Tailhook Daily Briefing

For you NASA Historians, We Have a Request

TDB Reader, Diana Solomon has an interesting question she posted in the comments of one of our B-52 articles. 

She asks:

Can anyone tell me what the symbols on the B 52's that carried and dropped the X15 are. There is B52 sitting in Hickham AFB right now with 3 symbols of the x15 one nose down one nose up and one nose straight. We were wondering if this stands for the 3 flights and the condition at the end of the 3 flights.

Maybe someone out there has a Father or a Grandfather who flew or was crew. Thanks

- Diana Solomon

Well?… Anyone?  SteelJaw?  Hoot?   Pony up in the comments.

-JC

Tailhook 2009 Schedule of Events

This week begins the 2009 “Hook” Convention.  I’ll be there… Will you?

Here is the schedule of events for your perusal:

HOOK 09 CONVENTION SCHEDULE

CARRIER AVIATION – ON THE EDGE OF THE ENVELOPE

Thursday, 10 September 2009

• 0900-2100 Registration/Exhibits - Pavilion A-E/Store Open – Pavilion A Foyer
• 1300-1600 THA BOD Meeting, Southern Pacific E & F
• 1800-2100 Welcome to Reunion Groups Reception (no host) – Pavilions A through E
  

Friday, 11 September 2009

• 0730-1200 Golf Tournament – Wildcreek G.C., Sparks, NV - Overflow to the Top Gun reunion golf tournament. Buses depart from the Nugget main entrance at 0600 and 0645. Breakfast available at the golf courses. Shotgun start at 0730 (lunch included).
• 0800-1200 Round Robin Tennis Tournament – Reno Tennis Center. Bus departs from the Nugget main entrance at 0715
• 0830-1530 Blue Angels Show NAS Fallon – Buses depart from Nugget Hotel East Exit, Bus Transportation Area
• 0830-1330 Lake Tahoe Tour (lunch included) – Bus departs from Nugget Hotel East Exit, Bus Transportation Area
• 0930-1400 Tahoe Ridge Winery Tour (lunch included)
• 0900-2100 Registration/Store Open/Exhibits Open

SYMPOSIUM - Rose A Ballroom

• 0930-1015 Naval Aviation Safety Update – CAPT “Clyde” Langford.
• 1030-1200 Future Capabilities for Carrier Aviation - JSF Program Update and Capabilities Brief.
• 1400-1500 BUPERS UPDATE – CAPT Mike “Magwai” White, PERS43.
• 1515-1630 Warfighter Panel – Moderator - CAPT Kevin “Komrade” Kovacich; Panelists – (TBD).
• 1630-1700 Membership Meeting – Rose A Ballroom
• 1800-2100 Bug Roach Mixer, Pavilions A through E and Rose B Ballroom. Casual Attire, Flight suits encouraged.
  

Saturday, 12 September 2009

• 0530-1200 Balloon Race Shuttle
• 0830-1500 Registration/Store/Exhibits Open – Pavilion A Foyer
• 0930-1100 Special Event – “Cabaret Behind the Scenes” Celebrity Showroom
  

SYMPOSIUM- Rose A Ballroom

• 0900-1015 N880 Plans for the Future
• 1030-1145 Tailhook Aviation on the Edge of the Envelope - Moderator: CAPT Lonny “Eagle” McClung
  • Blues: CAPT Gil Rud, Kevin O’Mara, Current CO
  • Topgun: Monroe Smith, CAPT Rolland “Dawg” Thompson, CAPT (sel) Dan “Undra” Cheever.

 

• 1200-1330 RADM “Jig Dog” Ramage Recognition Luncheon, Rose B Ballroom
• 1400-1545 Aviation Flag Panel hosted by – VADM Tom “Killer” Kilcline, CNAF
• 1500 Exhibits Close – Dismantle and Pack Up
• 1800-1930 Tailhook Pre-Banquet Reception (no host) – Rose A and B Foyer
• 1930-2200 Tailhook Banquet, Semi-Formal (Jacket and tie for men, Cocktail dress for women), Rose A and B Ballroom, Guest Speaker, Admiral Pat “Sponge” Walsh, USN
  

Sunday 13 September 2009

Breakfast available at the General Store, the Farm House or the Rotisserie on the Nugget’s main floor.

