sailboat ran aground

[K-9]

Hempstead Harbor it will be a long night for him and longer if no chart on gps

 

[Hampton]

Looks like low tide. Free mooring for one cycle.

 

[Hampton]

: )

Smiling huge.

By the way, just found out I'm going to be flying the Eagle longer than expected, for the 4th time. Bragging, I know, but for a 48 year old F'er, I've just got to do the victory dance.

 

[K-9]

good job!!

 

[BON DIA]

John....you're more fortunate than any one guy should be...congrats!

 

[Hampton]

John....you're more fortunate than any one guy should be...congrats!

Thanks, and there is a lot of truth in that. I've had some hard times, paid tons and tons of dues, so maybe it's actually beginning to pay off a little. I've always been the kind of guy that does my work first, saves money first (before enjoying some), goes through any and all pain in order to get the long term pay off. Now, it's getting closer to the long term. Payoffs may begin to happen. Must be time to die (hopefully not, but, you never know).

 

[MAKC]

: )

Smiling huge.

By the way, just found out I'm going to be flying the Eagle longer than expected, for the 4th time. Bragging, I know, but for a 48 year old F'er, I've just got to do the victory dance.

I like the way the guy on the back of the blow boat is waving to you in that pic. Thats gotta suck!

And John, my brother flies the strike eagle out of Lakenheath. Kudos to the fliers that help keep the troops on the ground safe. And as i always tell my little brother, 'keep the pointy part of the plane facing forward at all times!'.

Salut

 

[Hampton]

The long story:

4 years of college + 2 years of medical school
Accepted into pilot traning, chose to start OTS in June '85
Timed myself into the last pilot traning class of the fiscal year
No fighter assignments available, so stuck in Lubbock, Tx for 4 years as an Instructor (there are worse things, but being a First Assignment Instructor Pilot (FAIP) sucks!!!!!!!!)
(Expansion - 12 hour days, 6 day weeks, thankless, sh17 hole of a place to live - watched students get great assignments for 3 1/2 years)
After my time was up, no good assignments available (again)
Requested to continue trying by transferring to Randolph AFB teaching instructor pilots for 2 years
Transfer approved, but delayed 4 months due to Air Force Money
Got to Randolph - they started working weekends for the first time in history (growling emoticon) Did my time (well)
Got F-15 assignment - rescinded 6 weeks prior due to draw down - stuck another year
Was told 72 1/2 times that no fighters would be available
After 7 years of working at 110%, 56 of us in same boat were given the opportunity to meet another board and compete, once again, for a fighter. 11 of us won.
Went to fighter - Did well in training
Went to Japan - Ready to rest - no rest available - I'm just a F'n wingman
4 years of extremely tough struggles, brutal punishment, ridicule, competition - I'm an F-15 Instructor Pilot, Flight Commander, and Mission Commander
Time to relax? YES! - Assigned to Tyndall AFB, FL (my birth place) as an F-15 Instructor Pilot
2 1/2 years and 1 Master's Degree later (required for promotion), left Active Duty for Delta
Applied for non-flying Guard Job at Tyndall - Was told they were opening F-15 Guard Detachment in 3 months, and was hired as an F-15 Instructor (still) (Extremely Lucky)
Worked 2 jobs for 6 years, flying full time at Delta and 9 days/month in F-15's, commuting back and forth in between (all while taking Air Command and Staff College in order to get promoted, which worked)
Had the world by the cajones, but then, 9/11
Pay cut 34%; Second pay cut during bankruptcy another 14%; Starting paying for own medical; Lost Defined Benefit Retirement Plan
My plan to stop working 2 jobs after 20 years in the Air Force was crushed
Intentionally left Delta on military leave before 2nd pay cut
Begged for Full Time Orders in the Guard
Got 30 days orders; Found a 4 month AEF rotation to the Air Operations Center, still at Tyndall AFB - my boss told me to go and make myself "indispensible"
Worked hard for 4 months, still flying on my days off
Got a 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th AEF, 3 years, still flying, and completing Air War College to get promoted (didn't work)
Limited to 1095 days on these orders. On day 1096, got Active Guard Orders
Been Active Guard for 8 months, 10 to go 'til full time retirement (with a check)
Walked away from F-15 in 1999 (would have gotten a staff assignment anyway), but got a Guard Job
Finished 20 years, but still needed to stay
Was told last Dec was my last month flying - didn't happen
Was told this month was my last - Isn't going to happen
Paid some dues, but 1 year away from retiring with 25 years service, still flying F-15's, and going back to Delta next Summer
Paid an extremely, inordinately large number of dues, but the pay off has been equally large
Pray I don't die this year.
End of long story.

