CJ Martin

Top pic is ole 991, a former Pax bird that transfered to NASA in 1988-89. It had previously been modified to allow flight without a RIO onboard. I can't remember exactly how this was done, as that jet was over on the Dyna (contractor maintenance) side because of its unique configuration. She was there when I transfered to SATD in mid 1988 and transfered at some point in the following year. I am pretty sure that was also the Tomcat that they tested nose mounted canards on. That was before my time. -CJ

That is pretty cool...One of the projects I am working on is with now retired CAPT James "Mouth" McCall. For once, I am looking forward to a Monday. And yeah, this has moved to "must buy" status. If they come out with a foxtrot in the markings when Stuff was the Skipper, I will lose my mind. CAPT Jason "Stuff" Denney is currently my boss as the Program Manager at PMA-265. He is a two time Diamondback, first as a nugget when they still had Tomcats, and then did his XO/CO tour there with Superhornets. Both are pretty awesome folks - and scary smart. -CJ

The APG-71 antenna was slightly larger in diameter than the AWG-9, and it required the antenna to be fully in the "stow" position before fully opening the radome. Stow meant the antenna was centered side to side and pointing all the way down (same on AWG-9 btw). Normally the antenna would stow automatically when the system was shut down, but some failure modes would prevent that. SOP was to crack the radome slightly and double check the antenna was stowed. If not, someone with chicken arms could usually reach up and pull it into stow. Even the AWG-9 antenna could get caught on the radome if no

And that is why I have tinnitus 24/7 in both ears, and "significant" (according to the VA audiologist I saw) high frequency hearing loss. The noise isn't too bad in that picture, both engines are at idle. It will get louder... What I used to hate was being the outboard final checker and have one of those damn Prowlers roll up behind you on Cat 4. Those things would rattle the fillings right out of your teeth when they'd go into tension. 😳 Great write up GW, brings back some old memories.

Depending on when you are model, the canopy frame on SD 202 was the lighter gloss grey. This was from at least 1988 to the early 90s. I don't remember the story behind that or why it was mismatched for so long. I have a picture somewhere that shows it pretty clearly, if I can find it I'll scan and post it.

The Marines are deep into this, A-D Hornets have recently been integrated into the same process stood up for the Supers. The company we are working with is the Boston Consulting Group (BSG). I wouldn't say they are running things, but their advice carries a lot of weight.

Egads, this thread is starting to sound a lot like my day job. I've been working Hornet Readiness since last fall, almost 12 years after I went over to the unmanned world. As usual GW has the definitions correct. One thing you guys may not have heard about is that the Navy has brought in a high powered outside consulting company specifically to work Super Hornet Readiness issues. These are the guys working with major airlines on their dispatch rates. They are young and smart but are still learning the ins and outs of NAVAIR. It will be easy for the old timers or just jaded forum t

D'oh! Sold out!

I can't recall ever seeing them deployed on deck while I was in my Fleet squadron (VF-33) in the mid-80s. I did see them out while at Pax in the late 80s, that was during the testing that led to them being deactivated. We did some wild stuff to the test bird, an Alpha...they wanted to move the CG as far aft as possible. We removed pretty much the entire AWG-9 radar, antenna, transmitter, power supplies, receiver, RMO, syncronizer...all of it. They even put lead weights back where the ALE39 buckets went. Then they went out and flew high speed low level flights and melted a lot of the paint off.

Yeah something odd is going on with station 3. Also the daily and weekly doors seem to be missing from the nacelles? Can't wait to see the first builds.

1. When I joined the Navy (back in 1984!) I had a pretty clear idea what I wanted to do (Aviation Electronics Technician) and that's what I signed up for. I had a couple of years of community college including some electronics courses (telcom major) so that gave me an advantage once I got to "A" school. I asked for Tomcats and East coast and got both. After finishing F-14 FRAMP (Fleet Readiness Aviation Maintenance Personnel) school at VF-101, I reported to VF-33 in April '85. This was well before the movie "TOPGUN" came out. As soon as I got my orders, I found a 1/72 kit of a VF-33 Tomcat tha

The guys in the red jerseys are the Ordies, pretty sure that is what GW was. They are arming the jet. The ones in the white are the final checkers, one on each side. That's pretty standard even today seems like. This is why I have hearing loss and constant tinnitus, lol. As loud as the Tomcat was, I think the EA-6B was worse on the cat. Something about that airframe/engine combination, at MIL thrust it would rattle your fillings right out of your teeth.

Yesterday my family buried ABHAA Joseph Min Naglak. He was 21. He was also my cousin. Joseph was killed in the line of duty last week while working the flight deck of CVN-77. I learned of the mishap while at work (NAVAIR/Pax River) and the name didn't register immediately. Neither did the picture of a smiling young sailor in his whites. Joseph was clearly of Asian decent, and I am not. Over the weekend another cousin informed me that he was in fact our cousin. He had been adopted from Korea when he was a year old. My mother confirmed, her father (my grandfather) and Joseph's great

As usual GW does a better job explaining this stuff. It's been 30 odd years since I last worked the roof, and between the passage of time and a Tomcat related injury, my memory is not what it once was. 😉 I'll add one small thing - the above sequence is 100% correct for the B/D...when final checking the A, if everything in GWs post happened correctly, that was one thumb up to the shooter. Once the shooter saw that (from both final checkers, one on each side of the jet) he would signal the pilot to stage up to Zone 5 (full burner). As this happened the engine nozzles would open up. O

Yeah good video and that shows what I was trying to describe. One thing about the Bravo/Deltas...they don't need to go to burner to get off the deck. Saves gas, but less impressive. Particularly at night.