Reunion Support: We are looking for volunteers willing to work on the Hook '09 Reunion Committee

• PowerPoint Ranger
• Camera Operator
• General Volunteers

Volunteers recieve a free room, tickets to all events and 2009 reunion shirts

Contact Marc Ostertag (800) 322-4665

2nd annual “Bullet Bob Canepa” Memorial Tennis Round Robin

• Friday, September 11th 2009 - 0830-1200
• Reno Tennis Center
• Space available for 32 players
• $15/player
• Prizes for everyone
• Sign up today!
• Sponsored by  Northrup Grumman & Raytheon

What it’s All About

This is what NAVAIR and Tailhook is all about…

Link

Well done Pinch!

Scott Speicher’s Remains Found!

And according to sources positively identified!

From AP…

WASHINGTON — The remains of the first American lost in the Gulf War have been found in Iraq, the military said Sunday, a sorrowful resolution of a nearly two-decade old question about the fate of Navy pilot Capt. Michael "Scott" Speicher.

The Pentagon said the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology on Saturday positively identified the remains, buried in the desert and located after officials received new information from an Iraqi citizen about a crash.

Speicher's disappearance has bedeviled investigators since his fighter was shot down over the Iraq desert on the first night of the 1991 war.

The top Navy officer said the discovery is evidence of the military's commitment to bring its troops home. "Our Navy will never give up looking for a shipmate, regardless of how long or how difficult that search may be," said Adm. Gary Roughead, Chief of Naval Operations.

In January 1991, Navy pilot, (then) Lieutenant Commander Michael “Scott” Speicher, was shot down while flying a combat mission over western Iraq on the first night of Operation Desert Storm. The next morning, then-Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney told the news media that the United States had suffered one combat loss. When questioned whether or not it had been a death, he confirmed that the service member had been killed.

Four months later, Scott Speicher was declared KIA/BNR—Killed In Action, Body Not Recovered—by the United States Navy. 

In the ensuing years, Scott’s status had me changed from KIA to MIA to even Captured as multiple sources of information began to suggest that Scott had ejected and quite possibly survived the shoot down.

Leads were continually followed by DOD and other agencies, however all kept leading to no definitive conclusions.

Officials said Sunday that they got new information last month from an Iraqi citizen, prompting Marines stationed in the western province of Anbar to visit a location in the desert which was believed to be the crash site of Speicher's FA-18 Hornet.

The Iraqi said he knew of two other Iraqis who recalled an American jet crashing and the remains of the pilot being buried in the desert, the Pentagon said.

"One of these Iraqi citizens stated that they were present when Captain Speicher was found dead at the crash site by Bedouins and his remains buried," the Defense Department said in a statement.

The military recovered bones and multiple skeletal fragments and Speicher was positively identified by matching a jawbone and dental records, said Rear Adm. Frank Thorp.

He said the Iraqis told investigators that the Bedouins had buried Speicher. It was unclear whether the military had information on how soon Speicher died after the crash.

It is with mixed emotion that we at Tailhook great this news.  But at last we can bring our fallen sailor home.

Naming the Enterprise!

As regular contributor SteelJaw Scribe mentioned in his recent post “CVN Naming - Enough With the Politics Already” there is a plan afoot to name our future CVN after yet another politician, in this case USS Barry Goldwater!

Look, no matter how much you may like or not like a politician’s views regarding their treatment of the US Navy, naming the primary ship of the line after them has become tiresome!  It is time we who know the Navy and its traditions put our collective foot down!

Let’s return to naming our carriers in a more traditional fashion.  As for the Next yet to be named CVN (CVN-79) there is now a just and proper petition available online to christen this mighty vessel with the most traditional name in our Naval History, USS Enterprise!

 

Go Here! And allow your voice to be heard!  [ LINK ]

 

