Calling All Carrier Vets

[Footslogger]

Hey guys, what is the tradition if a plane lands on the wrong carrier?

[dr.hal]

Insert foot, chew vigorously.

[AW1Steve]

ZAP IT!!!!! ZAP IT!!!! Cover it with graffiti and "ZAP" stickers! [:D]

[wdolson]

There were many instances of planes landing on the wrong carrier after the strike into darkness during the Battle of the Philippine Sea. I don't think any of the deck crews hazed any of the pilots who did land on the wrong carrier. I think they were too impressed anybody landed at all.

There were some remarkable stories that night, as well as some tragedies.

Bill

[pmelheck1]

I would imagine such things happening when a plane lands on the wrong ship in peace time, in clear weather during daylight with no IFE(In Flight Emergency). My experience with our culture was we would bend over backwards to help anyone with any kind of problem with pilot or airframe. But if you did something really stupid we had fun with it and it could follow you your whole career(depending on your rank and the magnitude of the screw-up). I still remember both cases very fondly all these years later. Thank goodness I didn't end up safety briefing material or war story fodder. And heaven help you if you very visibly messed up in front of a sister service.

[spence]

So what about the "super pilots" (Japanese) who tried to land on USS Yorktown at the Battle of the Coral Sea (in their defense it was dark but they were selected because they were the best of the best for that very reason)?

[AW1Steve]

ORIGINAL: wdolson

There were many instances of planes landing on the wrong carrier after the strike into darkness during the Battle of the Philippine Sea. I don't think any of the deck crews hazed any of the pilots who did land on the wrong carrier. I think they were too impressed anybody landed at all.

There were some remarkable stories that night, as well as some tragedies.

Bill

Obviously no one was hazed that night. Or any similar. The norm is "peacetime" (whatever the hell that means these days) is that good natured hazing is permitted, even on shore stations under certain conditions. VP-squadrons (Patrol squadrons) will even engage in "vendetta's" if one one squadron "Zaps" another. Some of these can go on for years. The Vendetta between VP-26 and VP-24 was legendary in the VP community.

[AW1Steve]

And btw , Cross-decking between different Navies is an exceptable reason to engage in "Zapping".

[desicat]

Any port in a storm.....

"April 1975, South Vietnamese Air Force Major Buang-Ly loaded his wife and five children into a two-seat Cessna O-1 Bird Dog and took off from Con Son Island. After evading enemy ground fire Major Buang headed out to sea and spotted the USS Midway.

The Midway's crew attempted to contact the aircraft on emergency frequencies but the pilot continued to circle overhead with his landing lights turned on. When a spotter reported that there were at least four people in the two-place aircraft, all thoughts of forcing the pilot to ditch alongside were abandoned. Major Buang managed to drop a note from a low pass over the deck: "Can you move the helicopter to the other side, I can land on your runway. Please rescue me! Major Buang, wife and 5 child." Rear Admiral Larry Chambers (then Captain) ordered that the arresting wires be removed and that any helicopters that could not be safely and quickly be relocated should be pushed over the side. To get the job done he called for volunteers, and soon every available seaman was on deck, regardless of rank or duty, to provide the manpower to get the job done. An esimated US$10 million worth of UH-1 Huey helicopters were pushed overboard into the South China Sea.

Captain Chambers recalled that "...the aircraft cleared the ramp and touched down on center line at the normal touchdown point. Had he been equipped with a tailhook he could have bagged a number 3 wire. He bounced once and came stop abeam of the island, amid a wildly cheering, arms-waving flight deck crew." Major Buang was escorted to the bridge where Captain Chambers congratulated him on his outstanding airmanship and his bravery in risking everything on a gamble beyond the point of no return without knowing for certain a carrier would be where he needed it. The Bird Dog that Major Buang landed is now on display at the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, FL."

Video of landing.

[rustysi]

ORIGINAL: desicat

Any port in a storm.....

"April 1975, South Vietnamese Air Force Major Buang-Ly loaded his wife and five children into a two-seat Cessna O-1 Bird Dog and took off from Con Son Island. After evading enemy ground fire Major Buang headed out to sea and spotted the USS Midway.

The Midway's crew attempted to contact the aircraft on emergency frequencies but the pilot continued to circle overhead with his landing lights turned on. When a spotter reported that there were at least four people in the two-place aircraft, all thoughts of forcing the pilot to ditch alongside were abandoned. Major Buang managed to drop a note from a low pass over the deck: "Can you move the helicopter to the other side, I can land on your runway. Please rescue me! Major Buang, wife and 5 child." Rear Admiral Larry Chambers (then Captain) ordered that the arresting wires be removed and that any helicopters that could not be safely and quickly be relocated should be pushed over the side. To get the job done he called for volunteers, and soon every available seaman was on deck, regardless of rank or duty, to provide the manpower to get the job done. An esimated US$10 million worth of UH-1 Huey helicopters were pushed overboard into the South China Sea.

Captain Chambers recalled that "...the aircraft cleared the ramp and touched down on center line at the normal touchdown point. Had he been equipped with a tailhook he could have bagged a number 3 wire. He bounced once and came stop abeam of the island, amid a wildly cheering, arms-waving flight deck crew." Major Buang was escorted to the bridge where Captain Chambers congratulated him on his outstanding airmanship and his bravery in risking everything on a gamble beyond the point of no return without knowing for certain a carrier would be where he needed it. The Bird Dog that Major Buang landed is now on display at the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, FL."

Video of landing.

They're called cojones.[;)]

[AW1Steve]

http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_5/162561 ... tom#bottom
http://militarybest.com/navy-army-marin ... ecals.html
http://www.arcair.com/Gal11/10301-10400 ... rv/00.shtm


There's not a lot on the net about "zapping", except for companies making custom "Zap stickers" for your squadron. Today it's less of a matter of covering an airplane with graffiti , and more of putting "stickers" where they don't belong. One note I can add from personal experience...The USAF does NOT participate , nor take kindly to having it's aircraft "zapped". [8|][X(][:(]