The White Falcon - 08.12.1978, Blaðsíða 5

December 8, 1978
White Falcon
Page 5
The Patrol Crew-3 plane commander
noted, "The plane commander is in
charge of all safety and control of
the flight." The pilo't makes the
decisions for his flight crew. The
co-pilot of the flight was Lieutenant
Lindsay Smith, and the third pilot
was Lieutenant junior grade Robert
L. Tuttle.
Every two hours the pilot and co-
pilot rotate the pilot's seat. This
is to give each pilot an approxi-
mated flying time during each
flight-. The automatic pilot is used
also does post* and pre-flight in-
to. save fuel. Lt. Byers said, The
automatic pilot causes less strain *
on the pilot." When using the auto-
matic pilot, the pilot can scan the
other instruments more easily,
which makes it easier on the pilot's
eyes. The automatic pilot is also
used in case of bail out emergen-
cies .
The P-3 aircraft begins a flight
with 60,000 pounds of fuel. In
case of inclement weather, 18,000
pounds of fuel is saved. When the
P-3 is about 150 miles from Kefla-
vik, a weather report is called in.
If the weather report is negative,
the pilot will land at one of three
places. The areas are: Kinloss,
Scotland; Boto, Norway and Andoya,
Norway. So far this year, VP-5 has
not had to make one of these land-
ings .
In the cockpit with the pilot
and co-pilot is the flight engineer.
Aviation Machinist's Mate First
Class Will Jalbert is the flight
engineer for Killer Crew-3. The
flight engineer assists the pilot in
case of in-flight emergencies. He
spections. "I keep the plane
flying," ADI Jalbert said. Assist-
ing ADI Jalbert is Aviation Ma-
chinist's Mate Third Class John
Burdan. Like the pilots, both
flight engineers rotate shifts.
As the flight continued, I saw
some of the most beautiful sights
I've ever seen. Gazing through
a port hole, a snow-covered vol-
cano loomed in the mist and multi-
pastel colored skies wrapped our
attention. We also experienced
in-flight "snow skiing." How
does one snow ski in the sky? As
one member of Patrol Crew-3 explain-
ed, "When the aircraft flies over
stratus clouds, (a cloud type ex-
tending in a long, low gray layer
with a uniform base), it gives a
surface-like skiing sensation. It
gives you the realization of exactly
how fast the aircraft is traveling."
Snow skiing was definitely a high-
light on the Blue Nose flight.
Another highlight on the Blue
Nose was "chow time." Someone men-
tioned during the flight that the
P-3 was said to have one of the
finest restaurants available on an
aircraft. Believe it or not, it's
true! There were no tv dinners
served on this flight—we had steak,
a baked potato, corn and a tossed
green salad! The cooking was done
right there in the galley with a
deep frying pan, an oven and other
cooking utensils. The meal was de-
licious and only a $1.60!
The P-3 is a very complicated
aircraft. Being a completely com-
puterized system, the plane requires
a professional crew to operate it.
The aircraft is broken down into
different stations where crew mem-
bers take up a position.
Aviation Antisubmarine Warfare
Operator Airman William Patterson
is the radar operator—probably the
most classified job on the aircraft.
His job involves pin pointing the e;
exact location of submarines. An-
other aviation antisubmarine warfare
operator Airmen is Tom Terres. Tom
works with computer analysis, which
picks up certain-sound frequencies.
AWAN Torres noted, "We are what you
might call the underwater eyes."
AW2 Phil Bunde also works as an
acoustic operator.
J ^
THE THIRD PILOT, Lieutenant
junior grade Robert L. Tuttle,
maintains communications in
the co-pilot seat with other
Patrol Crew-3 members. He
also rotates with the pilot
and co-pilot every two hours
to get approximated flying
time in each flight.
\_________________________________>
Lieutenant junior grade Joe
Sweeny, a navigator communicator, is
responsible for maintaining the navi-
gational accuracy of the computer
system. LTJG Sweeny explained, "I
monitor the VP broadcasts sent out
periodically to aircraft and update
the tactical information. I also
maintain the plot of all sono bouys
dropped."
Responsible for loading the sono
bouys is Aviation Ordanceman Airman
Tim Hughes. Sono bouys are used to
confirm a submarine's location by
picking up the sounds electronically.
Thirty-six sono bouys are carried
inside the P-3; 48 are loaded onto
the underside of the aircraft during
pre-flight. According to AOAN
Hughes, about 30 sono bouys are
fired on a regular flight patrol.
The man who handles electrical
equipment that goes bad during in-
flight operations is Aviation Anti-
submarine Warfare Technician Second
Class Mark Caffey. When not working
on electrical equipment, AX2 Caffey
works as an aft observer, looking
for ships and other aircraft,
continued on page 8