1. The first Enterprise, a British supply sloop, was captured 18 May 1775 at St. Johns, Quebec, Canada, by Col B. Arnold, named Enterprise, and armed for use on Lake Champlain.
2. The second Enterprise, a schooner, was a successful letter-of-marque before she was purchased on 20 December 1776 for the Continental Navy. Commanded by Captain Joseph Campbell, Enterprise operated principally in Chesapeake Bay. She convoyed transports, carried out reconnaissance, and guarded the shores against foraging raids by the British.
3. The third Enterprise, a schooner, was built by Henry Spencer at Baltimore, Md., in 1799, and placed under the command of Lieutenant John Shaw. On 17 December 1799, Enterprise departed the Delaware Capes for the Caribbean to protect United States merchantmen from the depredations of French privateers during the Quasi-War with France. Within the following year, Enterprise captured 8 privateers and liberated 11 American vessels from captivity, achievements which assured her inclusion in the 14 ships retained in the Navy after the Quasi-War.
4. The fourth Enterprise, a schooner, was launched by the New York Navy Yard on 26 October 1831, and commissioned 15 December 1831, Lieutenant S. W. Downing in command.
5. The fifth Enterprise, a bark-rigged screw sloop-of-war, was launched 13 June 1874 at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine, by John W. Griffith, a private contractor; and commissioned 16 March 1877, Commander G. C. Remey in command. Enterprise's first duty after fitting out at Norfolk, Va., took her to the mouth of the Mississippi River for surveying operations. Returning to Norfolk in April 1878, she remained there only briefly, sailing 27 May for surveying duty up the Amazon and Madeira Rivers. This completed, she repaired at New York, then (December 1878) joined U.S. naval forces in European waters, calling at numerous ports in northern Europe and in the Mediterranean. She returned to the Washington Navy Yard on 9 May 1880 and was placed out of commission. Recommissioned on 12 January 1882, she cruised the east coast until 1 January 1883 when she sailed on a 3-year hydrographic survey that took her completely around the world. Her findings on this cruise added materially to the knowledge of the oceans, their currents, and their bottoms. Enterprise was decommissioned at New York on 21 March 1886. Placed back in commission on 4 October 1887, Enterprise sailed from Boston in January 1888 for 2 years in the waters of Europe, the Mediterranean, and the east coast of Africa, where she showed the flag and looked out for United States interests. She returned to New York in March 1890 and was decommissioned on 20 May.
6. Arguably the Airship Enterprise L-5
7. The seventh Enterprise (CV-6) was launched 3 October 1936 by Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Newport News, Va.; sponsored by Mrs. Claude A. Swanson, wife of the Secretary of the Navy; and commissioned 12 May 1938, Captain N. H. White in command.  The hiostory of this ship is WAY to long to post here, recommend going here to read more.
8. The eighth Enterprise (CVA(N)-65), the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, was launched 24 September 1960 by Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Newport News, Va., sponsored by Mrs. W. B. Franke, wife of the Secretary of the Navy; and commissioned 26 November 1961, Captain V. P. de Poix, in command.

The Next?

You Decide!  Again the petition to congress is here.  [ LINK ]

Lockheed Rolls Out the Navy F-35C!

"It's an honor and a privilege and it is a great day", says Chief of Naval Operations, ADM Gary Roughhead. The US Navy plans to operate 260 F-35C carrier variants among the 2,443 aircraft in the current US program. [Flight Global].

Looks like “Lightning” on the sea is on its way. 

From the Ft. Worth Business Press:

The aircraft, which is expected to cost in the mid-$60 million range, was greeted by various representatives and workers from the company as well as from the military. Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company President Ralph Health said it was the first time a jet with stealth and supersonic capabilities had been made for the sea and to call today a milestone would be an understatement.

“In fact, it would be like calling the Wright brothers just a couple of bike mechanics,” he said.

HT: JR Davis

Solving the Fighter Gap will Create a… uh… Fighter Gap!

No seriously…  This is not a joke.  There is a storm on the horizon…

(Image: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Elliott Fabrizio)

The continued failure of Congress and the Pentagon to properly procure US Navy Strike Fighters is coming to a head!  Of course this is merely preaching to the choir for many of you.

Because of the high operational tempo in Iraq and Afghanistan, the F/A-18 C/Ds “are overutilized” and wearing out, which is causing “constant turbulence among the air wings” as air crews and service crews are transferred from squadron to squadron “to get the deploying ships up to where they should be,” Each of the 10 carrier air wings is expected to have four squadrons for a total of 40, but there are only 37 active squadrons, including 36 Navy and one Marine Corps. – Vice Adm (Ret.) Robert Dunn, Pres. ANA

Over at Aviation Leak Week, they are reporting how the plan to SLEP more legacy Hornets will in effect create an increased shortfall in deployable strike fighters.

Extending the service life of F/A-18C/D Hornets to close a U.S. Navy fighter gap could still lead to a tactical air shortage because of the amount of time the Hornets will be out of service pending their upgrade, naval aviation analysts said July 21.

Ronald O’Rourke, a naval affairs expert with the Congressional Research Service (CRS), said the service life extension program for Hornets, aimed at allowing them to fly an additional 1,400 hours, is one way to solve the expected shortfall in carrier-based fighters. Officials have testified before Congress that the Navy and Marine Corps could be short between 125 and 243 aircraft by the mid- to late-2010s (Aerospace DAILY, May 21).

