Our son Dan just changed duty stations from Lemoore NAS CA to Meridian MS where he will be a Flight Instructor for the next 3 years. We are very grateful to be within driving distance to him for the first time in over 6 years. Daughter Ginny travels the world as Back Stage Manager with Cirque du Soleil's show "Totem". She is currently winding up a show in London and will return stateside for a few months. Our daughter Jessica is married to John, who works as an engineer, and they live in VA with our only grandson Sam. Jess was in the Navy but finished up her commitment and is now a full-time mom, and is also starting up a flute studio in Vienna. Finally, younger son John (aka JH) is married to Bethany. They live in England and both are in the Air Force while raising our first grandchild Isabella.
Those are our kids. My husband John is a Captain with Delta Airlines. I work very part-time for a local financial planner. John's mom lives outside Columbus OH.
Somehow or other we need to find a moment when all of us can be in the same place at the same time. That has not happened since September 2005, just before JH joined the Air Force! However, it appears that our moment may come this June when JH, Bethany and Isabella come to the US for one month. Since they will split their US leave between the Parker Family in FL and the Peck Family in WI, we have a two week window in which we will attempt to get everyone together!
Looking at a calendar, Ginny's show will open in Montreal June 15. She usually gets a few days vacation between tear down in the old location and set up in the new. That may give us the break we need for planning. Jessica, John and Sam are going on a mission trip in July and having a fundraiser at their church for the mission trip in early June. Perhaps we can schedule the reunion on the weekend they are not engaged in fund raising. Dan is starting his new job in Meridian the end of Feb, hopefully he'll be able to get to FL the first half of June. Husband John has annual training for his Captain job, it is in June and in Minneapolis MN. Since that job pays for my lifestyle, we really need to schedule around that! My very part-time job with the financial planner will likely have completed the project I'm working on, so should not be a factor.
John's mom in Ohio last saw Dan in the summer of 2006 when he met us in Texas for JH's graduation from Basic. She saw Ginny in Sept 2010 when she came to FL for a month, in between shows for Ginny. We traveled with her in our motorhome to VA where she saw Jess and met her 11th great grandchild Sam. She last saw JH in Oct 2009 when he, Bethany and Isabella came to the US. We will need to arrange her travel to FL for this reunion.
Then there is the family in Vinton VA. We affectionately call them the Vinton Contingent, ever since they blessed me with their love when I came into the Parker Family in June 1988. John's Aunt Dot is married to Uncle Bobby and they have 3 daughters, John's first cousins, who altogether have 5 kids of their own and numerous grandchildren. John's Aunt Judy was raised more as his cousin than his aunt and Judy and her husband Tom have 2 daughters and grandchildren as well. Many of this branch of the family live in Vinton. Judy is the one who first posed the idea of a reunion with a simple email a couple of months ago. At the time, she hoped to have the gathering in Vinton.
John's brother Mike and his wife Sandra live in NC. They have 4 kids and 9 grandkids. John and I saw all of them when we traveled in our motorhome last Oct with Mom Parker. We celebrated Mike's 60th birthday and Mom's 81st.
After Skyping with JH and Bethany this morning, we now think it will be impractical to get everyone in this branch of the family to VA for a weekend. JH and Bethany will just have traveled from England. Ginny will be en route to Montreal. Dan is in MS at a new job. We want to invite everyone to FLORIDA - in JUNE! Our 4 kids and their families, the Vinton Contingent, brother Mike and his family, and Mom Parker. Ginny's and JH's mom Nancy and stepdad Steve retired to FL last year and live about an hour from us, so naturally Nancy and Steve will want to spend as much time as possible with Ginny and JH's family. Trying to get everyone to VA in that short time frame really looks like we are asking too much, hence we will attempt to change the venue to FL. Hopefully, the people who live in the US, will be able to accommodate the ones who are merely visiting the US.
Day 1 of Planning a Family Reunion in June 2011!
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Day 2 Mom on way to VA and NY
We got a later start than we expected when the last several late nights at home and at Mom's
caught up to John and me. We slept unexpectedly late until 0830! Therefore our planned ETD of 0900 was seriously delayed. Mom had her usual breakfast of cottage cheese and fruit and her one cup of coffee. She also had a cranberry orange scone that I'd made Sunday morning. We filled the propane tank and headed off just before 1100.
