Click for Mulder Click for Burger Click for Nordhavn Click for YF Listing Service Click for Mag Bay

Ever get buzzed by a Tomcat or Hornet?

Discussion in 'YachtForums Yacht Club' started by Blue Ghost, May 11, 2012.

  1. Blue Ghost

    Blue Ghost Member

    Joined:
    Feb 22, 2012
    Messages:
    299
    Location:
    The Regina systen in the Spinward Marches
    The U.S.S. Ronald Reagan would be CVN-76. I've seen her during fleet week. Her, the Iowa, Washington and her battlegroup, and numerous others.

    Speaking of Beavers orbiting navy ships, during one Fleet Week celebration the Peace Navy enlisted a Cessna into their ranks, and buzzed an Ohio Class SSN. Pretty amazing stuff to see some pilot with the nerve to dive at a sub with her crew in parade on her spine. I always wondered what got into that pilot, and whatever happened to him.

    Loose tangent here; Fleet Week brings every boat owner out onto the water. One particular year there was a powered yacht from Australia doing circles around San Francisco bay during the air show. Lots of girls in bikinis on that thing. I always wondered if they got a kick seeing the Blue Angels thunder by their vessel. :)
  2. chuckb

    chuckb Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 26, 2011
    Messages:
    199
    Location:
    Maine
    Buzzed in a Sunfish

    I grew up summering at the grandparents shorefront place on Vineyard Sound, Falmouth, Cape Cod. In the 60's Otis AFB was still quite active, No Man's Island was an active bombing range, and jets flying low were a common sight. At night I recall hearing one scream overhead, ran to the window just in time to see it drop to the deck and hit the afterburner headed WSW over open water... must have been on an intercept exercise.

    One day I was out in the family Sunfish, about a mile offshore, and a fighter jet made a low pass... scared the bejeezus out of me (didn't see/hear it coming), but what I remember most is the smell of burnt fuel and the unexpected jibe caused by the downdraft / exhaust. Not enough to capsize... but warm enough to know something hot just came by....:eek:! Overall it was actually a fun experience... I doubt in today's climate one would ever encounter that again!
  3. chesapeake46

    chesapeake46 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 26, 2009
    Messages:
    1,776
    Location:
    Chesapeake Bay, Delaware Bay & S.Jersey
    Sorta the same thing when passing the Patuxent River Air Base.
    We were fairly well South of the targets and there was no action as we went by.
    It was during the week, no one on the bay, real hazy in August no wind and flat and hot.
    I was alone on the bridge, listening to my babies run, minding my B.I. bidness.
    All the sudden CRACK. I too nearly soiled my scivvies.

    Never saw him come or go and I don't even know how close he was but it seemed like he was right on top of us !
  4. Bill106

    Bill106 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jan 9, 2010
    Messages:
    390
    Location:
    Beaufort NC
    Offshore here is a practice area and we often get a great show watching dogfights overhead while we're fishing. Sometimes they do practice straffing runs on the charter fleet too which can be somewhat disconcerting if you don't see them coming in for the run especially if they happen to be above mach, the rooster tails in the water behind them are awesome and a giveaway to cover your ears fast!

    We carried a lot of Harrier and F-15 pilots on charters and they tell stories of locking up 8 or 10 targets in their attack computers. One time a bunch was out and we were really drawing attention. Seems their buddies aloft searched till they found us and really hammered us all day. A few of them jumped up on the fish box and gave a "moon shot" for the gun cameras, hope their CO didn't recognize them!

    Most memorabe time was when a B-1 did a dive bomb attack on us out of the sun and pulled out and bored a hole in the sky going vertical right on top of us. I'll never forget the feel of raw power as we felt the heat of the exhaust and continuous thunder tried to shake us apart at the seams. He then proceeded to do the same to several more boats.

    Most forgetable time was when two accidentally collided overhead. We heard the explosion and watched one spiral down and the other limp away trailing smoke. Everyone scrambled towards the crash site and we found the canopy and a deployed chute but sadly when I pulled it up there was no one attached. Searched all day along with the whole fishing fleet and numerous military choppers but unfortunately the pilot was never recovered.
  5. Blue Ghost

    Blue Ghost Member

    Joined:
    Feb 22, 2012
    Messages:
    299
    Location:
    The Regina systen in the Spinward Marches
    A Lancer dove at you?

    That must have been something to see. The Rockwell Lancer is a strategic bomber capable of low level maneuvres. Designed to fly between mountains and then climb to hurl a nuke (or two or three) it's got some power like a standard jet fighter, but is a big beast all the same.

    During the Fleet Week air show in San Francisco I always love seeing the F-15 do its thing. We've had a couple of bombers do fly bys in the past, as well as jetliners do low level passes over various yachts on the bay, but for me it's the F-15 Eagle.

    Maybe this year I'll take a charter out on the bay for the air show.
  6. Bill106

    Bill106 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jan 9, 2010
    Messages:
    390
    Location:
    Beaufort NC
    Yes he did, bottomed out of his dive maybe 100' above the water and poured the coals to her and went straight up directly on top of us, the heat, smell and noise was and unbelieveable display of raw power! Walked through one on display during the air show at Cherry Point and asked the crew if they ever did that and they just smiled. Told them we loved it and to feel free anytime!
  7. Blue Ghost

    Blue Ghost Member

    Joined:
    Feb 22, 2012
    Messages:
    299
    Location:
    The Regina systen in the Spinward Marches
    This year I'd like to see the Blue Angels from the water. Them, a Tomcat, a few other planes... maybe a Viking. But, like I say, there's something about the Eagle. I don't know what it is, but it's pretty impressive.

