flying!

Mike Marron wrote:
"George Z. Bush" wrote:

[snip]

You don't know what boredom is until you've done that once or twice.
(^-^)))

Arguing with McNicoll?

That, too....but I gave that up for Lent. (^-^))))

George Z.

My contribution. Offutt AFB to Kadena AFB non-stop on Rivet Joint.
Refuel over Alaska. Immediately after refuel, the aircraft was tasked
for a real world tasking. Since my clearance was only Secret, I was
directed to sit in the aft crew-rest seats (aft-facing). I was not to
get up or even look around. 10 hours of pure boredom. 21 hours total
time inflight.
KenG

Mike Marron wrote:
(Krztalizer) wrote:

Someone wrote:


Or orbiting while talking to a submarine from a 135 with LWA.


or hanging on two props (other two feathered to increase on station loiter
time) in a P-3 while waiting for a Charlie to make its appearance for 13.6
thoroughly *wasted* hours. Last minute intel update prior to launch showed the
target was in port, thousands of miles away. We still launched, still dropped
barrier after wasted barrier. That was boredom, and as hard as it is to grasp,
that was inflight boredom. Personally, I preferred getting bashed around in
the whiteout conditions at 120 feet, looking through rain squalls for
periscopes in the mist. I always thought of it as my job to take the last
photo prior to impact, so I ended up with dozens of rolls of film of water
rushing by. That made up for all those "loitering DFWs" (Designated Fuel
Waste) flights, like the search for that Charlie.


Oneupsmanship as to whose job was the most BORING. Gotta love it!

KenG wrote:

My contribution. Offutt AFB to Kadena AFB non-stop on Rivet Joint.
Refuel over Alaska. Immediately after refuel, the aircraft was tasked
for a real world tasking. Since my clearance was only Secret, I was
directed to sit in the aft crew-rest seats (aft-facing). I was not to
get up or even look around. 10 hours of pure boredom. 21 hours total
time inflight.

I feel your pain but that's merely riding along as a passenger not
"flying" (check subject header). Not only is the view better from the
front office but you have things to do up there and aren't quite so
bored.

How about Hurlburt Field, Fl - Al Karjh (PSAB) Saudi Arabia, non-stop in an
MC-130E. 28.5 hrs of total pain. By the end of it we didn't even want to
walk out off the aircraft, we just wanted to fall out of the seats. Then
the (insert expletive here) Saudis made us go through customs with all our
bags (each of us had at least 4 B-4 bags). That took three hours; then we
had to inprocess at the S-1 and then we got billeting assignments.
--
Les
F-4C(WW),D,E,G(WW)/AC-130A/MC-130E EWO (ret)


"KenG" wrote in message
m...
My contribution. Offutt AFB to Kadena AFB non-stop on Rivet Joint.
Refuel over Alaska. Immediately after refuel, the aircraft was tasked
for a real world tasking. Since my clearance was only Secret, I was
directed to sit in the aft crew-rest seats (aft-facing). I was not to
get up or even look around. 10 hours of pure boredom. 21 hours total
time inflight.
KenG

How about Hurlburt Field, Fl - Al Karjh (PSAB) Saudi Arabia, non-stop in an
MC-130E.

Barksdale AFB to Korea and back, 33+ hours.


BUFDRVR

"Stay on the bomb run boys, I'm gonna get those bomb doors open if it harelips
everyone on Bear Creek"

(BUFDRVR) wrote:
"Les Matheson" wrote:
KenG wrote:

My contribution. Offutt AFB to Kadena AFB non-stop on Rivet Joint.
Refuel over Alaska. Immediately after refuel, the aircraft was tasked
for a real world tasking. Since my clearance was only Secret, I was
directed to sit in the aft crew-rest seats (aft-facing). I was not to
get up or even look around. 10 hours of pure boredom. 21 hours total
time inflight.

How about Hurlburt Field, Fl - Al Karjh (PSAB) Saudi Arabia, non-stop in an
MC-130E. 28.5 hrs of total pain. By the end of it we didn't even want to
walk out off the aircraft, we just wanted to fall out of the seats. Then
the (insert expletive here) Saudis made us go through customs with all our
bags (each of us had at least 4 B-4 bags). That took three hours; then we
had to inprocess at the S-1 and then we got billeting assignments.

Barksdale AFB to Korea and back, 33+ hours.

