Awesome video! What does he keep looking at to his left? Can you imagine how much you would miss that kind of flying after you get discharged? – there is no civilian equivalent!
Larry GeigerApril 3, 2020, 5:57 AM
When I was young I was going to get my degree in physics, join the Navy and fly like this guy and then become an astronaut. I was a young kid living on Merritt Island, FL and everything around me was about space.
Well, that didn’t work out so well. I didn’t finish my physics degree, didn’t join the Air Force or the Navy and didn’t apply to NASA to be an astronaut (though I did work at KSC for 27 years as a contractor on computers). I finished my degree in forestry and really loved that.
Some years later I took private flying lessons and learned the main reason why I should never have been the pilot of a fighter jet. Besides being just a little bit chicken, I barely had the awareness and coordination to fly a Cessna. I soloed twice and that was it. I’ve met and known some men who have flown these jets and helicopters. They are better men than I.
the woodsmanApril 3, 2020, 7:36 AM
Balls of steel.
AggieApril 3, 2020, 8:01 AM
I’m no jet pilot but that looked virtually flawless – not a wasted or uncertain motion.
AnonApril 3, 2020, 8:35 AM
What a rush.
brinsterApril 3, 2020, 8:40 AM
God, please let the men of this ilk be the leaders of tomorrow. This country won’t survive otherwise (assuming it survives the Chinese virus).
Oh, and Chuck Schumer is still a heaping pile of cow excrement.
Casey KlahnApril 3, 2020, 12:05 PM
This proves what jerks aviators are. Like the cable brake jerk; get it? I always thought aviators were primadonnas when I was an infantryman, and all of my encounters with them usually proved it. Then again, I’m a bit of an ass myself.
Actually, that was exciting and it does get your blood moving to just watch. I think he was looking at the carrier over his left shoulder.
MhfApril 3, 2020, 12:32 PM
Awesome. He’s turning left and he’s looking to see if another plane is coming up on him in the turn.
azlibertarianApril 3, 2020, 1:46 PM
@Wayne “…What does he keep looking at to his left? Can you imagine how much you would miss that kind of flying after you get discharged? – there is no civilian equivalent!”
I’m guessing that the pilot (who looks to me to be a man, but could be a woman) is looking back towards the left at the carrier. He’s gauging his spacing so that he has enough room to complete the turn to what we in the Air Force called “final”, and to place himself on “final” at an appropriate distance from the carrier.
And yes, when you leave it, you do miss this type of flying. I flew T38s and C130s a mumble-mumble million years ago, and I do miss both. There were many weekends when as a 24 year-old young stud, I was given the keys to a supersonic jet (That’s a joke. Military planes need no keys.), with orders no more stringent than to “bring it back by Sunday afternoon and don’t bend anything.” It was simultaneously more fun than anything you can do with your pants on, an awesome responsibility, and an awesome privilege.
And now as a guy 2 years away from my mandatory retirement as an airline pilot, there are things about this job that I’ll miss too. Everyone loves a nice sunset, but what I’ll miss are the sunrises from 30,000 feet. Of course the next 2 years to 65 presumes that there is an industry for me to work in, which at this point isn’t an easy question to answer. We’ll see, and I can never not give thanks for the blessings that I do have, first and foremost, a terrific family.
Thomas B. Modly is an American businessman and government official who has served as Acting United States Secretary of the Navy since November 24, 2019. [Modly is actually a spineless con artist, who shamelessly caved to the demands of the incompetent, corrupt, criminal Trump administration—when they ordered him to close ranks & stop all criticism, no matter how appropriate that criticism might be.]
Modly, who was confirmed as the United States Under Secretary of the Navy on December 4, 2017, performed the duties of the Secretary of the Navy while Richard V. Spencer was Acting Secretary of Defense and Acting Deputy Secretary of Defense from July 15, 2019, to July 31, 2019.[1]
Daniel K DayApril 3, 2020, 6:46 PM
I just checked. The landing speed of the F18 on a carrier is 250 knots, which is just under 290 mph. If he went from that speed to zero in 3 seconds, he was pulling about 4 and a half Gs on that stop.
azlibertarianApril 3, 2020, 8:01 PM
That the landing speed on a carrier is that high (I’m just guessing here, but in the neighborhood of 100+ knots higher than a landing on a runway), has got to do with the need to have enough speed to fly if he misses the cables. FWIW, 4 1/2 g’s is very common in a fighter-type aircraft.