    A couple times we've had a B-2 flyby, and few other big planes. No one dove at the sea of yachts clogging the bay (not intentionally anyway), and everyone always has a great time. No B-1s though, or not that I recall.

    One of the great treats of Fleet Week is seeing a couple of planes shoot off a carrier, even in dead calm wind, and then seeing someone trap on the deck. The Jeremiah O'Brien, one of the last Liberty Ships, is always out there with a bunch of onlookers. Great stuff. Or, should I say... The Right Stuff ;)
  8. Blue Ghost

    Blue Ghost Member

    Joined:
    Feb 22, 2012
    Messages:
    299
    Location:
    The Regina systen in the Spinward Marches
    "Put the spurs to her, Chuck!" :D
  9. Blue Ghost

    Blue Ghost Member

    Joined:
    Feb 22, 2012
    Messages:
    299
    Location:
    The Regina systen in the Spinward Marches
    Not to get too off topic, but come to think of it, I have seen a Lancer do a flyby. It was at Castle Air Force Base, an old SAC base that had a few B-1s and a wing of B-52s on standby when we constantly had a flight of them in the air during the Cold War.

    Yeah, raw power. This one just rolled over us well past mach 1. The thing was extremely close, and the shock-wave that hit us was awesome. That must have been something to see out on the water. I also saw the Thunderbirds during those years as well. Great stuff.
  10. carelm

    carelm Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 5, 2011
    Messages:
    403
    Location:
    fairfax va
    When I was at Ft Irwin for a training exercise, our convoy got buzzed by an F-111 that was either supersonic or real close to it. I was in an M577 command vehicle and it shook as he went by. Pretty impressive shock wave.
  11. Blue Ghost

    Blue Ghost Member

    Joined:
    Feb 22, 2012
    Messages:
    299
    Location:
    The Regina systen in the Spinward Marches
    Most excellent. Is the M577 amphibious by any chance?
  12. carelm

    carelm Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 5, 2011
    Messages:
    403
    Location:
    fairfax va
    Yes, but I never personally tried it. It does have bilge pumps and some shrouds over the tracks. You steer it the same way you do on land, with the tillers controlling the tracks.
  13. Blue Ghost

    Blue Ghost Member

    Joined:
    Feb 22, 2012
    Messages:
    299
    Location:
    The Regina systen in the Spinward Marches
  14. ychtcptn

    ychtcptn Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 8, 2005
    Messages:
    490
    Location:
    Lighthouse Point, FL
    We had a P-3 circle us a few time last year on our way north, I was wondering why he was circling us, until I found out the girls were on the top deck sunning topless! With one of the stews he didn't even have to get to close to see them :D
  15. Blue Ghost

    Blue Ghost Member

    Joined:
    Feb 22, 2012
    Messages:
    299
    Location:
    The Regina systen in the Spinward Marches
    Very cool :)

    I had a friend who was a P-3 sonar operator, and during their down time at base in Japan they used to flash fry hot dogs on the radar aerial. One hot dog per antenna, nearly close the nose cowl all the way. Turn on the radar for a fraction of a second, and those dogs were done at taxpayer's expense. Why? Because everytime they did that, they had to replace that said same aerial.

    Here's another Yacht view of a Hornet buzzing the boat-crowd.

    Blue Angels Low Level Super Sonic Fly-By - YouTube
  16. CR CRUISER

    CR CRUISER Member

    Joined:
    Dec 18, 2009
    Messages:
    34
    Location:
    Campbell River, BC
    As a young lad in the late 50's, I was intrigued by airplanes and especially military jets. Some friends and I would ride our bikes out to Downsview Airforce Base and sit outside the fence off of the end of the runway.

    Some days there were only a few planes to be seen, mostly prop driven. And then one day we could hear and see a white jet fighter taxi to the far end of the runway. With a roar that shook the earth it started its take-off. It passed directly overhead at about 50 feet with the noise and air pressure just about flattening us to the ground. I didn't realize until many years later that we had witnessed one of the last flights of the Avro Arrow.
  17. Blue Ghost

    Blue Ghost Member

    Joined:
    Feb 22, 2012
    Messages:
    299
    Location:
    The Regina systen in the Spinward Marches
    Wasn't that the Vulcan bomber from "Thunderball"?
  18. carelm

    carelm Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 5, 2011
    Messages:
    403
    Location:
    fairfax va
    They were two different planes as I recall. The Avro Arrow was a design exercise for the CAF that never made it to production. It was supposed to be a Mach 2 capable aircraft. The Vulcan was a subsonic bomber. Both aircraft were delta-winged though.
  19. Blue Ghost

    Blue Ghost Member

    Joined:
    Feb 22, 2012
    Messages:
    299
    Location:
    The Regina systen in the Spinward Marches
    Ah, that's why I got so confused. They sure do look alike.
  20. Seafarer

    Seafarer Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 3, 2007
    Messages:
    721
    Location:
    Hudson River
    We were buzzed by a number of F-14s but only because we were out when they were testing DFCS in the F-14D SuperTom back in the 1980s - so they were just following orders. My uncle was the DFCS engineer and had the final sign-off before any F-14 flew its maiden or refit test flight. Got up close to a lot of Navy experiments over the years.

    Looking the other direction, we also had the Nautilus broach off our bow. I was a young pup, and I believe it was just before she started her last tour prior to decommissioning... so it had to be late 1970s. Swamped our bow and I recall everyone aboard thinking we were sunk in the Long Island Sound for sure.