Approach articles from November 2002

Approach archives from November 2002

The loosest slots in town.(aircraft gauges )
November 1, 2002... We were recalled early from an uneventful AEW mission. As CATCC vectored us for descent to a night approach, we ticked off the approach checks. Juggling the checklists and dumping fuel, we kept in step with the Hummer dance as several cloud...

Don't scar the landscape.(personal account of a naval air emergency over Iwo Jima)
November 1, 2002... Iwo Jima--the name conjures up black-volcanic sands and U.S. Marines raising the American flag atop Mount Suribachi, in what would become one of the most enduring images of World War II. It took over one month to capture the barely...

Sonobuoys: friend or foe?(airsickness caused by DICASS directional command activated sonobuoy system )
November 1, 2002... The morning flight in the Philippine Sea started out like any other. As an aviation-warfare operator (AW) in the back of our SH-60B, I kept a solid radar picture for our battle group, as the sun came over the horizon. Although we flew as much...

Mr. Orion's wild ride.(Column)
November 1, 2002... Barely two months into our Keflavik, Iceland, deployment, I was finishing my second detachment. We just had completed our last mission from the icy, winter wonderland of Andoya, Norway. I was feeling more accustomed to the harsh operational...

Always plan your emergencies.(Aviation.)(Column)
November 1, 2002... I was thrilled to be deploying on a Gulf cruise within two months of arriving at my first fleet squadron. Being on an AFS meant we would get a lot of vertrep time under our belts. We had had a few large vertrep hits on the transit out, and,...

NATOPS [Naval Aviation Training and Operating Procedures Standardization] doesn't cover this.(Column)
November 1, 2002... It was a typical detachment for the Prowler RAG in El Centro--lots of flying to get the required student Xs we couldn't get at Whidbey because of the weather. I tried hard to finish the syllabus in order to join my new squadron for the...

Thunderstorms: nature's temper tantrum.(harzards to aviation caused by thunderstorms)
November 1, 2002... * At any given time, there are an estimated 2,000 thunderstorms in progress, mostly in tropical and subtropical latitudes. * About 45,000 thunderstorms take place each day. * Annually, the United States experiences about 100,000...

Power, power, power!(SH-608 helicopter use in counter-drug operations)
November 1, 2002... I was a new H2P on my first SH-60B cruise. I had been in the squadron for three months and had completed the six-week work-ups. We were deployed in the Caribbean, conducting counter-drug ops (CDOPS). Anyone who has been on CDOPS knows the...

The most valuable flight.(personal account of a flight in a piper arrow)
November 1, 2002... Ask any aviator on what flight they learned the most, and they will recall, with clarity, a tough check ride, a significant flight with their on-wing, or a hard-earned lesson learned in the fleet. I have never forgotten my flight, even though...

Taxi trials and tribulations in Turkey.(personal account of flying a C-20G Gulfstream IV )
November 1, 2002... I have a CH-46D background and find it hard to believe the same Navy owns the tired Phrog and the sleek, technologically advanced, C-20G Gulfstream IV. It has been my good fortune to transition from the steam gauges of the H-46 and the steamy...

Sweat the details.(Air Force training exercises)
November 1, 2002... We launched at midday for a seemingly uneventful tanker mission during the final weeks of COMPTUEX. It was quite cloudy, but we shot off the front end Case I. Seconds after getting airborne, we lost lock on the ship's TACAN. Fortunately, a COD...

It sounds good to me.(Air Force emergency protocol)
November 1, 2002... For the past eight months, our squadron had been preparing to support Operation Southern Watch. We trained to the OSW special instructions (SPINS) and the tactics we expected to use. As a cruise-experienced JO, and our combat search and rescue...

Mishap-free milestones.
November 1, 2002... HS-5 8 years (25,875 hours) VAW-115 17 years (36,000 hours) HMM-268 16 years (80,000 hours) VMFA-27 16 years VAW-17 25 years (53,000 hours) VFA-136 9 years (39,138 hours)

Ready room gouge.
November 1, 2002... The decision to execute a 180-degree turn has saved many a pilot and airplane, but it was made before reaching the point of no return.