Over 30…
That was always a fun call at 200 feet… That either meant a tight pattern, or MAD trapping…
This is a Lockheed photo, but you get the idea…
You grabbed the coffee out of the holder, put your other hand on anything was liable to fall off your workstation and usually had somebody yelling, “Yee Ha! Ride ’em cowboy.”
It was even more ‘fun’ when it was already bumpy, and the poor Ordy was trying to load buoys… sigh…
Good times, good times…
It is amazing to me how nimble the big P-3 can be. She’s every bit a war bird. Though I was never crew (supercargo at best), I always considered her the genuine workhorse of the Navy. If you could have put a tail hook on her…well, that would have rounded it all out.
That is a great picture. I never get tired of such things. However, I always find it slightly disconcerting at the sight picture out the front, seeming like we’re losing alt. Visual illusions at low level.
That is usually why pilots cock their necks. That is, to remain registered to the horizon. That can bite a guy and hard.
I try very earnestly to remain registered to the airframe even when in visual conditions.
And you got paid to do it.(Not said in sarcasm font, more like envy)
So….among P-3 crews; what was y’all’s favorite?
“The Hunt For Red October” or “Red Storm Rising”?
Chasing a squirrly US sub during an exercise, Madman! Madman! The pilot immediately yanks the plane into a 2000 yd mad trapping circle and I was in the back helping the ordnanceman. 500 foot altitude, so we were in our SV-2 survival vest (20 pounds) passing 38 pound sonobuoys from the rack to the ordy and pulling what felt like 1.5 G’s. No wonder I have no knees left. Boy, was that fun.
Ray
LL- We figured we ‘might’ get it stopped on a carrier… Maybe… 🙂
Richard- Always want a ‘little’ sky in the picture…LOL and it is hard to maintain SA sometimes!
WSF- That we did! 🙂
SPE- Hunt for Red October, of course! 🙂
Ray- LOL, BTDT… My favorite was MAD comps on the old ASQ-10s, bring the 3P in the back and eat sardines during the comp… I have no knees or back left… sigh
WHOO BOY!
Ah, back when Lockheed still made its money with engineers and craftsmen rather than lawyers and slippery tongued contracts officers.
In the B-52 we would due a 50 deg combat break-a-way after a simulated heavy nuc release. If you were not sitting down, you would be.
Ed, those who have watched a fully fueled Buff use up 12-13000 feet of runway to get airborne have to use a bit of imagination to envision a 50 degree bank, but, of course they are amazing(at times). 🙂
I used to FE on C-5 Galaxys while the pilots were doing yank-and-bank at 300′ daytime terrain-following. 222 ft wingspan, not a lot of clearance. But tons of fun!
But the P-3 does seem much a much sportier ride!
80,000 lbs acft, 302,000 lbs fuel and 92 750 lb bombs it takes a while to get off the ground. Once the B-52 gets slicked-up and 400 knots she gets quite agile. Not all pilots would agree.
LMAO! Dang, I forgot all about Madcomps. You are going to have to explain that procedure to the uninitiated.
Ray