. ive never been on a carrier, but i was a line rat/jet mech. did 4 years at andrews AFB (yes, they have navy there) and i did 3 years working on DC-9's at NAS JRB Willow Grove, PA (i got out in june 04). we officially had THE oldest planes in the USN...the newest plane our squadron had was built in 1966. on the flight line at andrews, it wasnt uncommon to give some "risque" commands to pilots you knew personally. (we dont call them marshals in the navy, we call them plane directors, FYI
)*goes off on a tangent*
one of my favorite experiences was with an F-14 that came in. before shutting down, the landing gear has to be pinned "down". there are two options to pin nose; approach from front, hug nose gear, and pin safe--or option 2: approach from under on centerline, hug nose gear, pin down.
well, after doing this, i got a moment of bravery/stupidity(the fine line is there), and, while hugging the nose gear, i stepped back cautiously, about six inches or so and slowly let go, (while staying on centerline of course!) to the point that i could feel the intakes fighting over which would get to injest me.
shirtsleeves flapping in the wind, you get an idea of what its like when a spiders about to get sucked into a vacuum cleaner. it really is amazing at just how much suction those massive turbofans have, even at SLIGHTLY above ground idle. i was easily 4+ feet from the lip of the intake.
it was the very best rush ive ever had in my life, even if some of you may think it was a stupid idea. long live the mighty tomcat!!
