T - Tiger Cruise

My Theme / Timeline

This is one thing I am so grateful I got to do for my parents - I gave them a chance to go one a week long cruise on a aircraft carrier!

We were heading back stateside from the Gulf.  We had offloaded the Air Wing (the crewmembers that work with the different types of planes) so had plenty of berthing space available.  We stopped in Pearl Harbor to pick up the "Tigers".

I was standing with a coworker who also had family on board under the A-6, I believe directly over the E.  The Navy seems to enjoy having crew members (or Tigers in this case) spell out words on the flight deck.  I did this several times while on the Lincoln.

I never knew how much I looked like Mom til I saw this pic!  In the hanger bay - the area under the flight deck for storing planes.  Hence the need for aircraft elevators!

I can only imagine what she was doing/saying to make that guy laugh so hard!   This was in the bridge and she's "driving" the boat.

 Mom & Dad both really liked the E-2C Hawkeyes.  This is an airborne early warning plane.  That's a big radar disc over the fuselage.

For the trip back to Alameda, the days were chock full of tours of the ship, activities and even an air show!  They practiced this before we got to Pearl Harbor, so when they announced that an F-14 was coming in from the left and an F/A 18 was coming in from the right, I was able to tell my parents to plug their ears.  Instead of coming from each side like you would have expected, the 2 planes came from behind - breaking the sound barrier as they went over!

F-14s were my favorite.  They're awesome looking planes.  If you need to know what one looks like up close - just watch Top Gun.   

Dangling peoples!

 2 E-2s 

 demonstrating in-air refueling

F/A-18s

 And the whole shebang! 

So they got to experience how we lived and ate and slept for a short time.  It was neat that since Mom & Dad were there, I got out of working so I could spend time with them.  I also got to see places of the ship that normally I'd never have any reason to see.  The bridge where they drive from and control flight operations.  The machinery spaces for the arresting gear to stop the planes on the flight deck.  Where the officers live, etc.

They really enjoyed this trip and they talked about it for years afterward.

#AtoZChallenge