Mom rested on the couch the entire time. We ate some snacks along the way. The plan was to
reach Roanoke Rapids NC just south of the VA border, and we expected that to take about 8
hours. However, as the day wore on, John suggested we stop about 80 miles short of that
RV park and rest for the night in an RV park called RV Vacation at Exit 98 off I-95 in Selma
/Smithfield. That is where we are tonight.
Things started well - Mom looked at a take out menu from SAMI'S :-) Italian Restaurant and
she wanted some baked ziti and an antipasta salad. John and I got the RV opened up, I poured a glass of wine, we set the table, he walked over by the lake, we waited for the food to arrive. But then Mom got some severe stomach pains, and she finally wound up taking two hydrocodone pills. Up until now, I'd never been with her when she needed two pain pills. By the time the food came, she started to feel the effects of the pills and ate a little dinner, which she promptly didn't hold down a few minutes later. She decided to head to bed right away.
John and I took a short walk around the park, he went over to help a neighbor who was having
trouble with his electric hook up, I came in to clean up dinner, and dropped one entire baked ziti dinner on the floor. Ah well, Mom is asleep, and we are off to bed. Now we expect to have about 270 miles to drive tomorrow, and we want to really leave early so we can see Jess and Sam as soon as possible!
Love to all, you can call and talk to Mom anytime!
caught up to John and me. We slept unexpectedly late until 0830! Therefore our planned ETD of 0900 was seriously delayed. Mom had her usual breakfast of cottage cheese and fruit and her one cup of coffee. She also had a cranberry orange scone that I'd made Sunday morning. We filled the propane tank and headed off just before 1100.
Mom rested on the couch the entire time. We ate some snacks along the way. The plan was to
reach Roanoke Rapids NC just south of the VA border, and we expected that to take about 8
hours. However, as the day wore on, John suggested we stop about 80 miles short of that
RV park and rest for the night in an RV park called RV Vacation at Exit 98 off I-95 in Selma
/Smithfield. That is where we are tonight.
Things started well - Mom looked at a take out menu from SAMI'S :-) Italian Restaurant and
she wanted some baked ziti and an antipasta salad. John and I got the RV opened up, I poured a glass of wine, we set the table, he walked over by the lake, we waited for the food to arrive. But then Mom got some severe stomach pains, and she finally wound up taking two hydrocodone pills. Up until now, I'd never been with her when she needed two pain pills. By the time the food came, she started to feel the effects of the pills and ate a little dinner, which she promptly didn't hold down a few minutes later. She decided to head to bed right away.
John and I took a short walk around the park, he went over to help a neighbor who was having
trouble with his electric hook up, I came in to clean up dinner, and dropped one entire baked ziti dinner on the floor. Ah well, Mom is asleep, and we are off to bed. Now we expect to have about 270 miles to drive tomorrow, and we want to really leave early so we can see Jess and Sam as soon as possible!
Love to all, you can call and talk to Mom anytime!
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Taking Mom to visit family
2nd attempt! Mom woke up feeling OK and asked if there was time for her and Anna to eat lunch at the Senior Center before we left. Thought that was a good idea, when Anna came, Mom got washed up, dressed and they left for Winter Springs. John and I finished packing the RV at 1230, ran up to Publix for a few items, and we left at 1335. Not horribly later than our 1200 theoretical goal. Drive was uneventful except for some heavy rainstorms along the way. Made our way through Jacksonville at 1600, thus missing their rush hour, which was John's goal for today! Arrived at Lake Harmony RV Park in GA at 1730. We had a take out menu for a local restaurant and were excited to see a Greek salad w/ anchovies! but when we called.....no driver. Since we are not towing a car this time, and we didn't want to drive the newly hooked up RV over there, we ate in. I enjoyed a glass of wine w/ my meal. :-) Then John walked across the path to the lake and fished for awhile, Mom watched some TV (the Catholic station!), and I took a walk. Bedtime came early. Mom took a pain pill but is now tucked in for the night. John worked on his bid for a bit, and I decided to revisit my blog site.
Mom was in good spirits for the ride, she slept most of the time. We plan to wake up around 7, shower, eat some breakfast, my guess Mom will have cottage cheese and fruit :-), then leave by 0900. Expect to drive 8 hours tomorrow and stay in northern NC.
Mom had a good day, she is fine. All is well.
