A few month back, Rob had to start preparing for his current deployment. Preparing for deployment for a carrier based pilot means they are to start practicing landing on a boat. It sounds easy enough, but as the wife of a tail hooker, I would like to formally say that it ranks up there with being the most dangerous thing a person can do.
Imagine a boat moving along the ocean. Now picture trying to line up with the moving target with your aircraft. Still not hard enough? Imagine your moving runway was bouncing up and down (pitching) with each wave. You now have to account for those sudden moves in your aircraft. You have a very small space to land already, but I should state that this isn't a landing. It is a controlled crash. You have 3 wires on the carrier, 3 chances to stop your plane, that catch the tailhook located at the rear of the plane. When you land, you don't reduce speed. You "control crash" at full power so in the event you miss the wires or aren't lined up properly, you have enough speed for you to take back off the end of the boat. This is called carrier landings. It is done during the day and at night with zero visibility.
Landing on the boat is an art form that takes practice and if you haven't done a carrier landing in a number of weeks, it is time to go through carrier qualifications or "CQ". Even the best pilot needs a refresher and my husband is no exception. So when it is time to get ready for deployment and CQ, the squadron packs up and heads to Iwo Jima for field carrier landing procedures (FCLPs) to practice the type of landings that are required to land on the boat. FCLPs require a type of flying that is loud so it is mainly done in areas that have a permit for that particular flying or is in an area that is not populated. Many pilots refer to this as "bouncing" and if you have seen it you would know why. BOING! Carrier pilots based in Norfolk, Virginia head to Florida for FCLPs and because we live in Japan and that would be a long and expensive trip, Rob's squadron heads to arguably one of the most sacred islands in the Pacific.
VAW-115 Liberty Bells, Rob's squadron where he flies the E-2 Hawkeye, spends about a week on the island that is now called Iwo To. The Japanese meaning of the name is the same as Iwo Jima, but Iwo Jima is not really known for it being a sulfer and volcanic island. It is known for being the grounds of the bloodiest battle ever.
Visiting Iwo Jima had very special meaning to our family. If Japan allowed people to visit the island, Robby and I would have joined Rob on the trip, but due to the importance it holds, Japan limits the island to only US and Japanese military personnel, and even still the island is barren. On rare occasions, living decendents of those who fought in the battle of Iwo Jima are allowed to visit for one day. Rob took several pictures and videos of his trip and also brought home sand from Invasion Beach.
There aren't many words to describe how this trip is both exhilerating and humbling for Rob, so I made a video shortly after his trip to document Rob's FCLPs in Iwo Jima.
No comments:
Post a Comment