Fresh off the computer. My question is, enough detail to ‘get’ what is happening? Or do I need to add more explanation?
VF-211’s third launch of the day recovered aboard the USS Bon Homme Richard, and the grizzled maintenance master chief, Nabors, looked over at the status board. Turning as LCDR Hines, still wearing his sweat stained flight suit, walked into maintenance, adding jet fuel to miasma of diesel, steel, and ozone odors that permeated the steel compartment. Nabors said, “Well, MO, we’ve got all nine Checkmates back, and it looks like they’re gonna be usable again.”
LCDR Hines shook his head. “I know we got ‘em all back, but I ain’t sure they’re all gonna be usable. 201’s starboard guns are screwing up again, according to the skipper.”
“Shit! We just boresighted that pig four days ago! Ain’t no way…” Nabors stopped with a huff. He studied the gripe sheet closely, mumbling, “Starboard guns firing high right, estimate ten degrees off aim, locked up after one second.” Looking up, he reached over for the intercom. Keying the airframe shop, he growled, “Airframes, maintenance, need Chief Harmon down here asap.”
A voice replied, “Rog, maintenance. We’ll send him that way.”
Keying another shop, he said, “Ordys, I need the chief down here for 201.”
“On my way, Master Chief.”
Ten minutes later, a short, skinny, dark-haired chief and a burly blond chief, going gray, walked through the hatch. “What you got, Master Chief?” Ormand, the gunner’s mate chief, asked.
“201’s outta rig again, Bobby.”
“Dammit!” He turned to the skinny chief. “Tommy, you were there, we boresighted those sumbitches within an inch of their lifes…”
Harmon nodded. “Yep, sure did,” he turned to Nabors. “Bill, there’s gotta be another problem somewhere we ain’t seeing. Who was flying it?”
“Skipper. Him and Puke were chasing a couple of Migs, didn’t get either one of them.”
Ormand asked, “We got gun camera film?”
Nabors shrugged. “When or if the photo mates soup it. No hits or shootdown, so…”
LCDR Hines said, “I’ll take care of getting that. Y’all figure out what the hell is going on! We can’t afford to get a shot and not be able to take it.” He walked out, leaving the three chiefs staring at each other.
***
Three hours later, the three chiefs sat in the intel office staring at the gun camera film from 201. Ormand cussed, “Damn, there ya go. Right there. You can see the twenty mike mike from the starboard guns going high right. And they, well, looks like upper gun cuts off first.” He looked at the other two. “We got a problem. I had Jacobs and Brown run a quick check and both starboard guns show boresighted, just like we set them. Looking at the film, combined with the pipper, tells me the skipper was in a pretty good bank, pulling Gs to get a deflection shot. The pipper was down six ticks and left about four at a range of a thousand yards.”
Harmon bit his lip. “Then that points…either to attachment point deformation, or some frame or mounting plate issues. Looks like the skipper was pulling a few Gs during that gun run?”
Nabors sipped his coffee and replied, “Never got over six Gs, I checked the meter. So, what we going to do? And who is going to do it?”
Ormand and Harmon looked at each other, and Harmon finally said, “I think we need to…bring in somebody to take a fresh look at things.” He glanced at Ormand. “Tech rep?”
Ormand nodded. “Yeah, tonight if we can get Thompson.” He got up. “I know where he hides out, I’ll go see if I can drag him down there. Bird’s on the hangar deck, spot nine, right?”
Nabors nodded. “Most room I could give you.”
Harmon sighed. “I’ll meet you there.”
(C) JL Curtis, 2024, All Rights Reserved
From Wokopedia:
“From 26 January to 25 August 1967, VF-211 was deployed on USS Bon Homme Richard.” (Flying F-8E Crusaders at the time.)
“In practice, Sidewinder missiles were the F-8’s primary weapon; the 20mm guns were considered to be “generally unreliable”; moreover, the F-8 achieved nearly all of its kills using Sidewinders. It has been suggested that, had the US Navy mandated more rigorous and realistic weapons testing, the reliability of the guns could have been improved considerably.”
I’m not a writer , but I felt like I was there reading it , even smelled it in my head .
Very good, it feels lived in and I can smell the avgas, sense the frustration and determination. Please do not allow your muse to sidetrack you.
I think you have enough detail and the slang is understandable in context. ‘Ordys’ becomes clear when two Gunners Mate Chiefs are next in the scene.
MO = Maintenance Officer?
Made sense to me but I am an AF guy with 28 years in munitions. Whose your audience? Any military or prior military will understand easily. I think civilians might have to work at it a bit.
Not that hard for this civilians, though I’ve read a fair amount of milSF.
AF Avionics, not Navy and certainly nor carrier, but I was inside the scene all the way.
And just for the record, my favorite How Mal Code was “Short between headsets.” 🙂
I was able to follow along, and I have absolutely no AF and not much munitions experience, so I think you are doing well for enough detail.
I’m a lead pencil eating, (we weren’t issued crayons back in my day), my MOS was a Cow Killer. As a Ground Pounding Member Of Uncle Sam’s Misguided Children I understood everything.
But I was stationed at KBay and used to go over to the Air Wing side to watch the Fast Movers take off. Lol
More Please! 🙂
Detail is just right-enough to inform, but build suspense at the same time.
-JLM
Keep it coming FO, ready to hit up kindle for the entire book
All- Thank you! It is truly hard to hit the ‘sweet spot’ when doing military writing. This one is going to be a short story, so I have to keep the level of detail light.
Bonny Dick.
I can follow, and if I don’t know exactly, I got the context. Keep going. 🙂
Old retired Tweet here, I was in the spaces ready to do whatever the Master Chief decided must be done.