They brought in a VAQ-129 EA-6B Prowler 160609 modex 911 from Whidbey Island, WA for static display. As is the current regs, in joint-manned outfits they say "NAVY" on the left and "MARINES" on the right.
They didn't bother to clean or shine-up this airplane, so it came right off the boat! Boot marks, smoking rivets, and corrosion-control multi-shade paint. I found it attractive!
On arrival, they needed help getting the boarding ladder down and getting bags out of the birdcage aft. I was more than pleased to help!
Getting the airplane out of here was a different story. The EA-6B does not just start itself and towing it requires a specialized bar. The Blue Angels' maintainers had guys and the bar so they towed it over, but they couldn't wait for the start!
I got a quick GSE class and they literally ran for the C-130 and were gone.
Cape G. has a part-time tower. The controllers are city employees and when the tower closes the field is uncontrolled. As soon as the airshow air boss got the show planes out and ended the "waiver", the tower closed. That means all movement on the airport and takeoffs/landings are dependent on each pilot reporting his position and intentions on a common traffic radio frequency. It was working very well, everybody yakking away, until we put power on the Prowler! I got a steady tone on my radio centered on the traffic frequency of 125.525 Mhz. I grabbed the pilot and told him he had the frequency blocked, but he didn't think it was his aircraft. I shut the power off after a bout five minutes and asked him to do a button check in the cockpit. Sure enough, his Comm radio was in "tone" mode. Military radios have a "tone" mode that puts out a steady 1000 -hertz tone. This is used for adjustments of microphones, but is primarily for other aircraft to home on in a emergency if the microphones and voice don't work. Really old technology, and probably never used, but still there. Problem solved.
I briefed with the Cdr. and then briefed the ground crew on the sequencing needed to start and clear the Prowler.
It takes 115VAC at 400-hertz to get electricity on the ship, then high-pressure, high-flow air to turn the turbines. The electricity come from a big diesel generator on wheels, but the air comes from a small jet engine mounted on a cart with a hose hooked in the side of the Prowler. The coupling gets hot! Three-hundred degrees and no-fingerprints left hot! So I showed a guy how to start/stop and disconnect the hose with the chain and handle. Briefed everybody to stay clear of intake/exhaust and for a very brief period became an Intruder plane captain after a 32-year hiatus. I was tickled pink!
We successfully manned, closed, started and launched a Navy Intruder(OKAY Prowler!). And didn't hurt anybody or cost the government money or paperwork!
Monday, June 21, 2010
Tom got his ride!
Last Saturday was arrival day for us. I went out to center field and helped to lay out and weigh down a 5000-foot by 40-foot plastic show line. This was extremely hot, heavy work with 1500-pound rolls of diaper plastic and 30 pallets of paver bricks. Not the place you find most medicoes.
But right in the middle, sweating like a farmhand was Tom Diemer, an internal medicine doc. Every day, Tom was slinging bricks and doing whatever it took to get ready for the show.
Tom was the alternate for the Blue Angels ride in the #7 two-seater with Lt. C.J Simonsen. A local weatherman, John Dissauer, got one ride, a fitness trainer and Boy Scout leader the other, but we were all pulling for Tom.
Unfortunately everyone stayed healthy and foolhardy so Tom didn't get the jet ride. But the Blues also do a tactical demonstration with the C-130T called "Fat Albert" during the actual show, and Tom got to go! To say he was pumped and ready is really weak! I've never been so happy for a guy that I only knew for a week, but Tom's genuine, open enthusiasm is very contagious!
Micky and I met Tom and his wife before the show. I thought we'd have to keep Tom in range of a hard-point to tie him down! He was working the medical/first-aid station doing things like pulling beautiful Missouri June Bugs out of ears and watching for heat cases, but that all stopped as showtime neared.
Fat Albert does some pretty dramatic, but actually standard maneuvers. Coming into a landing area with steep terrain or people shooting at you off the ends requires a theme-park steep approach and climbout and the C-130 delivers that kind of performance. And gravity still applies inside the airplane. From the front with all the windows is impressive, but strapped into a sling seat in the back with all the cargo in the center is fun too!
Tom got the cockpit ride and a signed picture! And I couldn't have been happier if I had went. Way to go Tom!
But right in the middle, sweating like a farmhand was Tom Diemer, an internal medicine doc. Every day, Tom was slinging bricks and doing whatever it took to get ready for the show.
Tom was the alternate for the Blue Angels ride in the #7 two-seater with Lt. C.J Simonsen. A local weatherman, John Dissauer, got one ride, a fitness trainer and Boy Scout leader the other, but we were all pulling for Tom.
Unfortunately everyone stayed healthy and foolhardy so Tom didn't get the jet ride. But the Blues also do a tactical demonstration with the C-130T called "Fat Albert" during the actual show, and Tom got to go! To say he was pumped and ready is really weak! I've never been so happy for a guy that I only knew for a week, but Tom's genuine, open enthusiasm is very contagious!