Mom was in good spirits for the ride, she slept most of the time. We plan to wake up around 7, shower, eat some breakfast, my guess Mom will have cottage cheese and fruit :-), then leave by 0900. Expect to drive 8 hours tomorrow and stay in northern NC.
Mom had a good day, she is fine. All is well.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Taking care of Sam
Jess returned to work last week and although she arranged her babysitter back in February or March! almost as soon as she found out she was pregnant, a glitch arose when her babysitter, Sally, had a conflict with grad school. Sally had an opportunity to take a full semester's class in two weeks.....in INDIA. Back in November when Sally told Jess about it, Jess asked John and me if we could cover this week. I was only too happy to get called into the game!
It's been terrific. Our day starts at 0600 when we get up, shower and go upstairs as she and John Brewer are finishing their breakfast. Yesterday was our first day to take care of Sam while they went to work, and Sam was awake when they left. This morning Sam was asleep. He typically sleeps a little while, wakes up, eats, then falls back asleep fairly soon. His long nap is in the afternoon.
Jess had been saying that he recently started waking up crying (screaming). That happened yesterday morning and again today, but today when it happened, I went and got him and said to him "Sam, there's no need for crying. Just say "Nanna, come get me. The Prince is ready to be entertained." No sooner had I finished saying this, he stopped crying! And he didn't scream when he woke up for the rest of the day!! The child is a genius!
John and I have been taking down Jess' Christmas decorations which we had asked her to leave up so we could have Christmas with them on Sunday when we arrived. Yesterday and today, in between feeding Sam and entertaining him, that's been our second job. I've kept Jess up to date on Sam's activities by sending her some photos during the day.
Our day with Sam continues until Jess comes home around 1815. Long day! We've made dinner both nights for everyone so they can eat soon after getting home.
Tonight John and I took a break when Jess' and John B's small group came over for Bible study. John and I went to Starbuck's, listened to Sarah Palin's interview on FOX, and (simply) had a short evening away by ourselves.
Taking care of one's grandchild is quite wonderful. We don't have to worry about housework or character building or worrying if I'm spoiling him by picking him up when he cries. He cries, we make him happy. Simple! All I hope for is that the geographical distance between our homes doesn't prevent us from having a close, frequent and special relationship with him, as well as our new granddaughter, Isabella, who lives in England with her parents who are both in the Air Force. I intend to make the most of our time together, whenever that may occur.
Last night, just before Jess got home when my John had left to pick her up at the Metro station, I told Sam that I'd had a wonderful day with him and that I was looking forward to doing it all over again today. He looked me right in the eyes, he grabbed my face, and he let out a shriek of happiness at the same time smiling right at me. My cup truly runneth over.
Tomorrow is Day # 3 of this adventure!
It's been terrific. Our day starts at 0600 when we get up, shower and go upstairs as she and John Brewer are finishing their breakfast. Yesterday was our first day to take care of Sam while they went to work, and Sam was awake when they left. This morning Sam was asleep. He typically sleeps a little while, wakes up, eats, then falls back asleep fairly soon. His long nap is in the afternoon.
Jess had been saying that he recently started waking up crying (screaming). That happened yesterday morning and again today, but today when it happened, I went and got him and said to him "Sam, there's no need for crying. Just say "Nanna, come get me. The Prince is ready to be entertained." No sooner had I finished saying this, he stopped crying! And he didn't scream when he woke up for the rest of the day!! The child is a genius!
John and I have been taking down Jess' Christmas decorations which we had asked her to leave up so we could have Christmas with them on Sunday when we arrived. Yesterday and today, in between feeding Sam and entertaining him, that's been our second job. I've kept Jess up to date on Sam's activities by sending her some photos during the day.
Our day with Sam continues until Jess comes home around 1815. Long day! We've made dinner both nights for everyone so they can eat soon after getting home.
Tonight John and I took a break when Jess' and John B's small group came over for Bible study. John and I went to Starbuck's, listened to Sarah Palin's interview on FOX, and (simply) had a short evening away by ourselves.
Taking care of one's grandchild is quite wonderful. We don't have to worry about housework or character building or worrying if I'm spoiling him by picking him up when he cries. He cries, we make him happy. Simple! All I hope for is that the geographical distance between our homes doesn't prevent us from having a close, frequent and special relationship with him, as well as our new granddaughter, Isabella, who lives in England with her parents who are both in the Air Force. I intend to make the most of our time together, whenever that may occur.
