Aviation BS and Photo Thread

The US Navy did not include MAD (magnetic anomaly detection) on the P8 because of the altitude limitations on the P8. Flying the P3 on station we were at 200 feet over the water which made MAD a lot more effective than the 1000 feet that the P8's are now flying onstation due to the intake of salt water when flying lower. While all of my time was spent in P3s, I have talked with several pilots currently flying the P8s. Hope this helps.

 

F-4U Corsair

 

Thanks Tom, that makes sense about the altitude.

 

Love it. Thanks for posting.

 

Awesome a shots! Would you happen to be Steven, the photographer of these images? Or did you find them online?

Also, is it just me, or does the Airbus look like it has a demon appearing in the vortices created from the props?! I'm pretty sure that is a legitimate demon.

 

http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/confessions-of-a-pilot-behind-the-us-navys-airborne-sub-1598415741

Incredible amount of info and insight. Great read

 

Yes, those are my shots. And it is funny you spotted that as my buddy said the exact same thing about those vortices the other day.

 

It's not called a scarebus for nothing...

 

Excellent photography. Nice work.

 

Thank you. I have been traveling a lot the last two months so I have a major backlog of images to go through. At the rate things are going I may have a busy winter of editing ahead of me.

Did you update your website recently? I know I looked at it before and it seems different now.

 

Maybe a little. I got rid of my old one and just threw this one together pretty quick. It is missing a lot of images, but I am not really advertising for photo work so I don't care. I should spend some more time on it.

 

Massive fire on the way down to LA yesterday. This was somewhere north of the Burbank area.

 

Whoa.

Cool how you can see where the difference in density and temp is in the air.

 

Not a pilot, but I bet you'll enjoy this read from Brian Shul—former sled (SR-71 Blackbird) driver.


There were a lot of things we couldn't do in an SR-71, but we were the fastest guys on the block and loved reminding our fellow aviators of this fact. People often asked us if, because of this fact, it was fun to fly the jet. Fun would not be the first word I would use to describe flying this plane—intense, maybe, even cerebral. But there was one day in our Sled experience when we would have to say that it was pure fun to be the fastest guys out there, at least for a moment.

It occurred when Walt and I were flying our final training sortie. We needed 100 hours in the jet to complete our training and attain Mission Ready status. Somewhere over Colorado we had passed the century mark. We had made the turn in Arizona and the jet was performing flawlessly. My gauges were wired in the front seat and we were starting to feel pretty good about ourselves, not only because we would soon be flying real missions but because we had gained a great deal of confidence in the plane in the past ten months. Ripping across the barren deserts 80,000 feet below us, I could already see the coast of California from the Arizona border. I was, finally, after many humbling months of simulators and study, ahead of the jet.

I was beginning to feel a bit sorry for Walter in the back seat. There he was, with no really good view of the incredible sights before us, tasked with monitoring four different radios. This was good practice for him for when we began flying real missions, when a priority transmission from headquarters could be vital. It had been difficult, too, for me to relinquish control of the radios, as during my entire flying career I had controlled my own transmissions. But it was part of the division of duties in this plane and I had adjusted to it. I still insisted on talking on the radio while we were on the ground, however. Walt was so good at many things, but he couldn't match my expertise at sounding smooth on the radios, a skill that had been honed sharply with years in fighter squadrons where the slightest radio miscue was grounds for beheading. He understood that and allowed me that luxury. Just to get a sense of what Walt had to contend with, I pulled the radio toggle switches and monitored the frequencies along with him. The predominant radio chatter was from Los Angeles Center, far below us, controlling daily traffic in their sector. While they had us on their scope (albeit briefly), we were in uncontrolled airspace and normally would not talk to them unless we needed to descend into their airspace.

We listened as the shaky voice of a lone Cessna pilot who asked Center for a read-out of his ground speed. Center replied: "November Charlie 175, I'm showing you at ninety knots on the ground." Now the thing to understand about Center controllers, was that whether they were talking to a rookie pilot in a Cessna, or to Air Force One, they always spoke in the exact same, calm, deep, professional tone that made one feel important. I referred to it as the "Houston Center voice." I have always felt that after years of seeing documentaries on this country's space program and listening to the calm and distinct voice of the Houston controllers, that all other controllers since then wanted to sound like that and that they basically did. And it didn't matter what sector of the country we would be flying in, it always seemed like the same guy was talking. Over the years that tone of voice had become somewhat of a comforting sound to pilots everywhere. Conversely, over the years, pilots always wanted to ensure that, when transmitting, they sounded like Chuck Yeager, or at least like John Wayne. Better to die than sound bad on the radios.

