Kewl

Sailor Curt is back blogging again.
Yeah, he's back on mt blogroll.
Have a glimpse of a minor flight deck story.

~snip~

The fact is that we lose Naval aircraft relatively regularly. An aircraft carrier at sea is a dangerous environment. The flight deck of a US Aircraft Carrier during flight operations has been described as the most dangerous four and a half acres on the planet. To the uninitiated it looks like utter and total chaos with turning aircraft parked, taxiing or being towed within inches of each other. Persons in multi-colored "float coats" and helmets running hither and yon. Fuel hoses and electrical cables strung across the deck intermingled with countless tie down chains, wing struts, test and support equipment, etc etc etc.

One of the first lessons you pick up...before even being allowed on the flight deck for the first time...is to "keep your head on a swivel". You MUST be constantly aware of what is going on around you. It takes no time at all to be sucked into an intake, knocked over by a wing or tail, blown across the deck by jet blast or rotor wash, squashed by a trundling tow tractor or power cart, or...possibly worst of all...hear the dreaded call over the "5MC" flight deck speaker system: "You...green shirt...on the starboard side by the foul line...report to Pri-Fly on the double". That means you REALLY screwed up and were about to have your a$$ chewed by one of the best...the Air Boss.

Another thing you learn quickly: you listen to what the old timers are telling you. If someone says run...run. Don't look around, don't ask why, don't duck...RUN! If someone says, duck. DUCK. If someone says don't move, you had better pretend to be a statue until someone says otherwise. Failing to follow the instructions of the people who know what they are talking about can make you very dead very quickly. Generally, death or injury on the flight deck is a relatively messy affair. Lots of fast moving sharp edges and pointy objects whirling around.

Go read the rest...

These guys must not have the flight deck excitement to keep them busy...


And welcome back, Curt. Nice name BTW....