Pilot's account of a recent Hornet barricade

email | 27 Aug 2003 | Oyster

[Cautor]

Enjoy

[Malsua]

Slang aside that most us of won't get...that's a great tale.

-Mal

[Cautor]

The guys who fly these things are looking after the rest of us 24/7, just like all our military. God bless'em!

[RAY]

Living on the edge - what a rush!

[Cautor]

Regrettably, I forgot the PS included with the email:

P.S. You're probably wondering what made my motors shit themselves and I almost forgot to tell you. Remember the scene with the foreboding music? When they taxied that last Hornet - the one that was ass over the cat track they forgot to remove a section or two of the cat seal. The board's not finished yet but it's a done deal. As the shuttle came back it removed the cat seal which went down both motors during the stroke. Again, good video for someday over beers. Left engine N1 basically quit even though the motor is in pretty good shape. It was producing no thrust and during the waveoff one of the LSO's saw "about thirty feet" of black rubber hanging off the left side of the airplane. The whole left side, including inside the intake is basically black where the rubber was beating on it in the breeze. The right motor, the one that kept running, has 340 major hits to all stages. The compressor section is trashed and best of all, it had two pieces of the cat seal, one about 2 feet and the other about 4 feet long, sticking out of the first stage and into the intake. God Bless General Electric! By the way, ECAMS data showed that I was fat -- had 380 pounds of gas when I shut down.

[MEG33]

Oh,WOW!

[Junior]

CO of IKE? Which one? I served aboard USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) from 4/1/87 to 9/25/91 ... under three separate COs. I wonder if this guy's one of them.

[Moose4]

This is pretty old--I remember getting this exact same email about four or five years ago, and seeing this also appear in a couple of USENET forums related to military aviation and military aviation flight sims. I still think it's a true story, though. If nothing else it's a great yarn!

}:-)4

[Moose4]

Oh yeah, the quick English translation for all of us land-lubbers out there :)...he was flying his F/A-18 Hornet off an aircraft carrier when the aircraft's engines ingested bits of rubber on takeoff. Jet engines + foreign objects = bad things. One engine quit, the other was operating on reduced power. He jettisoned his fuel and underwing stores and made an eventful "trap" (landing) back on the carrier.

And no, I never served, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night...

}:-)4

[InShanghai]

Excellent post BUMP! Three cheers for the military & their professionalism!

Sometimes I hate being a Landlubber again...

[SauronOfMordor]

When they taxied that last Hornet - the one that was ass over the cat track they forgot to remove a section or two of the cat seal.

I'm assuming he's talking about sections of rubber put over the catapult trackway so rain and stuff doesn't get into the catapult mechanism?

[Cautor]

Moose, I actually posted a similar email I received from another flyer a few years ago. Different ship, differnt flyer, and different circumstances. Perhaps that's the story you recall. OTOH, maybe--as you suggest-=all of these are all just made-up urban folk tales. This one did come to me via email from the fly-boy community.

[Iris7]

Marvelously told sea story. Like all real sea stories, true in all particulars, as best as memory serves, and in later years perhaps a little, little bit of poetic license! But only to enhance the truth through the telling, not obscure what happened.

Naval Aviators are officers and gentlemen, of course, but NAVY first. My people.

When pukin_dog gets here, don't be alarmed at his handle, it refers to the Navy Fighter Squadron VF-143, where he flew F14s (and had many night carrier landings), his old outfit. The Pukin' Dogs have a proud history.

If I haven't embarressed him to much for him to show his head, tell him hello.

[okie01]

Even a landlubber like myself can enjoy a story like that.

Thanks for sharing...

[IncPen]

This is one you might enjoy, in a similar (but less dramatic) vein.

I happen to know this guy (a high school pal); he's Joint Chief's Chairman General Myers' aide now.

[oldsalt]

When they taxied that last Hornet - the one that was ass over the cat track they forgot to remove a section or two of the cat seal.

My last tour of Sea Duty was in '83 on board Nimitz. I was a Safety Chief in an A-7 outfit and I wouldn't have missed the seal being there because my then 44 year old eyes were always looking for that kind of stuff.

My problem would've been getting back aft with the rest of the flight deck crew when they called,"Rig the barricade!"

Reminds me that the average age of the guys on the roof was about 19 or 20, when I was 44. I did one more tour ashore as an Instructor and retired at age 47, because I knew I was getting too old to hack it on the roof anymore.

Of course I still miss it sometimes.

[Cautor]

Thanks much for another great story. I'm a great fan of General Myers. I haven't had the pleasure of his acquaintance, but do know the general who is currently his neighbor--CSAF. I have the greatest respect for all our military.

[Cautor]

Chief, you guys make the Navy what it is today. I've dealt most with flags/general level in my career, but, when all is told, it's the chiefs that make the Navy work. Thanks for your service. s/Cautor

[FreedomPoster]

>>had 380 pounds of gas when I shut down

That's around 60 gallons, folks. There's people with SUV's here that carry more gas.

[Pukin Dog]

A good story, a few whoppers, but probably true at one time. Some of the names are familiar, and the conversation is accurate for the most part. However, it is the rare aviator who ignores calls to eject. That is someone probably not going to last too long in the community. It happens, so I wont say outright that the story is hyped.

The early Hornets were notorious for weak engines. Many lost their guts without any prompting from FOD or birds. The Tomcat problems with its older TF-30 engines is well known. I was a LSO, and if I called for an ejection, I expected it to happen NOW. The aircraft can be replaced, but the pilot and the training are gone for good if he doesnt get out. Too many things could have gone wrong with that approach, including having asymetrical thrust from the single engine take the plane from centerline, and into personnel on the ramp. I dont know for sure, but that part disturbs me. No need to risk a life to save an airframe unless the pilot was certain he had it. It did not read like he had it for sure, so I would have preferred he pulled the handle.