Micky and I met Tom and his wife before the show. I thought we'd have to keep Tom in range of a hard-point to tie him down! He was working the medical/first-aid station doing things like pulling beautiful Missouri June Bugs out of ears and watching for heat cases, but that all stopped as showtime neared.
Fat Albert does some pretty dramatic, but actually standard maneuvers. Coming into a landing area with steep terrain or people shooting at you off the ends requires a theme-park steep approach and climbout and the C-130 delivers that kind of performance. And gravity still applies inside the airplane. From the front with all the windows is impressive, but strapped into a sling seat in the back with all the cargo in the center is fun too!
Tom got the cockpit ride and a signed picture! And I couldn't have been happier if I had went. Way to go Tom!
The Oil Boss' Boy
I got a job! Robert Cork is on the airport board and his job for the airshow is "Oil Boss". And I'm his b****h! Seriously, I always knew that old, radial engines used oil like rednecks use Redman, but I wasn't prepared for a request for a 55-gallon drum of 120-weight oil. The B-17 crew has an oiler rig in the back of a dually pickup complete with tank and nozzle and they spend their mornings pumping oil.
I had a ball running around on a golf cart asking if anybody needed oil and delivering. Smoke oil is dispensed from a forklift with a 12VDC pump rig running about .8 gallons per minute. The performer's airplanes have tanks that hold 10-30 gallons. The smoke is from the oil being sprayed into a hot exhaust. The Blue Angels use pallets of the stuff, but they bring and dispense their own.
I had a ball running around on a golf cart asking if anybody needed oil and delivering. Smoke oil is dispensed from a forklift with a 12VDC pump rig running about .8 gallons per minute. The performer's airplanes have tanks that hold 10-30 gallons. The smoke is from the oil being sprayed into a hot exhaust. The Blue Angels use pallets of the stuff, but they bring and dispense their own.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Showtime!
I've had the opportunity to meet some really great aviators by volunteering at the Airshow. Kyle and Amanda Franklin have a wingwalking act. In the acts we all know, the daredevil rides the wing while the airplane is pretty stable. Nope, Kyle snatches the airplane through loops, hammerheads, spins, and inverted passes while his wife, Amanda gets the best view in the world. And she moves around the airplane waving swords! The airplane travels with them and two dogs in a custom trailer behind their Class B motorhome and has to be assembled at each show, by Kyle.
Skip Stewart surfs a Pitts Special. At least that's how he describes pulling the airplane off the runway way too early, holding it in ground effect and riding a cushion of air three feet off the ground in a knife edge.
No prima donnas, they shove airplanes, do their own maintenance , and in Skip's case, change diapers.
My little Remos has the wings folded and is shoved in an aisle in the former Commander factory on the east ramp. Skip needed a little more room for a cherry Twin Comanche in the hangar.
Today is the first day of the show, but yesterday the Blues did a show for make-a-wish and the MO veterans home. They are really on the game! That first low diamond pass is advertised as eighteen inches wingtip-to-canopy. Looked a lot closer!
More tonight, if I can stay awake!
Skip Stewart surfs a Pitts Special. At least that's how he describes pulling the airplane off the runway way too early, holding it in ground effect and riding a cushion of air three feet off the ground in a knife edge.
No prima donnas, they shove airplanes, do their own maintenance , and in Skip's case, change diapers.
My little Remos has the wings folded and is shoved in an aisle in the former Commander factory on the east ramp. Skip needed a little more room for a cherry Twin Comanche in the hangar.
Today is the first day of the show, but yesterday the Blues did a show for make-a-wish and the MO veterans home. They are really on the game! That first low diamond pass is advertised as eighteen inches wingtip-to-canopy. Looked a lot closer!
More tonight, if I can stay awake!
Righteous raider!
VAQ-129 is a reserve outfit from Whidbey Island Washington. They fly the EA-6B Prowler on carriers. Modex 911 falls easily into the "workhorse" carrier plane mode. It's filthy, smoking rivets, air superiority grey in several different tones and applications warts and patches all over. a true combat steed.
The crew is all reserve. I was in my element! Showing them how to operate the ugly thing and slamming things around. I fully expect a puddle of fluids around it by Sunday. I need to show them how to tow it backwards by the tiedowns or the tailhook, enough to fuel it. Or maybe "hot-pit" it with motors running and self power.
The crew is all reserve. I was in my element! Showing them how to operate the ugly thing and slamming things around. I fully expect a puddle of fluids around it by Sunday. I need to show them how to tow it backwards by the tiedowns or the tailhook, enough to fuel it. Or maybe "hot-pit" it with motors running and self power.
Searching for a job!
I had a good job driving a forklift with smoke oil on it, but the guy showed up and did it better. Now Robert and I are the oilies. Each performer gets an allottment of the lube of his choice, We're the "fedex of oil!" On-time and on demand. Some of the big radial bombers will burn up to 20 gallons and leak the rest!. We also fix any other problems as they arrise.