Last night, just before Jess got home when my John had left to pick her up at the Metro station, I told Sam that I'd had a wonderful day with him and that I was looking forward to doing it all over again today. He looked me right in the eyes, he grabbed my face, and he let out a shriek of happiness at the same time smiling right at me. My cup truly runneth over.
Tomorrow is Day # 3 of this adventure!
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Dan performs flyover at 10/10/09 Copart 300 NASCAR race, Fontana CA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGFl2cczPe0
Dan is flying the left wing jet. Performed at 1333 PT.
Dan is flying the left wing jet. Performed at 1333 PT.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Factoids on the Stennis
The first night (30 June) the Captain of the ship (Capt Joseph Kuzmick) greeted all the Tigers and sponsors in the hangar bay and gave us some interesting facts about the Stennis:
This is a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and there are two nuclear reactors on board. The life span of each is 50 years old and the Stennis was commissioned Dec 9 1995 so the carrier has been using the power from these reactors for almost 15 years. They will be refueled when they are 25 years old and can be refueled one time. Therefore, in the words of the Skipper, "we have been operating this carrier for the last 15 years on just half a tank of gas."
If any Tiger or anyone falls off the ship at night, the chance of being found alive is slim. Be aware and be careful.
This is not a cruise ship, it is a warship.
There were over 1000 people standing in the hangar bay for the Skipper's welcome, and the hangar bay was only a fraction full. Plus there were numerous aircraft in the hangar bay as well.
The front of the deck is the bow, the left side as we steam forward is "port" and the right is "starboard", the back of the ship is the stern.
The arresting wires are wrapped around rope so that when the aircraft hook squeezes the wire, the wire will give.
The average age on the ship is 20 years old !!
So far, today is Day 5 on this carrier, and my roommate and I have found a TOTAL of 3Female heads!!
There are about 200 people in Dan's squadron VFA-146 The Blue Diamonds, and 15 of them are F/A 18 Hornet pilots. The remaining people in the squadron are in support of the mission of the F/A 18. There are 22 officers and 184 sailors in the Blue Diamonds. The mission of the squadron is "to lethally employ weapons with Blue Diamond Hornets when called upon by our nation's leaders."
Dan is #10 in seniority of the 15 pilots.
There are 10 Hornet jets in Dan's squadron. The squadron has the oldest Hornets in the Navy but has the highest rate of sortie completion in the Navy- which means they are maintaining and repairing older equipment better than the squadrons that maintain newer equipment. The Hornets in VFA-146 are over 20 years old. The squadron had over a 98% sortie completion rate on this deployment. VFA-146 is targeted to receive the Joint Strike Fighter aircraft first when the JSF is ready for launch. If so, this squadron will transition from the F/A 18 Hornet jet to the JSF.
On this deployment: the Blue Diamonds performed 60,963 maintenance manhours; 13,992 maintenance actions; the pilots flew 1144 sorties and flew 1540 flight hours. The carrier had 7 port visits including Hong Kong, Sacebo Japan, Singapore, Busan Korea, Thailand, Pearl Harbor Hawaii and Everett WA. While in Korea, Dan visited the DMZ and went inside a building that straddles North Korea and South Korea. He made sure to go to the North Korean side. Dan remembers Busan as a fairly uninteresting port but the visit to the DMZ as the most interesting part of any port visit.
There are 6 airwing squadrons on board and that means there are no more than 120 pilots on board. The aircraft on board includes the Sea Hawk helicopter, the EA 6B Prowler, the E-2C Hawkeye, the F/A 18C Hornet and F/A 18F Super Hornet.
The crew on board the Stennis numbers 6200 when the airwing is on board. The ship serves 18,600 meals daily. There are two 30 ton anchors, and each link in each anchor weighs about 350 pounds. (pictures to follow)
There are four catapults- two on the waist of the ship (midship) and on the port side and two more on the bow. The distance of the catapult shoot is about 300'. So when the pilot is shot off the catapult, he has about the size of a football field to get airborne and to accelerate from 0 to about 170 knots.
This is a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and there are two nuclear reactors on board. The life span of each is 50 years old and the Stennis was commissioned Dec 9 1995 so the carrier has been using the power from these reactors for almost 15 years. They will be refueled when they are 25 years old and can be refueled one time. Therefore, in the words of the Skipper, "we have been operating this carrier for the last 15 years on just half a tank of gas."
