Naval Aviation News articles from March 2009

Naval Aviation News archives from March 2009

Grampaw Pettibone.
March 1, 2009... Gramps from Yesteryear Super Hot Our pilot was to be the number three aircraft in a flight of three F-8s. He had approximately 800 total hours with over 450 hours in the Crusader. The briefing was normal in all respects. The weather...

To flee or not to flee?(Cartoon)
March 1, 2009... TO FLEE OR NOT TO FLEE?

We're there already?(Cartoon)
March 1, 2009... We're there already?

Airscoop.(Northrop Grumman Corp. introduces unmanned combat air systems)(Boeing Co. and Northrop Grumman Corp. supplies naval aircraft to United States. Navy)(aircraft accident investigations)
March 1, 2009... Navy UCAS Rolls Out Northrop Grumman unveiled the first X-47B Navy Unmanned Combat Air System (background photo) on 18 December 2008. This is the first of two aircraft the contractor will produce for the Navy to demonstrate unmanned combat...

Navy commissions George H.W. Bush.
March 1, 2009... The Navy commissioned George H. W. Bush (CVN 77), the tenth and final Nimitz-class carrier, on 10 January at a pierside ceremony at NS Norfolk, Va. Sailors in dress blues rushed aboard the massive warship and lined the flight deck as F/A-18...

VFA-211 trains in the Cascade Mountains.
March 1, 2009... VFA-211 sent a detachment of four FA-18F Super Hornets from NAS Oceana, Va., to NAS Whidbey Island, Wash., between 25 September and 10 October 2008, where the Fighting Checkmates conducted various joint-service exercises. The Checkmates'...

Essex ESG hits the beaches with Pacific allies.
March 1, 2009... The forward-deployed Essex (LHA 2) Expeditionary Strike Group took to the air, sea, and land in separate bilateral training evolutions with the armed forces of the Philippines, Korea, and Japan during a fall patrol that ended 4 December 2008....

FRCSW commemorates Hornet's first flight.
March 1, 2009... Cdr. Craig Reiner, chief test pilot of Fleet Readiness Center Southwest (FRCSW), had flown the F/A-18 Hornet for 14 years, but the test flight of an F/A-18C on 18 November 2008 was different than all the others. This flight had a dual...

Tarawa completes three decades of service.
March 1, 2009... Tarawa (LHA 1), which supported U. S. military operations around the world for more than three decades, will decommission on 31 March in San Diego, Calif. She is the second ship named in honor of the WWII battle fought by Marines in the central...

Professional reading.(Dawn Like Thunder: The True Story of Torpedo Squadron Eight)(The Silver Star)(Book review)
March 1, 2009... Mrazek, Robert J. A Dawn Like Thunder: The True Story of Torpedo Squadron Eight. Little, Brown and Company, 237 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017. 2008. 526 pp. Illustrated. $27.99. The story of Midway and all the squadrons and people, both...

People planes places.(Zachary W. Reeves of Air Traffic Control Association honored)(Naval Air Engineering Center wins environmental excellence award)(humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan)
March 1, 2009... Awards On 5 November 2008 the Air Traffic Control Association named Bataan (LIID 5) sailor ET3 (SWIAW) Zachary W. Reeves its Airway Transportation Systems Specialist of the Year. On 4 December 2008 Naval Air Engineering Station,...