 

[Hampton]

And as i always tell my little brother, 'keep the pointy part of the plane facing forward at all times!'.

Salut

I haven't always done that. 2 weeks ago, I had a Medical Group (non flying) guy in my back seat for a familiarization flight. They get to go for a ride on a non-interference basis. Unlike an incentive ride, where the flight is orchestrated around the passenger, this guy is holding on for dear life on his one and only ride on a real traning mission, like it or not, just don't die on the stick.

So, there we were, merging with 2 other F-15's at about 15,000 feet altitude, going about 450 knots, about 1200 mph closure (face to face). My best move was pure vertical into the guy that looked like the easiest kill. 8.5 G's up and over the top into a vertical, egg fight (drawn from the side, the circles follow the shape of an egg due to the changing airspeeds and turn circle sizes through the maneuvers). On the second iteration (leaf), the opposing jet flew across the sun as I pulled pure vertical (straight up), so, in the interest of not killing all of us, I pushed the stick forward to stop my jet from pointing at the guy that I could no longer see (lagging off the last know position for safety). As a result, my jet continued straight up while losing airspeed quite rapidly (can't go straight up and maintain airspeed above about 5,000' - air's too thin and thrust is reduced).

Just as our airspeed is going below about 50 knots, my backseater informs me that he's "Going cold mike." That's code for "I'm going to turn off my microphone so that you don't have to listen to me puking my guts out for the next few minutes." Talk about bad timing!!!!!!!!!!!! I immediately let him know that his timing was bad and he better hold on 'cause we're going for Mr Toad's Wild Ride!!!!!!!!!!!! (actual words).

What goes up (and runs out of airspeed) must come down. The jet initially tracked backwards for a couple of hundred feet as I transmitted "Bandit one's a leaf!" (falling like a leaf, no control, just wind, gravity, and some flopping around). As the air began to push against the back sides of the wings and control surfaces, and the nose-heavy aspect of the jet began to take effect, the pointy end decided to lead the fight once again. It selected down (negative G's) as the way to achieve the desired flight attitude, with a bit of a slice to the right (like falling sideways) followed by a couple of rapid, violent snap rolls to the left and about negative 1 1/2 G's. Try puking in a bag during that!

The good news is that it's almost impossible to get a good gun shot on a jet that's changing flight path and attitude so rapid and violently. After all, the first rule of dogfighting is "Lose sight, lose fight." By allowing his jet to fly across the sun from my perspective, I lost sight. Of course in war, I would have kept pulling toward the enemy knowing that he couldn't hide in the sun for long. So, I gave up and offensive advantage for safety, but lived to write about it. My disadvantage didn't last long though, as my jet was flopping around, it doesn't gain much speed and my adversary flew out in front of me again and the fight was back on.

So, the pointy end isn't always leading the jet to the fight, though it's easier to see and control when it does. Good on the Med Group guy. He didn't get a drop on me.

 

[Hampton]

I like the way the guy on the back of the blow boat is waving to you in that pic. Thats gotta suck!
Salut

Back on topic. I didn't notice him back there at first. Is that a "Help!" or a shrugging of the shoulders while holding on with one arm?

 

[Tail Chaser 661]

I haven't always done that. 2 weeks ago, I had a Medical Group (non flying) guy in my back seat for a familiarization flight. They get to go for a ride on a non-interference basis. Unlike an incentive ride, where the flight is orchestrated around the passenger, this guy is holding on for dear life on his one and only ride on a real traning mission, like it or not, just don't die on the stick.