If any Tiger or anyone falls off the ship at night, the chance of being found alive is slim. Be aware and be careful.
This is not a cruise ship, it is a warship.
There were over 1000 people standing in the hangar bay for the Skipper's welcome, and the hangar bay was only a fraction full. Plus there were numerous aircraft in the hangar bay as well.
The front of the deck is the bow, the left side as we steam forward is "port" and the right is "starboard", the back of the ship is the stern.
The arresting wires are wrapped around rope so that when the aircraft hook squeezes the wire, the wire will give.
The average age on the ship is 20 years old !!
So far, today is Day 5 on this carrier, and my roommate and I have found a TOTAL of 3Female heads!!
There are about 200 people in Dan's squadron VFA-146 The Blue Diamonds, and 15 of them are F/A 18 Hornet pilots. The remaining people in the squadron are in support of the mission of the F/A 18. There are 22 officers and 184 sailors in the Blue Diamonds. The mission of the squadron is "to lethally employ weapons with Blue Diamond Hornets when called upon by our nation's leaders."
Dan is #10 in seniority of the 15 pilots.
There are 10 Hornet jets in Dan's squadron. The squadron has the oldest Hornets in the Navy but has the highest rate of sortie completion in the Navy- which means they are maintaining and repairing older equipment better than the squadrons that maintain newer equipment. The Hornets in VFA-146 are over 20 years old. The squadron had over a 98% sortie completion rate on this deployment. VFA-146 is targeted to receive the Joint Strike Fighter aircraft first when the JSF is ready for launch. If so, this squadron will transition from the F/A 18 Hornet jet to the JSF.
On this deployment: the Blue Diamonds performed 60,963 maintenance manhours; 13,992 maintenance actions; the pilots flew 1144 sorties and flew 1540 flight hours. The carrier had 7 port visits including Hong Kong, Sacebo Japan, Singapore, Busan Korea, Thailand, Pearl Harbor Hawaii and Everett WA. While in Korea, Dan visited the DMZ and went inside a building that straddles North Korea and South Korea. He made sure to go to the North Korean side. Dan remembers Busan as a fairly uninteresting port but the visit to the DMZ as the most interesting part of any port visit.
There are 6 airwing squadrons on board and that means there are no more than 120 pilots on board. The aircraft on board includes the Sea Hawk helicopter, the EA 6B Prowler, the E-2C Hawkeye, the F/A 18C Hornet and F/A 18F Super Hornet.
The crew on board the Stennis numbers 6200 when the airwing is on board. The ship serves 18,600 meals daily. There are two 30 ton anchors, and each link in each anchor weighs about 350 pounds. (pictures to follow)
There are four catapults- two on the waist of the ship (midship) and on the port side and two more on the bow. The distance of the catapult shoot is about 300'. So when the pilot is shot off the catapult, he has about the size of a football field to get airborne and to accelerate from 0 to about 170 knots.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
The Dance
Awesome day! Today is Flight Operations aka Flight Ops
VFA-146 The Blue Diamonds and the other squadrons participated in Flight Ops for the Tigers on board. Tigers were able to watch Flight Ops from either the Flight Deck or Vulture’s Row, or if you wanted to be inside, you could watch every launch and every recovery from various places inside the ship on any of many televisions. John, Dan and I opted for Vulture’s Row, as did many other pilots and families in the squadron. Vulture’s Row is high up on the ship. If you call the Flight Deck the main level, Vulture’s Row is a climb of probably 7 to 9 stairwells. Being on the Flight Deck might give you more vibration and sound, but being on Vulture’s Row gave us a complete visual of the entire Flight Deck as well as plenty of vibration and sound. We arrived at 0900 for a 1000 launch, and within minutes the entire place was wall to wall people. We stayed until the recovery of the first wave of jets at 1130.
The Marine pilots took off first, then the Black Knights squadron, then the Blue Diamonds. In the next wave of launches, we had some Super Hornets (two seater jet) take off with full after burner. The sound and vibration were unbelievable! Even with ear protection, I was taking photos and cringing down into my jacket to get some of the vibration off my eardrum. But one can really understand how exhilarating it might be to fly. Watching it from on deck up high, over and over, is just awesome. Jets were launched every 60 seconds or so from two different catapults adjacent to each other. One after another. One goes, everyone on deck runs to the next sequence spot.
