the...

The stowaway.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... I was a nugget on my first cruise, reading Approach and saying things like, "Can you believe this bozo?" and "I would never do something that stupid." Little did I know I had just placed a curse on myself. Later that day, I briefed with my...

Some things don't look better through goggles.(goggles interfere in viewing control panel)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... It began as a routine nighttime SSC flight. The OinC was the HAC in the ATO's seat; I was in the pilot's seat, and our junior aircrew-man was in back. Since it was our last month of a Mediterranean deployment, we tried to complete as much...

Bravo Zulu.(stories from military pilots)
May 1, 2002... They say pilots never forget the first time they solo. For 2ndLt. Jeff Davis, an Air Force student aviator assigned to VT-3 at NAS Whiting Field, this saying holds especially true. Halfway into his contact 4401 solo and during level flight in...

Mishap-free milestones.
May 1, 2002... HS-6 13 years (46,000 hours) VAQ-135 6 years VP-40 35 years (228,000 hours) VS-24 6 years (20,515 hours) VS-29 13 years HSL-41 19 years (110,000 hours) VAQ-138 20 years (35,067 hours) VP-46 38...

For lack of a cotter pin.(Hornet fighter experiences a mechanical failure)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... It was a beautiful spring day, slightly cool and clear all the way to the warning area. I was assigned a PMCF "C" flight after a phase inspection. It wasn't supposed to be an exciting flight, but it sure turned into one. My trusty Hornet...

Classic: Brownshoes in action comix.
May 1, 2002... Brownshoes safety cliche clinic "Fly as if your mother or girlfriend were with you." Under no circumstances is this to be confused with your mother-in-law or ex-girlfriend... "... and another thing; you only live a few hours away...

Ready room gouge.
May 1, 2002... A good pilot may be disappointed by his airplane but it will never surprise him.