Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire A few aviation shots

Pugs, great pics... thanks for sharing!

Pugs - You wouldn't happen to have any pics of a MiG28 in a 4g negative dive? Say from a meter and a half while inverted? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Man it's been 20 years since that flick and maybe I am biased but it beats the tar outta the only AF movie I can think of (Iron Eagles with Lou Gossett Jr.)

How much training does the AF and Navy do either together or against one another - air to air?

I was an intell wienie -- I never got to hang out with airdales at all so Navy aviation is foreign to me.

Either a F-15 or a F-16 would send a tomcat to an early grave.

So would landing on a CVN at night for an AF guy <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

As always, depends on where, how and who's driving. A Tomcat with four Phoenix started shooting at three times the range of an F-15 with AMRAAM.

To answer Teal's question I worked with the boys in powder blue quite a bit. Particularly the EF-111 guys out of Mountain Home before we took over the joint EW mission. I did maybe seven Red or Green Flags at Nellis, three deployments to Northern or Southern Watch and flew out of Aviano for the Kosovo war. There's plusses and minus's to both services. I think the following letter captures it nicely.....

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USN or USAF? by Bob Norris
Bob Norris is a former Naval aviator who also did a 3 year exchange tour flying the F-15 Eagle. He is now an accomplished author of entertaining books about US Naval Aviation including "Check Six" and "Fly-Off". Check out his web site at his web site. Click Here. In response to a letter from an aspiring fighter pilot on which military academy to attend, Bob replied with the following.
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12 Feb 04
Young Man,
Congratulations on your selection to both the Naval and Air Force Academies. Your goal of becoming a fighter pilot is impressive and a fine way to serve your country. As you requested, I'd be happy to share some insight into which service would be the best choice. Each service has a distinctly different culture. You need to ask yourself "Which one am I more likely to thrive in?"

USAF Snapshot: The USAF is exceptionally well organized and well run. Their training programs are terrific. All pilots are groomed to meet high standards for knowledge and professionalism. Their aircraft are top-notch and extremely well maintained. Their facilities are excellent. Their enlisted personnel are the brightest and the best trained. The USAF is homogenous and macro. No matter where you go, you'll know what to expect, what is expected of you, and you'll be given the training & tools you need to meet those expectations. You will never be put in a situation over your head. Over a 20-year career, you will be home for most important family events. Your Mom would want you to be an Air Force pilot...so would your wife. Your Dad would want your sister to marry one.

Navy Snapshot: Aviators are part of the Navy, but so are Black shoes (surface warfare) and bubble heads (submariners). Furthermore, the Navy is split into two distinctly different Fleets (West and East Coast). The Navy is heterogeneous and micro. Your squadron is your home; it may be great, average, or awful. A squadron can go from one extreme to the other before you know it. You will spend months preparing for cruise and months on cruise. The quality of the aircraft varies directly with the availability of parts. Senior Navy enlisted are salt of the earth; you'll be proud if you earn their respect. Junior enlisted vary from terrific to the troubled kid the judge made join the service. You will be given the opportunity to lead these people during your career; you will be humbled and get your hands dirty. The quality of your training will vary and sometimes you will be over your head. You will miss many important family events. There will be long stretches of tedious duty aboard ship. You will fly in very bad weather and/or at night and you will be scared many times. You will fly with legends in the Navy and they will kick your ass until you become a lethal force. And some days - when the scheduling Gods have smiled upon you - your jet will catapult into a glorious morning over a far-away sea and you will be drop-jawed that someone would pay you to do it. The hottest girl in the bar wants to meet the Naval Aviator. That bar is in Singapore.

Bottom line, son, if you gotta ask...pack warm & good luck in Colorado.
Banzai
PS Air Force pilots wear scarves and iron their flight suits.

Pugs - awesome letter. Pretty good look at the Navy IMO. Problem is in 4 years the only time I was on a Navy base was basic and PSD Corpus for discharge - rest was Army (kinda) and AF. I never got around the aviation guys in the Navy other than some AC linguists.

I like and would take the Navy all over again after being joint my whole hitch. Not bashing the others - just saying I like the Naval culture. Its even more subdivided than East vs West. Airdales, bubble heads, I branchers vs R branchers (CT community), dirt sailors, big ships and little ships, nukes, and then white hats and khaki. All are good. Just different. Gotta say tho an R brancher can make a mean cup of coffee and go on a food run like nobodies business <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

We actually talked about this one night (slow mid) and came to the conclusion that people joint the AF and Army for a specific job - they either want to be a grunt, comms guy, airframe and power plane mechanic ect. The Navy and Marines tend to collect guys who join to be either sailors or marines - the job is secondary.

Not commenting on one is good or bad - there are ford and chevy guys -- just an observation 2 squids, 3 zoomies a marine and a leg came up with sometime between 0100 and 0430.

LMAO <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />



Thats not entirely true. We took the silk scarves off after we entered the aircraft.

thanks for the pics, pug - and for your service.
i like to pretend all my federal tax dollars go to guys like you.

I spent 20 years in the Iowa Guard in a Huey and Blackhawk unit. If I had known then what I know now, it would have been in an active duty unit. Probably Airforce and C-130's. I'm too old now. After two Huey's collided in Minnesota in the late 80's (blade clash) crews were no longer allowed to use camera's while flying without specific permission prior to take off. kwg

Pugs,

Cool pics - thanks for posting them.

I've read that aviator call signs are often embarrassing nicknames that stick during training rather than ones the aviators choose themselves. Mind telling us how Pugs came about and/or how the other three in the photo you posted got their call signs?

The A-6 Intruder was my favorite airplane, and if I had good eyeballs that would have been the airplane for me. That airplane along with the F-14 are now in a part of aviation history that was. Back when I was a little snot, I thought the F-4 was a pretty need airplane, that is till I saw a guy hovering around in a Bell 47 and then I was really doomed.

I must agree with all the rest of these guys that you have some really great pics !
I'm glad someone pointed out that what's happening is refueling. I thought the Piper Cub was pushing the big Cessna !
Not really

Great photos,

Thanks for sharing them and the stories.

And thanks to all of you fellas for your service and the sacrifices from yourselves and your families.

RR,
Most callsigns are just some variation on a person's name which is the other three guys. I ended up with Pugs in VT-10 as I was finishing up flying T-2's. A fine little airplane but I just had a string of instructors and events I didn't click with and I struggled through the whole phase. Made it but it was not my shining moment. Finished up and was OK'ed to move on to T-47's and the low level phases. Came back to the 6th floor condo I shared with a couple other Ensigns and took the 1/72 T-2 model I had, inserted a firecracker in it, lit it and pitched it off the balcony to explode on the way down and exorcise that phase from my mind. Pugsly was always blowing up the trains with uncle Fester in the Adams family and within a week that's what everyone called me. Ended up shortened to Pugs as it was easier to say over the radio. Later there was a plywood outline of train and a mk-76 practice bomb that only reinforced it.

Some callsigns are constant across squadrons. Everyone squadron has a Wedge (simplest tool known to man) A Thumper (a rabbit like obsession with the opposite sex) a Psyco (usually they're just a bit on edge), A PITA (Pain in the A$$) and a Pops (a JO who in either attitude or looks is a bit older than the rest) We're not a terribly inventive lot but we had fun.

And some shots from another viewpoint. The USN shots were taken from a USAF KC135 in early 1981, over the middle of the Indian Ocean.

Very nice JB! That "Warparty" A-7E is VA-87 the same squadron I cruised with after they had transferred to Hornets as VFA-87.