Friday, July 23, 2010

My Jet Pilot and his EA-18G Flight

So for the new followers on this blog you may not know this about me- I am married to a Jet Pilot.  A real "Student" Naval Strike Fighter (he has been in Navy flight school for over 2 years now), yes I know exhilarating.   

And I am so proud.  EVERYDAY.  

He works hard.  
Too hard sometimes.  
But its his dream and I fully support him and I love this military life.  And sometimes since my Jet Pilot is such a hard worker he gets to reap the benefits of all his efforts.  Case in point:  My Jet Pilot got to take a EA-18G Growler Plane.  Now to most people (myself included to an extent, I mean I did 4 years in the Navy but that seems like eons ago..lol) we have no idea what a Growler plane is.  

Here is a little insight from the Naval-technology.com site:


The EA-18G Growler is an airborne electronic attack (AEA) aircraft which operates from either an aircraft carrier or from land-bases. The Growler has been developed as a replacement for the United States Navy EA-6B Prowler aircraft which entered service in 1971 and is approaching the end of operational life.
The Growler is a derivative of the combat-proven two-seat F/A-18 Hornet, the US Navy's maritime strike aircraft. The aircraft missions are mainly electronic attack (EA) and suppression of enemy air defences (SEAD), particularly at the start and on-going early stages of hostilities.
The first operational aircraft was delivered to NAS Whidbey Island in June 2008 and operational evaluation began in October 2008 onboard the USS John C Stennis (CVN 74) aircraft carrier. The SDD programme will conclude with an initial operational capability in late 2009 when the first of ten electronic attack squadrons (VAQ) will begin EA-18G operations."


Sounds fierce and new right??  I think soo too.
I could go on about all the weapons and radar and blah blah military nerd stuff but I will lose you; important takeaways--BRAND SPANKIN NEW MILITARY JET that is A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH.

This is the plane my Jet Pilot got to hitch a ride in.  

BECAUSE HE WANTED TO.
**Wife's heart is all a flutter**

I will not rehash all the details of going Mach speeds = REALLY SUPER DUPER fast, crazy spiral-y turns that if you drew them out they would look like my 3 year was doodling, and other crazy Naval Strike Aviator stuff.
But he came home after that flight with a MILE wide smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye that I don't think I could have put there as his charming wife. ;P

Here are some photo highlights:



Flying over the state of Mississippi
I think this is a hand signal for I am ready to have a blast and go really fast!
My Own Personal Top Gun
Isn't he handsome?? (He is I swear..lol)
He thinks that me posting stuff like this is silly but its important to give attention to all his milestones.  6 years ago this was just a dream we were talking about.  It is fast becoming our reality,  and I am afraid that if I don't write it all down I will forget how excited and happy we are during this time.  I have said it 3479843 times, but Jet Pilot I am proud of you and I am soo stoked that you got to catch a backseat ride on a Growler Jet!!  GGGRRRRAAAAWWWW!!!!



3 comments:

Jenn K said...

Love it!

Rachele said...

Congrats to the whole family. I think it'sgreat that he is wrking t achieve his dreams and you are right there showing support and doing the bragging for him. While the technical plane stuff doesn't really interest me a ride in that thing and all the spiral-y turns would be a blast!

Dawn said...

This is so sweet! I just found you through the product review place, and I am your newest follower! Love your blog! :)