So, there we were, merging with 2 other F-15's at about 15,000 feet altitude, going about 450 knots, about 1200 mph closure (face to face). My best move was pure vertical into the guy that looked like the easiest kill. 8.5 G's up and over the top into a vertical, egg fight (drawn from the side, the circles follow the shape of an egg due to the changing airspeeds and turn circle sizes through the maneuvers). On the second iteration (leaf), the opposing jet flew across the sun as I pulled pure vertical (straight up), so, in the interest of not killing all of us, I pushed the stick forward to stop my jet from pointing at the guy that I could no longer see (lagging off the last know position for safety). As a result, my jet continued straight up while losing airspeed quite rapidly (can't go straight up and maintain airspeed above about 5,000' - air's too thin and thrust is reduced).

Just as our airspeed is going below about 50 knots, my backseater informs me that he's "Going cold mike." That's code for "I'm going to turn off my microphone so that you don't have to listen to me puking my guts out for the next few minutes." Talk about bad timing!!!!!!!!!!!! I immediately let him know that his timing was bad and he better hold on 'cause we're going for Mr Toad's Wild Ride!!!!!!!!!!!! (actual words).

What goes up (and runs out of airspeed) must come down. The jet initially tracked backwards for a couple of hundred feet as I transmitted "Bandit one's a leaf!" (falling like a leaf, no control, just wind, gravity, and some flopping around). As the air began to push against the back sides of the wings and control surfaces, and the nose-heavy aspect of the jet began to take effect, the pointy end decided to lead the fight once again. It selected down (negative G's) as the way to achieve the desired flight attitude, with a bit of a slice to the right (like falling sideways) followed by a couple of rapid, violent snap rolls to the left and about negative 1 1/2 G's. Try puking in a bag during that!

The good news is that it's almost impossible to get a good gun shot on a jet that's changing flight path and attitude so rapid and violently. After all, the first rule of dogfighting is "Lose sight, lose fight." By allowing his jet to fly across the sun from my perspective, I lost sight. Of course in war, I would have kept pulling toward the enemy knowing that he couldn't hide in the sun for long. So, I gave up and offensive advantage for safety, but lived to write about it. My disadvantage didn't last long though, as my jet was flopping around, it doesn't gain much speed and my adversary flew out in front of me again and the fight was back on.

So, the pointy end isn't always leading the jet to the fight, though it's easier to see and control when it does. Good on the Med Group guy. He didn't get a drop on me.

Very radical fun way to spend your days :thumbsup:
Dropping out of the sky backwards in a fighter jet is a maneuver I wouldn't want to repeat very often :wow:

 

[K-9]

Lights on and flashing I like a big smile he thought I would drive out and tow him off!!

bandit @12

 

[Presentation]

John,

From your perspective, does anything else you are in (boat, car, and motorcycle) seem completely low performance?

 

[Hampton]

John,

From your perspective, does anything else you are in (boat, car, and motorcycle) seem completely low performance?

No, not at all. I'm extremely impressed with the performance of the 757/767 on takeoff roll and climbout. The 767 accelerates beautifully to (trying to remember) XXX knots indicated (Really fast) when you level off at 10,000 feet. MD-88's break ground and jump into the air at quite an impressive initial climb angle. My RX-7 corners like it's on rails. My 340 tops out over 40, and believe me, that feels really fast. My truck goes like hell (6.0L Vortec with straight pipes). Kitesurfing is a real rush. Sitting on the beach looking at bikinis gets the blood flowing even faster.

I'm impressed every time I see a go-fast boat screaming across the bay with a 100' rooster tail blasting behind it. My buddy's jet ski does 70, and that feels a lot faster at 4' up than Mach 2.2 feels at 40,000' (although the world goes by pretty fast when you do that).

I have always driven too fast, though I am starting to mellow, but otherwise, I never considered myself an adrenalin junky (or whatever the term is). I did have 10 speeding tickets on my Air Force/Pilot Training application. I don't think they like that anymore.

