Navy pilots under scrutiny for dip into Lake Tahoe

San Diego Union-Tribune ^ | SEPTEMBER 23, 201 | JEANETTE STEELE

[Checkmate]

Lemoore NAS is Appx 170 mi SSE of Mather. Emerald Bay is about 70 mi ENE of Mather. Surely there was a lake closer to their route.

[rightwingextremist1776]

You should have seen some of the stupid $hit they used to do in C130s.....

[Don Corleone]

“Somebody has to be a total moron to do it in total view of tourists and in a recreational area, when everyone has a camera these days. We don’t really have morons flying naval aircraft,”

Really? Things must have changed after I left in 1993.

A remark like that is totally uncalled for and if you are/were an airline pilot you should know better.

[no-s]

chinooks can do water landings, why not uh-60s too? heheh:

[ConradofMontferrat]

BAD BOYZ WITH BIG TOYZ!!

OV-10 Bronco pilots, navy and marines, where the worst. Of course back then, YouTube wasn’t around to rat you out.

Honestly, when I was 19, I thought I had died and gone to heaven.

Not only did I get to fly and sail all over the world and eat for FREE, but they gave me all kinds of multimillion dollar “stuff” to mess with.

Of course, I always stayed inside the lines, that way I got to play with more stuff longer.

Sorry, if you didn’t do some time in the military, any branch, you just wouldn’t understand.

[Gondring]

Well, sometimes you just can’t hide damage to your ride.

[Gondring]

Too bad these guys [AVI video] weren't flying that.

[CdMGuy]

These helicopters were supposedly flying from Mather AFB to Lemoore NAS. That trip does not take them anywhere near Lake Tahoe. Both bases are in the San Joachin Valley, Lemoore being south of Mather. Tahoe is east and slightly north of Mather. Who is kidding who here???

[South40]

Sorry, if you didn’t do some time in the military, any branch, you just wouldn’t understand.

I didn't serve in any branch, I was busy running my business and paying taxes which paid your and others' salaries. If you are now a civilian that's something I'm sure you understand. :-)

[ConradofMontferrat]

Actually, I thought they were practicing their landing flare.

And, doing a bang up job of it to boot!

[VR-21]

I was curious to see what reaction I might get from Navy fliers by mentioning Grampa Pettibone. I reckon I’m getting old (like Grampa), and he’s no longer found in Naval Aviation News.

[Semper911]

I have done dumber

C'mon! Lay some stories on us.

[RichInOC]

For some reason, I’m remembering the scene at the beginning of “Top Gun” where James Tolkan as Stinger, the carrier air group commander, is handing Maverick and Goose (Tom Cruise and Anthony Edwards) their hindquarters for buzzing five control towers and the admiral’s daughter.

[HereInTheHeartland]

“You don’t own that plane, the tax payers do! Son, your ego is writing checks your body can’t cash. “

[mad_as_he$$]

Lake Tahoe is a large freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada mountains of the United States. At a surface elevation of 6,225 ft

[mad_as_he$$]

Lake Tahoe is a large freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada mountains of the United States. At a surface elevation of 6,225 ft

[ConradofMontferrat]

LOL, yup, I got out years ago and put my nose to the stone so that a whole new generation could come and do those things that scare the S**t out of the rest of the world. You may disagree, but the spirit that drives these guys to do such things is the same spirit that caused those copter jockeys at Ia Drang Valley to say: "Damn the bullets, we have wounded to fetch." Bruce Crandall comes to mind. Now don't get me wrong, what these two did was bone headed to say the least. And their actions do NOT compare. They not only put their machines in harms way for NO GOOD REASON, but they put themselves, (and both of them are military assets that we have paid dearly to train)at great risk. On the other hand, if I was to be honest, I would really liked to have been along for the ride.

[ConradofMontferrat]

I still keep a copy of Grampa Petibone. Long story short, plane took off from island A to fly to island B. Routine flight. 3, count em 3, navigators on board. One pilot, one plane captain.

They ran out of gas and punched out about 1500 miles off course.

True story.

[doorgunner69]

For a helo, that is not that alarming. Many moons ago, our flight of two CH-46s needed to get from Quang Tri to the medivac pad at LZ Stud, up in the hills. Solid overcast at less than a thousand feet. Pilots said we had to get there, and did not want to climb over the cloud deck and then try to find a way down.

Soooo, they followed the road, flying just a few feet off the deck. Great fun looking out the open back hatch, seeing the road rushing away like you were on the ground at high speed.

Also great fun to hear one of the pilots say as they went over a rise in the road, "Imagine coming over and finding a tank in the road"..............

[SuperLuminal]

Cover-up Alert!

I knew that was an 80-foot monster swimming around...(And it had nothing to do with all the booze I drank that night!)