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I would like some input, some feedback. I had one that I can not number. It put me in high-speed low drag mode. My genitals completely retracted. Can anyone tell me the number for that one? I pray God forbid I ever experience that one again. No joy, just empty. Was it God? Was it the devil?
Yeah. They go max throttle just in case they're missing the wire. Praying that they'll have enough airspeed to not go into the water. I was on the #2 sponson on a break when an F-4 missed the wire. Off that fucker came dropping down to the water. God was with those men! It was at full ab and dragging its gear through the water, and lifted!!! Oh what a wonderful saltwater spray that was on such a hot summer day in the Tonkin Gulf off North Vietnam!!! I won't go into a cold cat shot when we lost an A-3 with all 5 hands, except to say there's always that same instant total empty feeling when that shit happens. It's almost like going with them.
I think it impossible to describe it. One just has to have been there. The birds are absolutely magnificent! It was a total pleasure to work on such precision, and see it work! Every time I see aircraft fail, everything inside of me is screaming, What the fuck happened? Peoples' lives are so precious!
The two things most vivid in my mind still was how small the carrier seemed on approach and this tremendous metallic WHAM! when we hit the deck. I couldn't believe the plane could take that over and over again. It really does take a couple of seconds to realize you made it because the engines go to full power when they hit the deck and they're screaming.
I can only speak from observation. As I've thought about it, I realized the PF is always there, it just raises and falls. It is probably first noticeable in the ready room, preflight. Thus begins Mr. Toads wild ride. I hope I'm not stealing anyone's thunder, but I'm a blabber mouth. I will always respond to orders. Since I don't hear any, hear goes. The PF is probably like the waves on the sea as they climb the ladder to the flight deck. I won't go on with details. The uninitiated can comb the books. Then the cat. BAM! The ride is full on. Where it all really begins to build is when the aircraft is steered to return to ship. At that moment, the officers can see it coming from hundreds of miles away. It's good because, there's no margin for error on final approach. Probably the only time in a person's life when their shit is one hundred percent wired tight - well one's life is totally in the hands of God, Who makes up for the lacking percentile. No wonder, about all of those shit eating grins I saw - no wonder. In 1967, I saw those all day long, often twice a day on the same officers. I give them the snappiest salute I've got! The flight deck crew shares the PF too, a lot. Even there, if you fuck up, and live, it's God who saved you. Everywhere you step, there's a trip wire. Situational awareness must always be at max. Can I get a witness? My shirt was green. My job: keep them churnin' an' burnin'. And, by the grace of God, I always did. I do emphasize, by the grace of God, because there's no way I'm going to brag too much about that.