May 1966 Approach: The Naval Aviation Safety Review Magazine
vol u approach No 11
Our product is safety, our process is education and our profit is measured in the preservation of lives and equipment and increased mission readiness.
Contents
- Flying in Turbulence
By T. F. Laughlin - Maneuvering at Weather
- Flight Judgment
- Which Way is Down?
By LCDR C. B. Sawiak - Have You Ever
- Fallen Angel
- Shared Equipment
- Over the Side
- Then Came the Light
By LTJG E. P. Nicholson - FOD is where you find it
DEPARTMENTS
- Short Snorts
- Anymouse
- Headmouse
- Flight Surgeons' Notes
- Notes and Comments on Maintenance
- Murphy's Law
- Letters
- IBC A Word
- NavWeps 00-75-510
CREDITS
Cover--A-3Bs penetrating an undercast—painting courtesy of Dick Vranian, Art Director of Trevvett, Christian & Company, Inc., Richmond, Virginia.
Purposes and policies: Approach, published monthly by the U. S. Naval Aviation Safety Center, is distributed to naval aeronautical organizations on the basis of 1 copy per 10 persons.
It presents the most accurate information currently available on the subject of aviation accident prevention. Contents should not be considered as regulations, orders or directives and may not be construed as incriminating under Art. 31, UCMJ.
Photos: Official Navy or as credited. Non-naval activities are requested to contact NASC prior to reprinting APPROACH material.
Correspondence: Contributions are welcome. The editors reserve the right to make editorial changes which they believe will improve the material without altering the intended meaning.
Reference to commercial products does not imply Navy endorsement. Views of guest -written articles are not necessarily those of NASC. Requests for distribution changes should be directed to NASC, NAS, Norfolk, Va. 23511. Phone: Area Code 708, 444-3641 (days), 444-4331 (Nights, weekends, Holidays) Att: Safety Education Dept., if you are receiving the magazine free because of military or commercial contract status with the Navy.
IF YOU ARE A PAID SUBSCRIBER, address all renewals and change of addresses to Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C. 20402. Subscriptions: Single copy 35 cents; 1-year subscriptions $3.50; 2 yrs., $7.00; 3 yrs., $10.50; $1.00 additional annually for foreign mailing.
Printing: Issuance of this periodical approved in accordance with Department of the Navy Publications and Printing Regulations, NAVEXOS P-35. Library of Congress Catalog No. 57-60020.
Minimums
CDR Stephen Oliver, Head, Safety Education Dept. F. L. Smith, DMC, Production Control Harry Culbertson, PH1, Photographer F. W. Chapin, J02, Editorial/Production Associate
A. Barrie Young, Jr., Editor Contributing Depts.
LCDR J. B. McDaniel, Managing Editor Accident Investigation, Head, LtCol W. L. Walker
LT J. B. Pugh, Flight Operations Editor Aero-Medical, Head, CAPT R. E. Luehrs, MC Analysis and Research, Head, CDR D. A. Webster Maintenance and Material, Head, CDR V. R. Knick
J. T. LeBarron, Research/Ass't Flight Ops Editor J. C. Kiriluk, Maintenance/Ass't Managing Editor J. A. Bristow, Aviation Medicine/Survival Editor Robert Trotter, Art Director Records and Statistics, Head, CDR J. T. Simons, Jr.
Blake Rader, Illustrator
approach/may 1966
An Aviator Poem
Great men of all time are remembered in rhyme;
Brave men stand immortal in stone.
We never forget the valiant who met
Danger's challenge and faced it, alone.
The pilots who soar with thundering roar
Are saluted in musical lines.
But there's one motley crew, a forgotten few,
On whom glory's light seldom shines.
They spend their long nights in figuring drifts,
S
ettings, and headings and mach.
They wait for their bird to give them the word,
And pray that he doesn't break lock.
I
heir problems magnetic often give them a headache,
I
hey slowly go blind watching squawks.
I heir nightmarish sleeps run in twelve-second sweeps,
they worship a little black box.
He runs the whole show, tells the birds where to go,
Selects headings and type of attack,
Watches for strangers and imminent dangers,
A their safety, and then brings them back.
A pilot's up there, somewhere in the air,
Pressure's dropping; he's out of the race.
The Controller's on call to get on the ball
And give him a steer for the base.
He'll moan and he'll groan, he'll cry into the phone
Until contact is made with his chicks.
But there's one lonesome call that he dreads most of all:
Where are they? Get me a fix!"
When nothing is flying, he'll stand around lying,
T
elling tall tales of his skill
At nighttime tomcatting and daytime combatting,
And how he moved in for the kill.
When the mission's all through, and the bleary-eyed crew
Adjourns to the Club for a snack,
The pilots come in and they say with a grin:
"Good show! We came right down the track."
This flying's a game that brings pilots great fame,
But just half the team flies, as a rule.
The other half's found away down on the ground—
The Controllers—a good one's a jewel.
—Adapted from Interceptor