The White Falcon - 08.12.1978, Side 4

Page 4
White Falcon
December 8, 1978
Patrol Crew-3
Blue Nose-ing
Story by Karen Mayo
Photos by Paula Onstott
1 had always wondered what a
Blue Nose flight was. I had heard
about the flight since I arrived in
Iceland and finally got curious
enough to schedule one. I figured
it was a good way to get off the
Naval Station for a day, and
it would be a worthwhile story to
write.
Living up to ray expectations,
the Blue Nose flight was as exciting
as I had imagined it to be.
Beginning at 6 a.m. Dec. 1, my
co-worker, JOSA Paula Onstott, and
I arrived at Hangar 831 or the
Patrol Squadron .Five hangar. In
our borrowed flight suits, Paula
and I were escorted to the P-3 air-
craft by a member of Patrol
Crew-3 of VP-5.
Entering the aircraft, we were
assigned a seat in the galley, which
resembled a petite restaurant.
While situating ourselves, Paula
and I couldn't help but notice that
the crew members busied themselves
with pre-flight operations and or-
ganization. All of the action took
me back to boot camp when team work
It !
was emphasized as one of the most
important parts of Naval careers.
A pre-flight briefing was given
to the crew and guests by the plane
commander, Lieutenant Earl L.
Byers. During this briefing, Lt.
Byers explained the flight schedule
and duty areas to be manned during
flight time. He also assigned a
crew member to brief Paula and me
on safety gear.
While Paula took photographs, I
was shown how to put on and use a
parachute. Paula got her chance to
learn how to use the parachute,
too. Then, both of us were
instructed on how to use the LBLP
life perserver. All of this occurr-
ed during pre-flight time.
At 8 a.m. the P-3 got into
flight and the Blue Nose adventure
began.
The mission of Patrol Crew-3 that
day was to make a mail drop to
Norwegian sailors in Janmayen , lo-
cated in the northwest part of Ice-
land. The mail drops to Janmayen
are made usually once every five or
six weeks. The mail is bundled
AW2 PHIL BUNDE shows the writer,
Karen Mayo, how to put on the
LBLP life perserver in case of an
emergency.
up in sono bouy containers, then
dropped on the Janmayen runway at
about 200 feet from the plane.
Along with the mail drop mission,
the crew assumes its normal mission
aboard the P-3 aircraft—observing
antisubmarine warfare. The P-3
mission includes surface surveil-
lance and checking the location of
friendly and foreign traffic. A
positive identity of any traffic is
logged once the traffic is observed.
When flying Blue Nose (above the
Arctic Circle), a compromise is
made in accomplishing both missions.
The VP-5 squadron has 12 members
per crew. Each crew carries a mini-
mum of three pilots—some carry four.
The-re are 42 pilots, 23 being Naval
Flight Officers take command of all
nine P-3 aircraft. When on deploy-
ment, a pilot will fly 10 to 12 times
a month.
/----------------------------------\
LIEUTENANT EARL L. BYERS, the
plane commander of the Blue
Nose flight is responsible
for the safety and control of
the flight. Lt. Byers said
mail drops are made once
every five or six weeks to
the Norwegian sailors in
Janmayen.
/