Just moments after the Cessna's inquiry, a Twin Beech piped up on frequency, in a rather superior tone, asking for his ground speed in Beech. "I have you at one hundred and twenty-five knots of ground speed." Boy, I thought, the Beechcraft really must think he is dazzling his Cessna brethren.

Then out of the blue, a navy F-18 pilot out of NAS Lemoore came up on frequency. You knew right away it was a Navy jock because he sounded very cool on the radios. "Center, Dusty 52 ground speed check." Before Center could reply, I'm thinking to myself, hey, Dusty 52 has a ground speed indicator in that million-dollar cockpit, so why is he asking Center for a read-out? Then I got it, ol' Dusty here is making sure that every bug smasher from Mount Whitney to the Mojave knows what true speed is. He's the fastest dude in the valley today, and he just wants everyone to know how much fun he is having in his new Hornet. And the reply, always with that same, calm, voice, with more distinct alliteration than emotion: "Dusty 52, Center, we have you at 620 on the ground."

And I thought to myself, is this a ripe situation, or what? As my hand instinctively reached for the mic button, I had to remind myself that Walt was in control of the radios. Still, I thought, it must be done—in mere seconds we'll be out of the sector and the opportunity will be lost. That Hornet must die, and die now. I thought about all of our Sim training and how important it was that we developed well as a crew and knew that to jump in on the radios now would destroy the integrity of all that we had worked toward becoming. I was torn.

Somewhere, 13 miles above Arizona, there was a pilot screaming inside his space helmet. Then, I heard it—the click of the mic button from the back seat. That was the very moment that I knew Walter and I had become a crew. Very professionally, and with no emotion, Walter spoke: "Los Angeles Center, Aspen 20, can you give us a ground speed check?" There was no hesitation, and the replay came as if was an everyday request.

"Aspen 20, I show you at one thousand eight hundred and forty-two knots, across the ground." I think it was the forty-two knots that I liked the best, so accurate and proud was Center to deliver that information without hesitation, and you just knew he was smiling. But the precise point at which I knew that Walt and I were going to be really good friends for a long time was when he keyed the mic once again to say, in his most fighter-pilot-like voice: "Ah, Center, much thanks, we're showing closer to nineteen hundred on the money."

For a moment Walter was a god. And we finally heard a little crack in the armor of the Houston Center voice, when L.A. came back with, "Roger that Aspen. Your equipment is probably more accurate than ours. You boys have a good one." It all had lasted for just moments, but in that short, memorable sprint across the southwest, the Navy had been flamed, all mortal airplanes on freq were forced to bow before the King of Speed, and more importantly, Walter and I had crossed the threshold of being a crew. A fine day's work. We never heard another transmission on that frequency all the way to the coast. For just one day, it truly was fun being the fastest guys out there.

 

Awesome story! AIR FORCE!!!

 

The Duxford airport where the very popular Flying Legends Airshow takes place is not far from Cambridge. If you ever get out there for the airshow or another visit, try to get to The Eagle, Cambridge Pub. In the back is the RAF Bar where airmen from WWII signed the ceiling by candle, lighter and lipstick. It is about a 1.2 mile walk from the train station and is well worth it if you are interested in grabbing a beer at a historic place.

 

http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/confessions-of-a-pilot-behind-the-us-navys-airborne-sub-1598415741

Thanks GrayRider for the above link. While it contained a lot of interesting information it left out a major event in the history of Naval Patrol aviation. In the late 80's Toshiba sold our secrets for building ultra quiet propellers for our submarines. After they started retrofitting their subs it became incredibly more difficult to find them. Hopefully, with our modern computers and technology the pendulum has shifted in our favor again. Needless to say, I have never bought anything from Toshiba since then and will never give them a dime of my business again.

 

Nice.


Just fucking nice. I'm only a little bit jelly...



That rates right up with being an astronaut in my book. That which I will always wish I could do but didn't quite make it....