Posted by lex, on May 17th, 2011
According to a breezy NDM blog post quoting CNO, junior officers in deployed strike, maritime patrol and rotary wing squadrons can add to their list of collateral duties – Navy Relief drive coordinator, coffee mess officer, admin queen, etc – the role of UAS operator:
Posted by lex, on April 8th, 2011
A tribute to two fallen aircrew at NAS Lemoore, CA, received via email:
Someone dear to me at NAS Lemoore said the Rendering of Honors went perfectly with close to 500 people. 50 degrees & drizzling rain & when they called to salute, thunder, hard rain & a 15 degree drop in temperature ensued until both “Eleven” & “Beefcake” were gone. Soaked & freezing, no one moved an inch. And then the sun shown its light & God promised hope with a beautiful rainbow above them all.
Filed under Best of Neptunus Lex, by lex, Carroll "Lex" LeFon, Carroll LeFon, Lex, Naval Aviation
Posted by Lex on December 3, 2010
Courtesy of occasional reader pdxjim, the story of a captured Japanese plane that may have helped to change the outcome of the Pacific War:
Posted by Lex, on October 17, 2010
Courtesy of occasional reader Phil from Downunda – who tends to keep us honest when we veer too far out of the naval aviation fairway – a Centennial Hornet in Navy Working Uniform colors.
No matter how you come down on the article of NWU, you have to admit to the artistry of it.
For my own part, I rather prefer the retro paint scheme on this T-45.*
Update: Once again, the for-profit world demonstrates that when it comes to innovation, ** they beat the government every time. Rock on, Fedex!
* 04-27-18 The link Lex provided was dead, and no replacement could be found. So I Googled “Nice T-45 paint job and came with this. Can’t make any guarantees that this is what Lex meant 😉 – Ed.
** 04-27-18 This is the link Lex provided – it is still on the web so for speed’s sake took it away from the Wayback Machine link. Both versions do not have the Fed Ex plane so the author must have deleted that before the Wayback Machine captured it. But they are still worth seeing. -Ed
Posted by Lex, on September 24, 2010
You’ve got some ‘splaining to do… *
Back story here:
Two Navy helicopters from North Island Naval Air Station were damaged, and their pilots are now grounded, after some bizarre flying over Lake Tahoe last week.
A Navy spokesman confirmed Thursday that a video posted on YouTube is genuine footage of two MH-60 Romeo helicopters from North Island’s Helicopter Maritime Strike 41 squadron.
The video shows the $33 million helicopters flying low over the lake. One seems to lose control, spinning and crashing into the water. The pilot then regains control and pulls the craft back into the air.
Not in the video, but apparently the other helo went for a bit of a swim as well.
Back in the day, the rotary wing fellahs used to tell the jet guys that “if you can’t hover, you ain’t sh!t.”
Physician helo dude, heal thy self.
* New link added 04-22-18 – Ed.
Filed under Best of Neptunus Lex, by lex, Lex, Naval Aviation
Posted by Lex, on September 10, 2010
Navy re-visits “dial-a-yield“:
The navy is seeking proposals from companies to create a bomb weighing 200 kilograms that can either be detonated at full or reduced power. The idea is that the device could be loaded onto planes before a target has been identified, and the explosive power set by the pilot once a target is known. If there is a risk of killing civilians, then the explosive power can be reduced to ensure a small blast radius. In an unpopulated area the bomb, currently known as the Selectable Output Weapon, could be set so that it has the same power as a regular bomb of the same size. Carrying a single bomb would make it easier and cheaper for the navy to arm its planes.
Filed under Best of Neptunus Lex, Carroll "Lex" LeFon, Carroll LeFon, Lex, Naval Aviation, Neptunus Lex