I will say that I don't have a lot of interest in flying private aircraft. I was bored after an hour of acrobatics in a Super Decathalon, even though I was doing the flying. The smaller planes feel very light, slow, and unstable, like they are models, dangling from the ceiling on threads in some kid's room. That being said, I love jumping in a friend's plane and heading to Key West for the weekend, and stuff like that. Some day, when my flying is finished, I'm sure I'll change my mind on private flying. Right, now, other than quick transportation, I'd rather be boating.

 

[Hampton]

Very radical fun way to spend your days :thumbsup:
Dropping out of the sky backwards in a fighter jet is a maneuver I wouldn't want to repeat very often :wow:

Quick story that reading this reminded me of. On one of my first flights in an F-15, we were performing an Advanced Handling Maneuver IAW the training syllabus for new F-15 pilots. In the T-38, this was called a Stability Demonstration (Stab Demo), and started by pulling up 70 degrees nose high. In the F-15, I can't remember what it's called right now, but it used to begin 70 -90 degrees nose high, but is now written as being executed from 70 degrees nose high. The reason follows:

My Instructor Pilot in September, 1993 was a young, bright guy named "Heat" Baxter. I remember distinctly as he briefed me on how to perform the maneuver. Most people will pull up 70 degrees, because like the T-38, the F-15 is slightly nose heavy. From 70 degrees nose up, when you run out of airspeed, the nose pitches down in a controlled manner and ends up about 70 degrees nose low until you re-gain flying airspeed, then you pull the nose back up to the horizon. It's intended to show you that the jet will not normally enter a spin if you don't force it to by making grossly incorrect flight control inputs. Back then, you could pull the F-15 up 70 - 90 degrees nose high, as I mentioned before. The problem is that at 90 nose high, the jet will begin to do a tail slide as it runs out of airspeed. It'll fly backwards until it violently pitches down and whips around trying to find a balance between flight and gravity.

So, back to the brief. Heat said "You can pull the nose up between 70 and 90 degrees nose high, and when you pull 90 degress nose high, 'cause I know you will, hold that attitude until the jet runs out of airspeed." It was only one of my first 5 or so flights in the jet, and he already knew that I would push the jet to the limit. So, I did.

I pulled the nose up to 90 degrees using the HUD as a reference. There is a circle at the top of the world on the HUD that you can fly the Whiskey Mark into ("W" in the HUD depicting the very front of the jet - not necessarily where it's going, just where it's pointing.") So, I put the Whiskey mark in the circle, held it there until control was lost due to lack of airspeed, and then let go of the controls to avoid making disastrous control inputs as the jet began its violent snap back toward the ground. There are a couple of handles up on the canopy bow for just such an occassion. I held on tight. I remember to this day, both from the experience and from watching the HUD tape in debrief, as the jet began to slide backwards, fuel began to vent from the wingtip vents and formed two brilliant streams of vapor droplets spiraling forward from the wingtip vortices as the jet fell backward toward the ground. In the middle was a mist of JP-8 (kerosene/jet fuel) with a prism of rainbow stretching across the space between the two streams. "Check that out!" I yelled as he responded, "Hold on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Then there we went - Mr Toad's Wild Ride. Nothing but smiles from me, but more just anticipation from the back seat until the jet was back to flying the way it was designed. Now that I've been with many other students in similar positions, I know that it's just not that fun for the Instructor in the back seat. One wrong move from the front stick actuator (student pilot), and the jet could wrap up into a spin that may be unrecoverable in the altitude available before ground impact. Great memories, and I've never seen that again, but I'll never forget the two streams of fuel spiraling up in front of me in the sunlight.

Some things will just always bring a smile to a guy's face. That one's right at the top of the list.

 

[K-9]

you need to have a depht finder and chartplotter or you become fodder for the press we are watching the sats,

 

[Tail Chaser 661]

Quick story that reading this reminded me of. On one of my first flights in an F-15, we were performing an Advanced Handling Maneuver IAW the training syllabus for new F-15 pilots. In the T-38, this was called a Stability Demonstration (Stab Demo), and started by pulling up 70 degrees nose high. In the F-15, I can't remember what it's called right now, but it used to begin 70 -90 degrees nose high, but is now written as being executed from 70 degrees nose high. The reason follows:

My Instructor Pilot in September, 1993 was a young, bright guy named "Heat" Baxter. I remember distinctly as he briefed me on how to perform the maneuver. Most people will pull up 70 degrees, because like the T-38, the F-15 is slightly nose heavy. From 70 degrees nose up, when you run out of airspeed, the nose pitches down in a controlled manner and ends up about 70 degrees nose low until you re-gain flying airspeed, then you pull the nose back up to the horizon. It's intended to show you that the jet will not normally enter a spin if you don't force it to by making grossly incorrect flight control inputs. Back then, you could pull the F-15 up 70 - 90 degrees nose high, as I mentioned before. The problem is that at 90 nose high, the jet will begin to do a tail slide as it runs out of airspeed. It'll fly backwards until it violently pitches down and whips around trying to find a balance between flight and gravity.

So, back to the brief. Heat said "You can pull the nose up between 70 and 90 degrees nose high, and when you pull 90 degress nose high, 'cause I know you will, hold that attitude until the jet runs out of airspeed." It was only one of my first 5 or so flights in the jet, and he already knew that I would push the jet to the limit. So, I did.

I pulled the nose up to 90 degrees using the HUD as a reference. There is a circle at the top of the world on the HUD that you can fly the Whiskey Mark into ("W" in the HUD depicting the very front of the jet - not necessarily where it's going, just where it's pointing.") So, I put the Whiskey mark in the circle, held it there until control was lost due to lack of airspeed, and then let go of the controls to avoid making disastrous control inputs as the jet began its violent snap back toward the ground. There are a couple of handles up on the canopy bow for just such an occassion. I held on tight. I remember to this day, both from the experience and from watching the HUD tape in debrief, as the jet began to slide backwards, fuel began to vent from the wingtip vents and formed two brilliant streams of vapor droplets spiraling forward from the wingtip vortices as the jet fell backward toward the ground. In the middle was a mist of JP-8 (kerosene/jet fuel) with a prism of rainbow stretching across the space between the two streams. "Check that out!" I yelled as he responded, "Hold on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Then there we went - Mr Toad's Wild Ride. Nothing but smiles from me, but more just anticipation from the back seat until the jet was back to flying the way it was designed. Now that I've been with many other students in similar positions, I know that it's just not that fun for the Instructor in the back seat. One wrong move from the front stick actuator (student pilot), and the jet could wrap up into a spin that may be unrecoverable in the altitude available before ground impact. Great memories, and I've never seen that again, but I'll never forget the two streams of fuel spiraling up in front of me in the sunlight.

Some things will just always bring a smile to a guy's face. That one's right at the top of the list.

I'm a firm believer in, You get what you pay for.
That F-15 flys/handles so good, You can take it vertical till she stalls. Let go of the stick, and she will straighten herself out. Niceeeee. No comparison but... I used to use the Janes combat sims. Loved flying the F-18 Hornet. The F-22 Raptor was way to difficult. I just heard not to long ago the Raptor has safeguards built in. It can actually kill a pilot by how fast it can pull off a maneuver??

 

[K-9]

loss of blood to the brain too many Gs+++++

 

[mawyatt]

I remember when they had to "back off" the controls in the F16 (I think) because one could pull too many "Gs". I knew a guy at Luke AFB (Phoenix) that had a job to fly repaired aircraft to verify the repair and check things out before the aircraft was returned to operational status, he told me that they lost a few pilots before they figured this out and cut back on the control range.

 

[Hampton]

I remember when they had to "back off" the controls in the F16 (I think) because one could pull too many "Gs". I knew a guy at Luke AFB (Phoenix) that had a job to fly repaired aircraft to verify the repair and check things out before the aircraft was returned to operational status, he told me that they lost a few pilots before they figured this out and cut back on the control range.

FCF - Functional Check Flight - I did those in Okinawa, Korea, and here at Tyndall for a while.