Wonderful response, Chieftain. I ran across the following story at snopes.com. The status in undetermined as yet, but I suspect it will be proven true. I enjoyed it immensely and hope you do as well:
The following was forwarded to me from one of my old Navy buddies who got it from an aviator friend on the carrier Abraham Lincoln. The email below explains briefly the procedure of a plane approaching a carrier for landing.
The pilot is asked by the air controller to "call the ball".
For those not familiar with naval aviation lingo. There is a visual aid used on carriers to let pilots know if they are on the proper glide slope to land on the deck. The part that moves up and down depending on how you're doing on the glide slope looks like a ball or "meat ball". The fact that you have a visual on the approach aid dictates a call to the roller on the ship.
The President's recent approach to the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln resulted in the following: In this case the standard response from the pilot of plane carrying the President would have been "Lincoln, Navy One, 12,500 lbs, Roger Ball" meaning I have the ball in sight and am on glide path (for a safe landing — the weight is given for setting the correct braking tension of the arresting gear cables).
No wonder the military appreciates and likes the man! The President's recent approach to the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln resulted in the following:
"Navy One" was on final approach for trap aboard CVN ABRAHAM LINCOLN . . . the President making the radio call said:
"Lincoln, Navy One, 12,500 lbs, I have the balls,"
His call brought down the house on the carrier.
LOVE IT!!