Am I Hot...............

[Jack Cook]

or is it the change of life

The sh*t I go through for a photo! Note that everyone else is looking away.

[Fouga23]

You disappoint me Jack! No marshmallows :p

[richkolasa]

Not bad, but you really should have run around to the other side for better lighting. A bit lazy on your part, but forgivable under the circumstances.

Rich

[TimAPNY]

That is not a fun spot to be!

We would bring newbies to that same spot but for EA-6B's, They would rattle you and make your ears hurt like nothing else. The lesson you ask... WEAR DOUBLE HEARING PROTECTION!

Tim

[Bill Greenwood]

I wonder if all guys who have been on the deck of ships like that are hard of hearing. Ear protection only goes so far.
Think how nice a Merlin sounds by comparison.
Merlins were invented by Mr. Rolls and Mr. Royce. On the other hand, jet noise is proof that there really is a devil..

[Jack Cook]

300 hours in the B-25 hurt my hearing way more than the boat ever did!

[mustangdriver]

You can always buy a hearing aid, but you can't replace those experiences.

[Bill Greenwood]

Jack, is that a boat? It sure looks like a ship to my untrained Aif Force eyes. If it is a boat, where are the oars? Is it inflatable?
I know that some A F guys think the Navy has to keep it simple for their guys, like no crosswind landings, but really, ship is not too complex, it is not a multisylable word, or anything.
One more question, when the Admirals dress up and go before Congress to get their share of the gravy, is it a "ship" they are asking funding for? Or is it just a "boat"?

[Jack Cook]

It's a boat except when it's time for appropiations
Careful Bill or your Spit will roll out of the shop has a Seafire

[TimAPNY]

wearing double hearing protection helps out a lot.

BUT:

I still have some loss in high frequencies which I assume is from the Navy, but I passed my exit exam and I was not going to ask to many questions as I just wanted out of Dodge!

I had a friend that did not wear double and he seemed to have lost a lot of his hearing. I can still remember yelling at him in the cockpit during release checks and he could not hear us. Maybe is was playing dumb really well.

Tim

[Bill Greenwood]

Most of the older warbird guys I know are somewhat hard of hearing. I try to take good care of my ears, one reason I don't like to be at an airshow with a lot of really loud jets acts. An F-22 seems like one of the worst.

When I was younger and foolisher, I once stood next to the runway at Fon du Lac to hear a lot of Mutangs take off one after the other. Not anymore without some ear plugs etc.

There was a recent article about pilots and exposure to UV light and what that does to your eyes. A canopy like that Spitfire offers almost no protection, and most sunglasses don't cover the whole range of problems either.

[ww2John]

Growing up I heard on more than one occasion:
"You can always tell a B25 Pilot - hearing aids in BOTH ears!"

[RareBear]

For loudness its tough to beat a Harrier on a steep approach to a hover. That's the most efficient machine man has ever invented to convert JP-5 to noise. The B-1B runs it a close second.

Walt

[Hal B]

Merlins were invented by Mr. Rolls and Mr. Royce. On the other hand, jet noise is proof that there really is a devil..

On the other hand, nothing like having the 3350 in a Skyraider backfire while you're a foot away from the stacks while unplugging the ground-power

[sdennison]

wearing double hearing protection helps out a lot.

BUT:

I still have some loss in high frequencies which I assume is from the Navy, but I passed my exit exam and I was not going to ask to many questions as I just wanted out of Dodge!

I had a friend that did not wear double and he seemed to have lost a lot of his hearing. I can still remember yelling at him in the cockpit during release checks and he could not hear us. Maybe is was playing dumb really well.

Tim

Funny, I have years of open exhaust racing engines that have done the same. Tinnitis is nuts! YOu kind of get used to it but it never goes away. I'm not sure that they had invented hearing protection when I was involved...