Homework

Posted by lex, on June 1, 2006

For Systems Architecture, subject “Modeling” – in case you were curious (many pretty pictures for the bandwidth constrained to beetle their Luddite brows over):

In 1972, the US Air Force went to the aviation industry with Request for Proposals for a new, lightweight fighter design. Northrop contended with the YF-17, while General Dynamics competed with the ultimately successful F-16 design. Although not successful in the USAF’s lightweight fighter competition, the YF-17 had desirable characteristics satisfying the US Navy’s emergent requirement for a high volume, “low end” strike fighter to replace both the F-4 and A-7 aircraft, especially on the Navy’s smaller, conventional aircraft carriers – ships like USS Coral Sea and Midway – whose flight decks were not large enough to accommodate the “high end” fleet air defense aircraft, the F-14 Tomcat.

A Good Interview About the A-6 Intruder

One of our own, Comjam, talks about flying and fighting in the Intruder.

A Carroll “Lex” LeFon Primer

Who was Carroll LeFon?

The best description of Lex that I’ve heard is “Imagine Hemingway flew fighters…and liked people.”

WX CNX

By lex, on March 1st, 2012

I’m on the early page it seems, with the 0515 brief burned into my forehead. And the late go as well, so long as your definition of “late” is expansive enough to admit a 1215 brief, 1400 take-off, and 1500 land. With the debrief to follow. Well within the limits of crew day, mind. But a 0415 wake-up, day after day, is rough country for old men.

Especially when, as it was today, the whole thing seems to be for naught.

Streamer

By lex, on March 6th, 2012

I supposed it had to happen eventually, everybody has one in time. And I had mine yesterday.

It was a good hop, really. Raging around down low, hiding in the mountains, waiting for a chance to pounce on the unwary. Although this is graduation week at the (prestigious) Navy Fighter Weapons School, and there are very few unwary students left. Still, good clean fun, and your host can say “Copy kill” with the best of them.

Name Tags

By lex, on July 7th, 2010

Pinch * put me in mind of a story.

Was a time in the Old Navy where it was fashionable at certain points to wear hemi- semi- demi- quasi-humorous name patches on the flight suits of America’s Finest. There were any number of “Roger Ball” name tags at the O’Club on a Friday night. When things got late, there were even raunchier monikers attached by Velcro: “Hugh Jardon” was but the least offensive. There might even have been a “Heywood Jablome.”

I can’t say.

Check Six

By lex, on May 23rd, 2011

The Navy’s F-35C variant made its first air show appearance at Andrews AFB this weekend, prior to heading for the test range:

Today

By lex, on February 28th, 2012

It has been a remarkably mild winter, in Sandy Eggo.

Fallon, Nevada, we are reminded, is not Sandy Eggo.

Also! I’ve a 0515 brief this morning, followed by a 0700 launch. Two flights today, the second lands at 1600 or so.

I remembered something of a love/hate relationship with the halls of the (prestigious) Navy Fighter Weapons School.

This morning at 1415 0415 (only this crewe would critique an error made at 0430), I began to remember why.

Back To The Index

Rain Seal

By lex, on February 29th, 2012

I am an admittedly early riser (and am often late to bed), having been broken of that comfortable junior officer habit of sleeping on both ears until the noontime bell some years ago. “Eight hours sleep per day,” we used to say on deployment, adding that, “whatever you get at night is gravy.” To which some wag would inevitably respond that, if you could sleep twelve hours a day, it was only a three-month cruise.

Paean to the Ordies

By lex, on January 26th, 2012

Out of the pages of the NYT, of all places: