Post
by bigSparky » Sat Feb 27, 2010 3:36 pm
Funny. For about ten years I worked at USAF Plant 42, Edwards AFB, or China Lake NWC. Mostly at Plant 42. For a year I worked on and around the flight line there. A-4s, A-6s, F-5s and T-38s, F-106s?(whatever the delta wing ss fighter they were using for a chase at the time), B1-Bs, U-2s, F-117s, B-2 bombers, and best of all, SR-71 Blackbirds, were constantly flying, not to mention the occasional C-5 or C-140 or C-130, KC-135, L-1011, and once in a while a B-52 or even a 747 piggybacking the space shuttles. I never seemed to tire of it. But I also got to see some very cool stuff. I watched a B1-B do a barrel roll under 200 feet at around 700mph. They had just broken the sound barrier, something it is NOT supposed to be capable of. At least not officially. Fucking remarkable is all I can add to that. At Edwards, I've seen F-16s and 15s intentionally put into flat spins and recover, another thing that just ain't supposed to happen. But they did it all the time. Sometimes the 16s would come in flat along the runway and pull into about a 85 to near 90 degree climb, starting about 50 feet from the ground. They would climb so steep they stalled out between 500 and a thousand feet and start falling tail first to the ground, and recover. AMAZING stuff to witness. Helped reinforce my pride in being an American. Seeing a U-2 take off using less than 300 feet of runway is something that can't be relayed by words. As soon as that plane starts moving forward the wings begin lifting...dramatically. Got to see the first flight of the first B-2 (the ex worked for Northrop as an inspector on it), as well as the first flight of the last B-1B. Watching an SR-71 take off just after dusk or right before dawn breaks, is nothing short of extraordinary. I truly feel
privileged to have seen these things.
That being said, I was never on a full size carrier. I did spend several months on a couple of "baby" carriers, or LPHs (Landing Pad Helicopter) with flight ops going nearly 24/7. I can see how being berthed under the flight deck could get annoying. That's where they berthed us Marines on one of the LPHs I was on. Pretty damn noisy, ALL THE TIME! But that still wasn't near as bad as 3 decks down in the bow of an LPD crossing the Pacific Ocean from Pearl to San Diego in January. The head was fore of the berthing space and the grunts had nothing better to do all day than throw up. Quite literally, there was several inches of puke on the deck of the head, constantly sloshing from port to starboard. Disgusting, gross, disgustingly gross? Woefully inadequate words. Putrid? Not even close.
Grunt, I helped remodel the hangers for them to modify those C-130s in. That was a dirty job cleaning up after 5 or 6 years of them building the B-1Bs there, LoL.
Holding onto anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one getting burned. ~Buddha
Got out of there, joined the army, and spent a few years here. Now, after all this time I am finally going to be able to deploy. I wasn't dodging deployment, but It seemed the more I volunteered to go over, the more they wanted me to stay. I stopped volunteering for deploying units and they finally cut my orders. Ill be heading to afghanistan sometime soon. Just wanted to show my face, and say hello to all those of you who do know me, and even to those who do not. 
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