Pilot: Flying Bush was 'just awesome'

usatoday.com ^ | 2/05/03

[Jakarta ex-pat]

Navy pilot John "Skip" Lussier has made hundreds of aircraft carrier landings but none like his pressure-filled touchdown on the USS Abraham Lincoln with President Bush in the cockpit.

"The pressure was ratcheted up just a little bit, but I tried not to think about it," Lussier said Friday on ABC's Good Morning America. "I just wanted to focus on it as a mission and make sure I got the president aboard safely."

[freedomlover]

Read rest of thread where I am suitably corrected

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

"If I Recall Correctly"

[ewing]

[DryFly]

From that photo, it looks like Bush was greeted by the Wiggles! :)

[TomB]

And yes, the two wire is preferred.

Three wire.

[Gritty]

Can you imagine Clinton trying to get into a flight suit?

Only if was sized XXXPLUMP!

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

Can I post it as "Breaking News?" and call it awesome?

It would be awesome if the Russians actually did something useful these days, instead of exporting organized crime, weapons smuggling, and political unrest.

[RedBloodedAmerican]

Funny, when I did some training development on the Mark 7, we taught the two wire.

[Destro]

if only! It might spare us from breaking news posts like "Bush Looks Awesome in flight suit!!" or some such pablum.

[Tennessee_Bob]

However, aircraft always come in at full power

The author was basing that off the article the other day where the self-proclaimed aviation expert said they would be coming in with the engines in afterburner - disregarding the fact that the S-3 doesn't have afterburners.

[aloysius89]

bump

[Conspiracy Guy]

If I'd been George there would have been no flying in a straight line. Though the Viking is not a fast plane it is fairly agile. I'd have taken her for a little spin around the pond. Scare the Secret Service a bit.

[RedBloodedAmerican]

Why didn't smedley catch that one?

[TomB]

COMNAVAIRPAC Press Release 2001:

" Pilots who are flying the appropriate glide slope will catch the number three wire, which is the preferred wire for all carrier landings."

[jgrubbs]

No disrespect intended. What's up with the teletubbie colors?

[TomB]

If you are working on the new configuration, i.e. the Reagan, I belive it only has 3 arresting wires. So the number two would be preferred. But the older Nimitz class carriers all have 4 wires.

I could be wrong about that though. If so, I'm sure I'll be (ahem) "vigorously" corrected.

[ptcmama]

Did you see the Atlanta Journal-Constitution this morning? They just couldn't help themselves - they had a picture and and article about the Dixie Chicks right below the picture of the president on the carrier. What a bunch of jerks!

[csvset]

Color Coded Flight Deck Jerseys.......What Do They Mean?

Purple
Aviation Fuels [nickname: "Grapes"]

Blue
Plane Handlers
Aircraft elevator Operators
Tractor Drivers
Messengers and Phone Talkers

Green
Catapult and arresting gear crews
Air wing maintenance personnel
Air wing quality control personnel
Cargo-handling personnel
Ground Support Equipment (GSE) troubleshooters
Hook runners
Photographer's Mates
Helicopter landing signal enlisted personnel (LSE)

Yellow
Aircraft handling officers
Catapult and Arresting Gear Officers
Plane directors

Red
Ordnancemen
Crash and Salvage Crews
Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD)

Brown
Air wing plane captains
Air wing line leading petty officers

White
Squadron plane inspectors
Landing Signal Officer (LSO)
Air Transfer Officers (ATO)
Liquid Oxygen (LOX) crews
Safety Observers
Medical personnel

[Otta B Sleepin]

You forgot to mention that he would have found a pile of stones on the flight deck to fashion in the shape of a cross for the KIA's in Iraq.

While shedding the requisite tear, of course.

[jgrubbs]

Thank you, I was wondering what all the colors were for.