…The Hornet upgrade could take an estimated 1,100-2,200 man-hours per aircraft, removing them from the active force and creating a different kind of gap, according to the president of the Association of Naval Aviation, Vice Adm. Robert Dunn (ret.). Speeding up F-35 production is unlikely to happen soon, Dunn added.

Super Hornets to the rescue???… Not so fast…

Congressional committees have yet to agree on how to acquire more Super Hornets. The Senate Armed Services Committee wants to buy nine more aircraft but won’t approve a multiyear procurement plan. The House Armed Services Committee took the opposite approach, while the defense subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee favors doing both.

Simply put, the needle is stuck in the groove of a never ending record (there’s a hair on your Compact disc to you Generation Y-ers).  Fighter aircraft shortfalls and ever increasing maintenance requirements are not new to NAVAIR.  Ever since the end of WWII equipment supply levels of our tactical aviation has been behind the curve (maybe with the exception of the Regan years when a 600 ship navy was a goal).  Making sure the Civilian Leadership in Washington is aware of the consequences of these shortfalls has not been the strength of the US Navy.  Increased op tempos are always to be expected and planned for, yet we all know the US Congress does not possess a wealth of foresight. 

So the question is, who do we write to, talk to, yell at? 

To start here is a list of the Armed Services Committee members:

• House Armed Services Committee Members [List]
• Senate Armed Services Committee Members [List]

As Tailhookers, interested in the Security of our Nation, but more importantly the SAFETY or our Aviators, we can do some good if we let our voice be heard.  Don’t be shy.

(Stacked F/A-18s image:U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class John P. Curtis)

Strike From the Sea

A new book, with pictures and everything to assist our Marine Corps Tailhookers, has been authored by Tommy H. Thomason.  Strike From the Sea follows on the heals of Tom’s other book US Naval Air Superiority and promises to be full of great images and quality historical information about Naval Aviation.

For those of you unfamiliar with Tom’s history…

“Tommy H. Thomason has worked as a flight test engineer, manager, and executive in the aerospace industry for nearly 40 years, including two years as a flight test engineer on the F-4 Phantom. He has flown more than 3,000 hours in 60 different airplanes, helicopters, and sailplanes. His previous works include U.S. Naval Air Superiority and monographs on the Grumman F-111B and the Bell HSL antisubmarine warfare helicopter.”

To take a gander of what you can expect from the pages of Strike From The Sea, click the this link [ Chapter 5 Preview ].  And if you would like to get yourself a copy all you have to do is place your order here [Link].

Ever Wonder How an F/A-18F is Built?

Well wonder no longer fellow Tailhooker, below is a time lapse of a Super Hornet (Australian Mod) being created.

 

Editor’s Note:  Apologies for the sparse nature of postings as of late… Day Job and the “All Volunteer” nature of being TDB’s Editor, Publisher, Photographer, Writer, don’t always play nice with each other.  (Thanks to SJS, and Spike for the occasional article to assist in populating these pages.)  More contributions are always welcomed!  If you have an article, story, or photo you would like to have grace these pages please feel free to send direct to me at this e-mail link.

Meanwhile I will try to improve on the frequency of posts.

Privately Owned SU-27s to Fly Near Fallon?

Could be…

Over at War Bird Information Exchange they are all a glow abut the addition of two… that’s right! TWO! SU-27 Flankers to their fleet.

The two airplanes were delivered to Rockford, Illinois a few months ago, but we weren't able to announce it until now. More photos and details are available at PrideAircraft.com, on the "News" page.

Buck Wyndham
Warbird Instructor Pilot
Pride Aircraft

I’m not saying y’all shouldn’t go ahead and submit your flight resumes to these guys, but it sounds like they’ve got a few aviators already trained up in these birds:

The owners already have a small team of U.S. pilots checked out in the aircraft. The training was conducted in Ukraine. The owners and pilots prefer to remain anonymous right now. (No, Dale [Snodgrass] is not among them...)

First flights might be in the next two months.

We are extremely excited to have these beasts in our hangars. I'll post more shots on our website as time allows.

Current plans are for these birds to support ACM and Fam training for the Navy and the Junior Air Service. 

I would expect to see these big beasts around the Fallon and Nellis ranges fairly soon.

(HT: Parrot Head Jeff)