KCHA-KCGI
The flight from Chatanooga to Cape Girardeau was over rolling hills in Tennessee and started out at 3500 feet. My route took me through the Nashville control area and we had a real gem of a controller! She had a voice that you could have sold by the ounce! Clear and clearly Southern! She recommended a climb to 4500 feet and once up there, it was smooth and fast. Later, near Paducah I went up to 5500 feet to avoid some building clouds.
Landing in Cape was a yee-hah! The wind was from 210 degrees and 12 knots with gusts. Runway 20 which would have made that a cakewalk was closed for airshow prep, so I went in with a 70 degree left crosswind and 12 knots. The maximum demonstrated crosswind in my airplane is 15 knots, so it was sporty! The first pass was going well, until I hit the last ten feet and got the big burble from hell! Powered out and went around. Now I've attracted the attention of everybody working at the airport and they've stopped to watch the newbie with the funny airplane.
My crosswind technique was "crab and kick". Let the airplane fly off heading with the actual path across the ground straight down the runway, then kick the rudder, lay in the roll and slip at the last moment. It worked fine, until I kept the nose off for air braking and the airplane weathervaned into the wind. 28 is a nice wide runway, but the edge was coming on fast, so I put the nose gear down at 30 knots and steered for the centerline. The tower came up and asked "You guys allright?" I assured him were just doing "stupid pilot tricks with crosswinds" and we taxied on in. Several others that afternoon diverted to Sikeston, so I didn't feel that bad!
The rest of the day was spent with Robert Cork building a 5000 foot by 40 foot plastic runway offset from 28 and held down with paver stones. 30 pallets of pavers holding 3000 pounds of white plastic down.
Sunday we finished the job. Sunday evening the job was rearranged by a strong meso cyclone with 61 knot winds. And all six tents went down. Luckily, I'd just folded the Remos' wings and moved it inside.
Before folding the wings, Robert took me out and we worked hard on "slipping" to land. I was taught this technique, but didn't really "grok" the thing. Know I do and it will make my life much easier.
Landing in Cape was a yee-hah! The wind was from 210 degrees and 12 knots with gusts. Runway 20 which would have made that a cakewalk was closed for airshow prep, so I went in with a 70 degree left crosswind and 12 knots. The maximum demonstrated crosswind in my airplane is 15 knots, so it was sporty! The first pass was going well, until I hit the last ten feet and got the big burble from hell! Powered out and went around. Now I've attracted the attention of everybody working at the airport and they've stopped to watch the newbie with the funny airplane.
My crosswind technique was "crab and kick". Let the airplane fly off heading with the actual path across the ground straight down the runway, then kick the rudder, lay in the roll and slip at the last moment. It worked fine, until I kept the nose off for air braking and the airplane weathervaned into the wind. 28 is a nice wide runway, but the edge was coming on fast, so I put the nose gear down at 30 knots and steered for the centerline. The tower came up and asked "You guys allright?" I assured him were just doing "stupid pilot tricks with crosswinds" and we taxied on in. Several others that afternoon diverted to Sikeston, so I didn't feel that bad!
The rest of the day was spent with Robert Cork building a 5000 foot by 40 foot plastic runway offset from 28 and held down with paver stones. 30 pallets of pavers holding 3000 pounds of white plastic down.
Sunday we finished the job. Sunday evening the job was rearranged by a strong meso cyclone with 61 knot winds. And all six tents went down. Luckily, I'd just folded the Remos' wings and moved it inside.
Before folding the wings, Robert took me out and we worked hard on "slipping" to land. I was taught this technique, but didn't really "grok" the thing. Know I do and it will make my life much easier.
Friday, June 18, 2010
X-country to Missouri
We'd planned to go to Missouri last Friday, but the weather was iffy in Cape Girardeau and may have caused us to overnight in Memphis , so why bother. The weather was perfect in Augusta, the sun just below the horizon when we arrived at Bush Field to push our travelling magic outside. Loaded to the legal limit and full of fuel with all our "stuff" secured, we finished our coffee and waited for the tower to open the field. Didn't really have to, but I wanted the flight following into Chattanooga. Easy takeoff and climbout to 4500 feet and a nice flight to Athens before the ceilings came down and the dirt came came up.
Although solidly VFR and with room to spare, it's a little bit un-nerving crossing the ridges with the mountains higher than you are to the right. And this was my first 'REAL' cross-country flight with my wife onboard. Actually, the flight to Choo-Choo wasn't bad and the temperature was good.
I thoroughly enjoyed the Tennessee Twang and genuinely welcoming voice of the KCHA tower controller and shot a nice landing. Took on 11.8 gallons of 100LL. The predicted burn was 12 gallons.
I've got to go out to the airshow now, more later!
Although solidly VFR and with room to spare, it's a little bit un-nerving crossing the ridges with the mountains higher than you are to the right. And this was my first 'REAL' cross-country flight with my wife onboard. Actually, the flight to Choo-Choo wasn't bad and the temperature was good.
I thoroughly enjoyed the Tennessee Twang and genuinely welcoming voice of the KCHA tower controller and shot a nice landing. Took on 11.8 gallons of 100LL. The predicted burn was 12 gallons.
I've got to go out to the airshow now, more later!
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