Try 313 hours 35 minutes (13 days and 13 nights) in the air including
adjusting the points and changing the 200 hp Lycoming's spark plugs
via crawling outside the cockpit and straddling the cowling three
inches away from the spinning prop!!

-From "The Flying Years" by Lou Reichers

"George Z. Bush" wrote:

Mike Marron wrote:
"W. D. Allen Sr." wrote:
"M. H. Greaves" wrote:

i read this in a book one night, an extract by Spike Milligan; "flying in
itself is not inherently dangerous; crashing IS"!!
just a little quip, but so true, hadnt thought of it that way!!

"Hours and hours of boredom punctuated by moments of stark terror!"

Personally, I've never bought into either one of those oft-repeated
sayings. Flying IS inherently dangerous and anyone who flies around
"bored" for hours is obviously in the wrong business.....

Mike, you obviously have never experienced the pleasures of an AEW mission where
you flew for an hour and a half to get to your station, then flew racetrack
patterns for 13 hours, then another hour and a half to get home. I did that
more than once out of Otis AFB on Cape Cod to a station just off Sable Island in
RC-121s. You don't know what boredom is until you've done that once or twice.
(^-^)))

George Z.

Sounds like an ASW mission!.
--

-Gord.

nt (Krztalizer) wrote:


Or orbiting while talking to a submarine from a 135 with LWA.


or hanging on two props (other two feathered to increase on station loiter
time) in a P-3 while waiting for a Charlie to make its appearance for 13.6
thoroughly *wasted* hours. Last minute intel update prior to launch showed the
target was in port, thousands of miles away. We still launched, still dropped
barrier after wasted barrier. That was boredom, and as hard as it is to grasp,
that was inflight boredom. Personally, I preferred getting bashed around in
the whiteout conditions at 120 feet, looking through rain squalls for
periscopes in the mist. I always thought of it as my job to take the last
photo prior to impact, so I ended up with dozens of rolls of film of water
rushing by. That made up for all those "loitering DFWs" (Designated Fuel
Waste) flights, like the search for that Charlie.

v/r
Gordon


That description sounded so familiar that it gave me goose
bumps...the seafloor of the North Atlantic must be ten feet deep
in dead sonos by now...
--

-Gord.

Mike Marron wrote:

(Krztalizer) wrote:
Someone wrote:

Or orbiting while talking to a submarine from a 135 with LWA.

or hanging on two props (other two feathered to increase on station loiter
time) in a P-3 while waiting for a Charlie to make its appearance for 13.6
thoroughly *wasted* hours. Last minute intel update prior to launch showed the
target was in port, thousands of miles away. We still launched, still dropped
barrier after wasted barrier. That was boredom, and as hard as it is to grasp,
that was inflight boredom. Personally, I preferred getting bashed around in
the whiteout conditions at 120 feet, looking through rain squalls for
periscopes in the mist. I always thought of it as my job to take the last
photo prior to impact, so I ended up with dozens of rolls of film of water
rushing by. That made up for all those "loitering DFWs" (Designated Fuel
Waste) flights, like the search for that Charlie.

Oneupsmanship as to whose job was the most BORING. Gotta love it!


Oh, I don't know Mike, we get lot's of pleasure from imagining
people like you paying through the nose to keep us up there doing
that...
--

-Gord.

From: "Gord Beaman" )


"George Z. Bush" wrote:

Mike Marron wrote:
"W. D. Allen Sr." wrote:
"M. H. Greaves" wrote:

i read this in a book one night, an extract by Spike Milligan; "flying
in
itself is not inherently dangerous; crashing IS"!!
just a little quip, but so true, hadnt thought of it that way!!

"Hours and hours of boredom punctuated by moments of stark terror!"

Personally, I've never bought into either one of those oft-repeated
sayings. Flying IS inherently dangerous and anyone who flies around
"bored" for hours is obviously in the wrong business.....

Mike, you obviously have never experienced the pleasures of an AEW mission
where
you flew for an hour and a half to get to your station, then flew racetrack
patterns for 13 hours, then another hour and a half to get home. I did that
more than once out of Otis AFB on Cape Cod to a station just off Sable
Island in
RC-121s. You don't know what boredom is until you've done that once or
twice.
(^-^)))

George Z.

Sounds like an ASW mission!.
--

-Gord.

Or a longwire mission, airborne command post, airborne alert, trash hauler
flight, ferry etc. Let's face it marron's concept of the military comes from
movies.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired