E2-C down

the Grumman E2-B carried me safely through 1012 hours of flight off 3 carriers and over almost every ocean on this planet. Sadly this E2-C didn't make it home.

The plane had blown an engine over the northern Arabian Sea, and the lead pilot, Lt. Miroslav "Steven" Zilberman, had to make lightning-quick decisions.

The E-2C Hawkeye, returning from a mission in Afghanistan, was a few miles out from the Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier. Zilberman, 31, was a veteran U.S. Navy pilot who had flown many times in the Middle East with the Hawkeye, a turbo-prop aircraft loaded with radar equipment.

The starboard propeller shut down, causing the plane to become unstable and plunge. Zilberman ordered his three crew mates, including the co-pilot, to bail. He manually held the plane as steady as possible so they could jump.

"He held the plane level for them to do so, despite nearly uncontrollable forces. His three crewmen are alive today because of his actions," Navy Rear Adm. Philip S. Davidson wrote to Zilberman's parents.

Zilberman went down with the aircraft on March 31. The 1997 graduate of Bexley High School was declared dead three days later, his body lost at sea.

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/04/23/navy-pilots-last-act-saving-3-crew-mates.html?sid=101

What part of illegal don't you dumb shits understand?

NBC stands for stupid

Reason and Emotion

proud

Fist of the Fleet

Over at the pilots pub, a forum I hang in, we've got a Chief who challenged the forum to design the paint job for the CAG's F-18. Several different folks contributed ideas that finally congealed into a post made by a youngster from the UK. The idea was accepted by the squadron and this is the result.

In the pre-internet world we just didn't get to participate in such coolness.