My Avatar Pic....
 

Ok, my computer crashed recently and I had to wipe out my hard drive....la la la la...you all know that story. Some time ago, I came across a thread that explained the story behind the picture I used for my avatar. The thread had a full screen pic which I saved and set as my background and avatar. Unfortunately, I can't find it. I need the full screen resolution so I can set it as my background again. Can anyone please tell me where to find it? Thanks again all.....regards....

Richie

RE: My Avatar Pic....
 

I found this using google image search...

http://homepages.iol.ie/~jordane/avi...4%20fly-by.jpg

RE: My Avatar Pic....
 

Say

That's quite a low knife edge pass:D

John

RE: My Avatar Pic....
 

http://www.aerofiles.com/f14flyby.html

RE: My Avatar Pic....
 

Thanks Gordon....I had also found that one but the resolution is only 360x382 and it looks terrible when blown up to fit my screen as a background theme.

Nony, good find. This resolution is 640x433, looks much better than the other one, but i'm still hoping to find yet even a better one. Any suggestions?

The thread I saw sometime last year also had a story behind that particular manuever, I believe it wasn't authorized and the pilot caught some heat about it or something to that affect. Any bells ringing yet? :eek:[:-]:eek:

RE: My Avatar Pic....
 

Gordon!!! I tried that Google Image Search....AWESOME RESULTS!!!! Thanks for the tip....

Richie

RE: My Avatar Pic....
 

There have been several such stories going around ... lots of people adding text on top of the pic with bigus claims about the pilot being grounded, and even getting the carrier name wrong - claiming that it was the USS Stennis instead of the USS America. If you do a search for "USS Stennis F14 flyby" (and try variants with F14 vs F-14 etc) then you will probably find some of those pics - but you may have to put up with them having the bogus text added to them.

Gordon

RE: My Avatar Pic....
 

I'm happy to take the credit ... but it was actually nony who mentoned Google's image search ;)

RE: My Avatar Pic....
 

The explanation that I saw of the fly-by was supposedly written by the pilot Captain Dale Snodgrass. He explains that the maneuver started as a simple fly-by for a demo and that he rolled to the 85 degree position to pull hard and cross the carrier's bow. The plane appears close to the ship due to the foreshortning created by the telephoto lens used, but in actuality he was at an adequate distance for safety.

Here is a quote I found in a search:

"It's not risky at all with practice. It was my opening pass to a Tomcat tactical demonstration at sea. I started from the starboard rear quarter of the ship, at or slightly below flight deck level. Airspeed was at about 250 knots with the wings swept forward. I selected afterburner at about 1/2 mile behind and the aircraft accelerated to about 325-330 knots.

As I approached the ship, I rolled into an 85 degree angle of bank and did a 2-3 g turn, finishing about 10- 20 degrees off of the ship's axis. It was a very dramatic and, in my opinion, a very cool way to start a carrier demo.

The photo was taken by an Aviation Boson's Mate who worked the flight deck on the USS America. Just as an aside...the individual with his arms behind his back is Admiral Jay Johnson, the immediate past Chief of Naval Operations for the Navy."

As an aside I believe that Snodgrass is Patty Wagstaff's husband/boyfriend/significant other.

Antony

RE: My Avatar Pic....
 

My bad, you're right Gordon....Thanks Nony!!!

Antony, yes, I read the same article on that pic, and it only makes sense too. If this was something this pilot decided to do "spur of the moment", how would everyone know to bring out the cameras? According to the article, the guy with his hands behind his back observing is Admiral Jay Johnson (which you already pointed out). Well, whatever the actual story is, it's still a great shot!!!

RE: My Avatar Pic....
 

...thanks Gordon!