Mack BennettApril 6, 2020, 8:09 AM
I agree, pilot is looking to the left often to spot possible traffic.
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Just another day at the office….. Awesome !!
Awesome video! What does he keep looking at to his left? Can you imagine how much you would miss that kind of flying after you get discharged? – there is no civilian equivalent!
When I was young I was going to get my degree in physics, join the Navy and fly like this guy and then become an astronaut. I was a young kid living on Merritt Island, FL and everything around me was about space.
Well, that didn’t work out so well. I didn’t finish my physics degree, didn’t join the Air Force or the Navy and didn’t apply to NASA to be an astronaut (though I did work at KSC for 27 years as a contractor on computers). I finished my degree in forestry and really loved that.
Some years later I took private flying lessons and learned the main reason why I should never have been the pilot of a fighter jet. Besides being just a little bit chicken, I barely had the awareness and coordination to fly a Cessna. I soloed twice and that was it. I’ve met and known some men who have flown these jets and helicopters. They are better men than I.
Balls of steel.
I’m no jet pilot but that looked virtually flawless – not a wasted or uncertain motion.
What a rush.
God, please let the men of this ilk be the leaders of tomorrow. This country won’t survive otherwise (assuming it survives the Chinese virus).
Oh, and Chuck Schumer is still a heaping pile of cow excrement.
This proves what jerks aviators are. Like the cable brake jerk; get it? I always thought aviators were primadonnas when I was an infantryman, and all of my encounters with them usually proved it. Then again, I’m a bit of an ass myself.
Actually, that was exciting and it does get your blood moving to just watch. I think he was looking at the carrier over his left shoulder.
Awesome. He’s turning left and he’s looking to see if another plane is coming up on him in the turn.
@Wayne “…What does he keep looking at to his left? Can you imagine how much you would miss that kind of flying after you get discharged? – there is no civilian equivalent!”
I’m guessing that the pilot (who looks to me to be a man, but could be a woman) is looking back towards the left at the carrier. He’s gauging his spacing so that he has enough room to complete the turn to what we in the Air Force called “final”, and to place himself on “final” at an appropriate distance from the carrier.
And yes, when you leave it, you do miss this type of flying. I flew T38s and C130s a
mumble-mumblemillion years ago, and I do miss both. There were many weekends when as a 24 year-old young stud, I was given the keys to a supersonic jet (That’s a joke. Military planes need no keys.), with orders no more stringent than to “bring it back by Sunday afternoon and don’t bend anything.” It was simultaneously more fun than anything you can do with your pants on, an awesome responsibility, and an awesome privilege.And now as a guy 2 years away from my mandatory retirement as an airline pilot, there are things about this job that I’ll miss too. Everyone loves a nice sunset, but what I’ll miss are the sunrises from 30,000 feet. Of course the next 2 years to 65 presumes that there is an industry for me to work in, which at this point isn’t an easy question to answer. We’ll see, and I can never not give thanks for the blessings that I do have, first and foremost, a terrific family.
Are there any adults on the payroll over at Wiki?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Modly
In case it gets wiped:
Thomas B. Modly is an American businessman and government official who has served as Acting United States Secretary of the Navy since November 24, 2019. [Modly is actually a spineless con artist, who shamelessly caved to the demands of the incompetent, corrupt, criminal Trump administration—when they ordered him to close ranks & stop all criticism, no matter how appropriate that criticism might be.]
Modly, who was confirmed as the United States Under Secretary of the Navy on December 4, 2017, performed the duties of the Secretary of the Navy while Richard V. Spencer was Acting Secretary of Defense and Acting Deputy Secretary of Defense from July 15, 2019, to July 31, 2019.[1]
I just checked. The landing speed of the F18 on a carrier is 250 knots, which is just under 290 mph. If he went from that speed to zero in 3 seconds, he was pulling about 4 and a half Gs on that stop.
That the landing speed on a carrier is that high (I’m just guessing here, but in the neighborhood of 100+ knots higher than a landing on a runway), has got to do with the need to have enough speed to fly if he misses the cables. FWIW, 4 1/2 g’s is very common in a fighter-type aircraft.
I agree, pilot is looking to the left often to spot possible traffic.