Once they launch, they “form up” a few miles up and out over the Pacific. The Blue Diamonds did the first fly over and two of Dan’s friends and squadron mates were the pilots – Porkins and Schwarma. Porkins flew the painted Blue Diamond jet No. 300. Schwarma flew the No 305.
13 or 14 jets launched in the first wave of launches that we watched. When the final four jets were set up on deck ready to launch, the 10 jets in the air started forming in the “Marshall formation” which is where the jets circle the ship at 3000 feet up, 2000 feet up, etc. When the last of the jets launches, the first jet to come in begins his descent. We were fascinated watching the beauty of this process. When all goes well, everything of the Marshall formation and the recovery onto the carrier is done – or can be done – silently with no radio communications. That is a big plus in a combat situation to have planes land every 50 to 60 seconds with silent radios. The ship has to slow down and turn into the wind for recovery and is highly vulnerable at that point, so everyone on the ship is tasked with making sure they do their job to their utmost to minimize the amount of time necessary to recover the jets in the air.
After the last jet launched, we watched the jets in the air begin their descent and approach. The first jet to come in was the Admiral’s jet, and he flew over the ship at a fairly low altitude then began his approach, turning into “the break”. The Landing Signal Officers – LSO’s- are the eyes on the deck for the pilot in the air. The pilot is looking for the Fresnel lens, aka “the ball”, which is a series of red, yellow and green lights that tell him if he is high coming in which might lead to a “bolter” wherein he misses all of the 4 wires on the deck. If the pilot is low, and in potential danger of hitting the ramp (back of the ship) or the deck, the LSO will give either a “power” call to the pilot, or wave off the pilot entirely, and the pilot powers up and gets back into the landing pattern and waits for another turn to land. The pilot wants the light on the lens to be in the middle. Then the LSOs (there are three of them monitoring the plane’s position in the sky) will watch carefully and monitor the landing, targeting the pilot to hit the deck between the second and third wires.
Many of this morning’s flights caught the 3 or 4 wires. I was amazed that if the jet catches the 4 wire, the furthest and last wire, that the jet stops JUST short of the far end of the deck! When a pilot lands, he brings the jet down, then goes to full burner so that if he misses all the wires, he will be able to take off from the deck. Fortunately, that didn’t happen this morning, and everyone landed the first time.
It’s a beautiful dance that happens on the deck, watching all of the people do their jobs, then another peaceful and controlled dance that happens in the air with the Marshall formation and the recovery. I’ve been to numerous air shows, and I’ve been on numerous aircraft carriers when they are docked at a pier in some city. This was the first time I could watch an air show from a moving carrier.
Another cool thing is how jazzed EVERYONE on this carrier gets about Flight Ops. It’s not just the pilots and their families. Everyone is involved, everyone is excited. The Tigers have some kind of booklet we are supposed to get signed off on- like “find the different Ready Rooms, find the Wardrooms, shake hands with a gunner’s mate” etc. The task that everyone seems to enjoy the most is finding the Ready Rooms of the Flight Squadrons and asking one of the pilots to sign their book. As I write this, two different sets of Tigers have come in and asked the pilots to sign and chat a few minutes with them. Also as I write this, more Flights Ops are taking off from the deck, we’re watching the launches on the TV here in the Ready Room, and you feel the bang of the catapult as it goes.
Another time I'll write about Movie Night and what else we've been doing on this ship since Tuesday.
VFA-146 The Blue Diamonds and the other squadrons participated in Flight Ops for the Tigers on board. Tigers were able to watch Flight Ops from either the Flight Deck or Vulture’s Row, or if you wanted to be inside, you could watch every launch and every recovery from various places inside the ship on any of many televisions. John, Dan and I opted for Vulture’s Row, as did many other pilots and families in the squadron. Vulture’s Row is high up on the ship. If you call the Flight Deck the main level, Vulture’s Row is a climb of probably 7 to 9 stairwells. Being on the Flight Deck might give you more vibration and sound, but being on Vulture’s Row gave us a complete visual of the entire Flight Deck as well as plenty of vibration and sound. We arrived at 0900 for a 1000 launch, and within minutes the entire place was wall to wall people. We stayed until the recovery of the first wave of jets at 1130.
