A Great Night

I was planning on posting this yesterday, but I ended up being extremely busy. Anyway, Friday night, I must say was a great night. We went out to the USS Rushmore to do some boat landings. This time thankfully didn't turn out like last time and we were actually able to do the landings. When we got to the boat, everybody jumped out and all the pilots went to the wardroom (basically the place on the boat where all the officers hang out). I had forgotten how different aviation is from the rest of the Navy. We have enlisted and officers just like everyone else, but because our mission is so specialized, we require the input of every single member of the crew so the line between Os and Es gets a little fuzzy at times. Not so on a boat. Their line is clearly drawn.

The best part about the wardroom was that they fed us. We actually got to eat off of real plates with real silverware. The food was even freshly prepared. After eating in the chow halls here for the past month-and-a-half, I had forgotten that corn-on-the-cob actually had flavor! I was in heaven, but it wasn't over yet. After dinner, the cook (a 3rd class petty officer who had never had any culinary training but could make magnificent food) came out with a plate full of fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies! They were still hot and gooey! I could have died a happy man at that moment (well, maybe not, but it was still good). Then, just when I was sure that it couldn't get any better, he came out with a plate of chocolate-dipped strawberries! I was certain that I was going to wake up at any moment chewing on my pillow. Of course, it wasn't until later that I realized that all our enlisted aircrew got to eat were sandwiches that they made themselves. I was a little perturbed at that, but like I said, it's different on the boat.

After my incredible dinner I went back up to the flight-line to await my turn to fly. The ship was darkened to help the pilots out and the stars were incredible! I was able to set my helmet bag on the ground and lie down just staring at the stars for a good hour. For those of you who don't know, I do like astronomy. I even took an astronomy class in college -- OK, I admit that that was only because it was the easiest way to fulfill my physics requirment, but I still liked the class. I hadn't see stars like that in years. I even saw several shooting stars.

So the day after my "great night" (yesterday) I got a knock on my door telling me that there was a helicopter ready for a maintanance test flight. I thought that was nice of them to tell me until I realized that the reason they were telling me was because they wanted me to be the copilot. So for the next 7 or so hours I sat in my own sweat and drank about 5 liters of water while we tested the new blade that they had installed. Thankfully, that only lasted until sundown and I was able to have time to wash the salt out of both my flight suits before I went to bed last night.

Today I am on the alert again. Last night they got called out at about 11PM. We'll see if we go out today. I will keep you posted.