RED
08-18-2010, 01:26
Bingo!
The Naval aviation community has always used terminology that most folks would not recognize. “Charlie,” is the pro word that means return to ship. “Buster” means full throttle. “Judy” means I have the bogey locked on radar and no longer need vectors. A “Trap” is a carrier landing and “Bingo” means go to and land at the nearest airfield. “Bingo” is not a word you want to hear and is always considered an emergency.
In July 1970 The USS Saratoga was operating off the island of Malta in the Mediterranean Sea. We had a new replacement pilot that had just been assigned to our squadron. His name was Oliver Kendall Power and of course he immediately became known as just OK. The first time he flew off the Sara, the Ops officer was with him and the second time I was in his back seat. He was a little nervous, but he did all right, at least we got back aboard alive and didn’t wreck the F-4J.
Back aboard, I checked the flight schedule and sure enough, there I was, scheduled for a night hop with OK... That was not what I wanted to see. Night flights off the carrier are seldom fun but this was shaping up to be a real chore. The cat shot went off with no problem and we completed the mission which was to intercept a simulated cruise missile.
The landing procedure was for us to start down at an exact time from10,000 feet altitude 12 miles aft of the ship. It was also the goal to have exactly 6,000 lbs of fuel on board when we called the ball (the maximum allowable to land with). Our “Charlie” time was at 2005 hours and we were to be the first one down. We were in the holding pattern well within the time frame. We did the check list and noted we had over 8,000 lbs of fuel which meant that we would have to dump some JP4. We had just started the dump when the Air Boss came up on the radio and told us to start down immediately. I suggested to OK that we hold the dump until we got the gear down. OK says “No, no, I got it.”
We were in and out of the clouds and went through the check list and got the gear down at 1,500 feet. OK called the ball with 5,200 lbs of fuel. It was windy, the ship was pitching a little and the Air Boss gave us a fouled deck wave off. We went around for the second try and we called the ball with 4,400 lbs of fuel. When we hit the deck we boltered. The LSO came up on the radio and told us that we had just missed the three wire and the tail hook bounced over number four. So around we go for another try and get another fouled deck wave off. This was decidedly not good.
Our last attempt was AFU. OK called the ball with 2800 lbs of fuel. We got a little low in the groove and he naturally over corrected and the LSO waved us off. The Air Boss ordered us to “Bingo” to the British RAF base on Malta which was 60 miles away. In the military there is a procedure and a checklist for every thing. I already had the bingo profile out and basically it said to climb to something like 35,000 feet and then do an idle descent. When we started down the Air Boss handed us off to Malta approach. I called them and declared a low fuel state emergency and asked for straight in GCA approach to runway 31. Malta acknowledged us and confirmed they had radar contact. After a small heading correction they told us to switch over to the tower frequency. I replied that no we didn’t want to do that, we were in a low fuel emergency and required the GCA. The approach control then stated that the field was closed, there had been an accident and an aircraft was on fire in the middle of the runway. I asked for a vector to the nearest hard surface runway of at least 5,000 feet. The reply was “Roger that would be Siganello, Sicily 310 degrees at 60 miles.”
Oops! At this point the E-2 Hawkeye relayed a message from the Air Wing Commander that we were to start back toward the ship and when we ran out of fuel we were to eject and they would come and get us. I told OK that no way in hell was that going to happen. He protested that we had to obey the order. “What order? The radio was breaking up and I didn’t hear it.” By then we were over the airport and could see an A-6 being pushed off the runway. I said “Put this thing down right now!” We did and, got the drag chute out as soon as the wheels touched. OK stood on the brakes and we were stopped in about 2,500 feet. The fuel gauges read zero.
I never flew with OK again and then he was transferred to the RAG. Apparently the Skipper didn’t like him either.
The Naval aviation community has always used terminology that most folks would not recognize. “Charlie,” is the pro word that means return to ship. “Buster” means full throttle. “Judy” means I have the bogey locked on radar and no longer need vectors. A “Trap” is a carrier landing and “Bingo” means go to and land at the nearest airfield. “Bingo” is not a word you want to hear and is always considered an emergency.
In July 1970 The USS Saratoga was operating off the island of Malta in the Mediterranean Sea. We had a new replacement pilot that had just been assigned to our squadron. His name was Oliver Kendall Power and of course he immediately became known as just OK. The first time he flew off the Sara, the Ops officer was with him and the second time I was in his back seat. He was a little nervous, but he did all right, at least we got back aboard alive and didn’t wreck the F-4J.
Back aboard, I checked the flight schedule and sure enough, there I was, scheduled for a night hop with OK... That was not what I wanted to see. Night flights off the carrier are seldom fun but this was shaping up to be a real chore. The cat shot went off with no problem and we completed the mission which was to intercept a simulated cruise missile.
The landing procedure was for us to start down at an exact time from10,000 feet altitude 12 miles aft of the ship. It was also the goal to have exactly 6,000 lbs of fuel on board when we called the ball (the maximum allowable to land with). Our “Charlie” time was at 2005 hours and we were to be the first one down. We were in the holding pattern well within the time frame. We did the check list and noted we had over 8,000 lbs of fuel which meant that we would have to dump some JP4. We had just started the dump when the Air Boss came up on the radio and told us to start down immediately. I suggested to OK that we hold the dump until we got the gear down. OK says “No, no, I got it.”
We were in and out of the clouds and went through the check list and got the gear down at 1,500 feet. OK called the ball with 5,200 lbs of fuel. It was windy, the ship was pitching a little and the Air Boss gave us a fouled deck wave off. We went around for the second try and we called the ball with 4,400 lbs of fuel. When we hit the deck we boltered. The LSO came up on the radio and told us that we had just missed the three wire and the tail hook bounced over number four. So around we go for another try and get another fouled deck wave off. This was decidedly not good.
Our last attempt was AFU. OK called the ball with 2800 lbs of fuel. We got a little low in the groove and he naturally over corrected and the LSO waved us off. The Air Boss ordered us to “Bingo” to the British RAF base on Malta which was 60 miles away. In the military there is a procedure and a checklist for every thing. I already had the bingo profile out and basically it said to climb to something like 35,000 feet and then do an idle descent. When we started down the Air Boss handed us off to Malta approach. I called them and declared a low fuel state emergency and asked for straight in GCA approach to runway 31. Malta acknowledged us and confirmed they had radar contact. After a small heading correction they told us to switch over to the tower frequency. I replied that no we didn’t want to do that, we were in a low fuel emergency and required the GCA. The approach control then stated that the field was closed, there had been an accident and an aircraft was on fire in the middle of the runway. I asked for a vector to the nearest hard surface runway of at least 5,000 feet. The reply was “Roger that would be Siganello, Sicily 310 degrees at 60 miles.”
Oops! At this point the E-2 Hawkeye relayed a message from the Air Wing Commander that we were to start back toward the ship and when we ran out of fuel we were to eject and they would come and get us. I told OK that no way in hell was that going to happen. He protested that we had to obey the order. “What order? The radio was breaking up and I didn’t hear it.” By then we were over the airport and could see an A-6 being pushed off the runway. I said “Put this thing down right now!” We did and, got the drag chute out as soon as the wheels touched. OK stood on the brakes and we were stopped in about 2,500 feet. The fuel gauges read zero.
I never flew with OK again and then he was transferred to the RAG. Apparently the Skipper didn’t like him either.