The Marine pilots took off first, then the Black Knights squadron, then the Blue Diamonds. In the next wave of launches, we had some Super Hornets (two seater jet) take off with full after burner. The sound and vibration were unbelievable! Even with ear protection, I was taking photos and cringing down into my jacket to get some of the vibration off my eardrum. But one can really understand how exhilarating it might be to fly. Watching it from on deck up high, over and over, is just awesome. Jets were launched every 60 seconds or so from two different catapults adjacent to each other. One after another. One goes, everyone on deck runs to the next sequence spot.
Once they launch, they “form up” a few miles up and out over the Pacific. The Blue Diamonds did the first fly over and two of Dan’s friends and squadron mates were the pilots – Porkins and Schwarma. Porkins flew the painted Blue Diamond jet No. 300. Schwarma flew the No 305.
13 or 14 jets launched in the first wave of launches that we watched. When the final four jets were set up on deck ready to launch, the 10 jets in the air started forming in the “Marshall formation” which is where the jets circle the ship at 3000 feet up, 2000 feet up, etc. When the last of the jets launches, the first jet to come in begins his descent. We were fascinated watching the beauty of this process. When all goes well, everything of the Marshall formation and the recovery onto the carrier is done – or can be done – silently with no radio communications. That is a big plus in a combat situation to have planes land every 50 to 60 seconds with silent radios. The ship has to slow down and turn into the wind for recovery and is highly vulnerable at that point, so everyone on the ship is tasked with making sure they do their job to their utmost to minimize the amount of time necessary to recover the jets in the air.
After the last jet launched, we watched the jets in the air begin their descent and approach. The first jet to come in was the Admiral’s jet, and he flew over the ship at a fairly low altitude then began his approach, turning into “the break”. The Landing Signal Officers – LSO’s- are the eyes on the deck for the pilot in the air. The pilot is looking for the Fresnel lens, aka “the ball”, which is a series of red, yellow and green lights that tell him if he is high coming in which might lead to a “bolter” wherein he misses all of the 4 wires on the deck. If the pilot is low, and in potential danger of hitting the ramp (back of the ship) or the deck, the LSO will give either a “power” call to the pilot, or wave off the pilot entirely, and the pilot powers up and gets back into the landing pattern and waits for another turn to land. The pilot wants the light on the lens to be in the middle. Then the LSOs (there are three of them monitoring the plane’s position in the sky) will watch carefully and monitor the landing, targeting the pilot to hit the deck between the second and third wires.
Many of this morning’s flights caught the 3 or 4 wires. I was amazed that if the jet catches the 4 wire, the furthest and last wire, that the jet stops JUST short of the far end of the deck! When a pilot lands, he brings the jet down, then goes to full burner so that if he misses all the wires, he will be able to take off from the deck. Fortunately, that didn’t happen this morning, and everyone landed the first time.
It’s a beautiful dance that happens on the deck, watching all of the people do their jobs, then another peaceful and controlled dance that happens in the air with the Marshall formation and the recovery. I’ve been to numerous air shows, and I’ve been on numerous aircraft carriers when they are docked at a pier in some city. This was the first time I could watch an air show from a moving carrier.
Another cool thing is how jazzed EVERYONE on this carrier gets about Flight Ops. It’s not just the pilots and their families. Everyone is involved, everyone is excited. The Tigers have some kind of booklet we are supposed to get signed off on- like “find the different Ready Rooms, find the Wardrooms, shake hands with a gunner’s mate” etc. The task that everyone seems to enjoy the most is finding the Ready Rooms of the Flight Squadrons and asking one of the pilots to sign their book. As I write this, two different sets of Tigers have come in and asked the pilots to sign and chat a few minutes with them. Also as I write this, more Flights Ops are taking off from the deck, we’re watching the launches on the TV here in the Ready Room, and you feel the bang of the catapult as it goes.
Another time I'll write about Movie Night and what else we've been doing on this ship since Tuesday.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Transformers 2
We're on board and slept on the carrier last night. I berth in a "two female officer stateroom" and it's great. My roommate is the mother of one of Dan's squadron mates, also an F/18 Hornet pilot. Our "head" is down the hall, through a watertight door, that requires a magnetic key that usually doesn't work. Every one or two attempts, we'll get the green light. If we're fortunate enough to get that green light, the next challenge is making the door knob work. My roommate wondered if the Tigers were being given faulty cards so that each of us would have special challenges to overcome. Maybe we're on Candid Camera and they are watching the Tigers struggle to enter the head. So far, we've utilized the magnetic key/ door knob skills of numerous Stennis sailors.
Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen
What does this movie have to do with Tiger Cruise?
Part of the movie was filmed on the Stennis! We went to the movie Monday night at a mall in Everett. It was fun watching it with Dan who was able to narrate: "Josh Duhamel is cool. Shia is good. Megan is beautiful in person. I sat next to Michael Bay (producer and director I think) at dinner. I was 10' away when they filmed this scene." Also - some interesting facts about the movie: The Stennis is in two main scenes. In the first, the Stennis sinks. Initially, there is a quick scene of the ship's number 74, which is an example only of poor editing, then in the next quick scene, it is now number 71, the USS Roosevelt. Then it sinks. "Dan's jet" (the jet with his name and call sign painted on) which is No. 315 appears in the scene when the ship is sinking - right after seeing the "315" - the jet explodes. Not great for the mother to watch. Later in the movie, John Turturro's character speaks with the skipper of the Stennis, and now, the formerly sunk carrier is resurrected and a major player in the conclusion. Some good stories about the celebreties whom Dan met and ate dinner with when the crew was here filming.
Photos to follow, connections are slow due to all THE TIGERS emailing!
Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen
What does this movie have to do with Tiger Cruise?
Part of the movie was filmed on the Stennis! We went to the movie Monday night at a mall in Everett. It was fun watching it with Dan who was able to narrate: "Josh Duhamel is cool. Shia is good. Megan is beautiful in person. I sat next to Michael Bay (producer and director I think) at dinner. I was 10' away when they filmed this scene." Also - some interesting facts about the movie: The Stennis is in two main scenes. In the first, the Stennis sinks. Initially, there is a quick scene of the ship's number 74, which is an example only of poor editing, then in the next quick scene, it is now number 71, the USS Roosevelt. Then it sinks. "Dan's jet" (the jet with his name and call sign painted on) which is No. 315 appears in the scene when the ship is sinking - right after seeing the "315" - the jet explodes. Not great for the mother to watch. Later in the movie, John Turturro's character speaks with the skipper of the Stennis, and now, the formerly sunk carrier is resurrected and a major player in the conclusion. Some good stories about the celebreties whom Dan met and ate dinner with when the crew was here filming.
Photos to follow, connections are slow due to all THE TIGERS emailing!
Monday, June 29, 2009
Welcome home, LT Daniel Chiafair
Dan picks us up at SEA TAC airport when we arrived at 8 PM.
I also knew that Dan might not have come with the ship into San Diego, but instead he might have flown off the carrier a few or several days beforehand, in which case he would have flown his Hornet directly to Lemoore NAS in central California. If that had happened, then we would have been in Lemoore when he arrived there. The location of his homecoming was never important to me, but him having someone say "Welcome home Dan, you did great, we missed you, we're so proud of you, and we love you." was what I wanted for him and what he deserved. I made that promise to myself when he called me on January 17. When I hung up the phone that afternoon, after hearing him say "Bye Mom, don't worry about me, I'll be fine, and I'll be in touch on email." - I knew I would be wherever he was when he returned so that we didn't say "Welcome back" by phone thousands of miles apart.
So for me, today was the most important day of this upcoming adventure. Dan's homecoming. His safe return to the USA after almost six months at sea. The Navy considers the deployment over in another week when the carrier arrives to San Diego. Naval tradition states that when Dan spots Point Loma at the southern tip of the city, then Dan will no longer be a first time deployed "Nugget".
But tonight I hugged my son for the first time in what at times seemed like forever, and for that, I am most grateful. Dan is back home. Our family is whole again.
Tomorrow the three of us ride together to the ship in Everett, about an hour and a half north of Seattle, and then we'll find out about life on an aircraft carrier. Well, I'll find out, Dan and John already know!
Welcome home Dan, you did great, we missed you, we love you, and we are so proud of you.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Greetings!
We are setting up this blog initially to keep friends and family involved in our Tiger Cruise with Dan. It's my first blog! Be patient with me as I learn how to write on a blog and how to post photos from this once in a lifetime adventure! I hope it's fun for you to sail along with us aboard Dan's aircraft carrier!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)