{"id":8383,"date":"2026-09-15T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/azadkinsiii.com\/blog\/?p=8383"},"modified":"2026-09-14T14:52:33","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T18:52:33","slug":"223-shakedown-cruise-after-the-shipyards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/azadkinsiii.com\/blog\/223-shakedown-cruise-after-the-shipyards\/","title":{"rendered":"#223\u2014Shakedown Cruise (After the Shipyards)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Trivia Questions (Answers @ end)<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Who said, \u201cThe most memorable people in life will be the friends who loved you when ou weren\u2019t very lovable.\u201d<\/em>?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. In what movie (and who said it), did we hear, \u201cWe\u2019re not worthy! We\u2019re not worthy!\u201d<\/em>?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. In what song (and who sang it), did we hear the following
    I’ve paid my dues, Time after time<\/em>
    I’ve done my sentence, But committed no crime<\/em>
    And bad mistakes, I’ve made a few<\/em>
    I’ve had my share of sand kicked in my face<\/em>
    But I’ve come through<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    \n\n\n
    <\/div>
    Blog #223 (audio)<\/div><\/div>
    <\/div>
    <\/div>
    Published: <\/span>September 14, 2026<\/span><\/div>
    <\/div>Audio by Andy Adkins<\/a><\/div><\/form><\/span>0<\/span> Downloads<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
    <\/div>\n\n\n
    \n\n\n\n

    Driving Down the Coast<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    Kitty Hawk<\/em> completed her major one-year overhaul in March 1977 and departed the Bremerton Shipyards<\/a><\/strong> April 1, 1977, to return to San Diego<\/strong>. For those of us who wanted to drive, the CO gave us four days to get from Bremerton to San Diego, and since I had my new Chevy truck (aka \u201cThe Chet Mobile<\/em>\u201d), I took advantage of that drive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"The
    The “Chet Mobile.” 1977<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    I drove alone with no riders except for the occasional hitchhiker. Hitchhiking was a lot safer back in the mid-seventies than it is now. Once in Oregon, I headed straight for the coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    It was some of the most beautiful scenery I had ever seen, and I took my time. There was very little development and only small seaside towns along most of the way. I had purchased a camper top a couple of months earlier and built storage boxes; I lined the truck bed with thick foam and carpet I had scavenged from the shipyard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I also had some curtains that a girlfriend of mine had sewn. It was quite comfortable to sleep in. I did all my cooking on my Coleman stove and, with my guitar, serenaded some of the other campers in campgrounds along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I took the full four days to drive to San Diego. It did not make much sense to hasten the trip since I did not have anywhere to stay if I arrived early.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I got to the ship about four hours after she docked at the pier. Even though I had a great trip down and the scenery was spectacular, it felt good to be back aboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Back Aboard the Ship<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    The first few days on board were little more than muster, keep yourself busy, and \u201cturn to,\u201d which was the Navy\u2019s way of saying, \u201cClean up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    There were several hundred dependents who rode the ship from Bremerton, and it took a while to get them off the ship\u2014I helped offload the last few groups. They also needed to find housing on the base, so that is why the ship had a short stand-down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Once we were back in San Diego, the V-1 Division<\/strong> Officer, Lt. Lockram<\/strong>, reassigned me to become a Yellow Shirt<\/strong> and I ended up in Fly 3. It was to be one of the best experiences in my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I also carried several other collateral duties, including the Division Yeoman, the Division Training Petty Officer, the Division Career Counselor, and the Division First Aid Petty Officer. I did not mind though, I was a short-timer, and I was a Yellow Shirt\u2014what could be better than that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Every Yellow Shirt used the same basic hand signals on the flight deck to direct aircraft, but they all eventually developed their own style. We learned all this in ABH A School<\/strong> <\/a>in Lakehurst, New Jersey and while I tried to be standard, I know I slipped into the Adkins style of directing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    On the Flight Deck<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    When I first went onto the flight deck, I was in training, but since I had been around for a while, it didn\u2019t take me long to learn the ropes. Smitty (PO3 James Smith<\/strong>) helped me out, especially in the tough spots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    It was much easier to tow or taxi a plane moving forward than backing it up. The tow tractors were also a challenge. While I had backed up a plethora of fishing boats over the years, these were completely different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Backing a fishing boat on a trailer goes the opposite direction of the steering wheel since there is only one point<\/em> of contact, the trailer hitch. Since aircraft tow tractors have two points<\/em> of contact: the trailer hitch on the back of the tow tractor and the nose wheel of the aircraft where the tow bar connects, the plane goes the way the tractor is turned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    It sounds confusing, and it is, but you get used to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I had been in Crash<\/strong><\/a> for a long time, and most of the time when I drove the Crash trucks, I seemed to always<\/em> be in somebody\u2019s way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Yellow Shirts were always telling me to move out of the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Now it was my turn, but since I had been in Crash\u2019s shoes, I asked a little nicer. That is, until the driver either did not pay attention or did not move fast enough. Then I would be all over them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Shakedown & Quals<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    After a major overhaul like the one we had in Bremerton, the ship had to go through all types of training and qualifications, not only to make sure everything worked but also to train the crew and the air wing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This is what keeps the Navy in top operating condition\u2014training, more training, and additional training on top of that training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Our first time out at sea was almost a homecoming. It wasn\u2019t just me; it was the whole crew, at least those of us who worked on the flight deck. I may have sounded like a lifer, but it felt great to get back out to sea and get into the routine of flight operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    We got the Navy\u2019s newest fighter, the F-14 \u201cTomcat<\/strong>.\u201d They were bigger than the F-4 Phantoms<\/strong>, but in my opinion, did not look as \u201cmean.\u201d The Phantom was originally designed in 1958, and after almost twenty years of service, it was replaced by the Tomcat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Instead of a fixed wing that folded for parking, the F-14 had wings that retracted back toward the rear of the plane, almost like a bird tucking its wings. The wings would be fully extended for takeoff, but during flight for speed, they would retract into the swept wing position, providing less wind resistance and letting the F-14 quickly reach supersonic speeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The F-14, also known as a \u201cTurkey<\/strong>,\u201d could reach speeds of 1,500 mph or Mach two-plus at altitude. It could break the sound barrier at sea level. It carried a crew of two: a pilot and a RIO (Radar Intercept Officer), similar to the F-4 Phantom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    We trained with the same squadrons and many of the same pilots\u2014they had learned to fly the new F-14s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    We also got the newer S-3 \u201cViking\u201d<\/strong> anti-submarine warfare aircraft, also called \u201cHoovers<\/strong>\u201d because it sounded like a vacuum cleaner when applying full power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    These guys replaced the older gasoline-powered S-2s<\/strong> and carried a crew of four. Similar to the S-2s, their mission was to drop sonobuoys and help track enemy submarines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    These aircraft had a huge cockpit window, similar to the old AMC Pacer automobile. When the movie Wayne\u2019s World<\/em><\/strong> came out, the scene in Garth\u2019s AMC Pacer of everyone singing Queen\u2019s Bohemian Rhapsody and bobbing their heads in time to the music reminded me of the S-3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"My
    Yellow Shirt Director #36. Vintage 1977.
    I still have it and it still fits!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Yellow Shirting<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    Between the time Kitty Hawk<\/em> arrived back in San Diego and the time I was discharged, we were at sea six times. I was a Yellow Shirt in Fly 3, Flight Deck Director #36<\/strong>. The third time out I asked to be the director that stood on the angle of the flight deck directing aircraft out of the recovery area after they’d trapped. It only took a couple of cycles with Smitty for me to get trained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    You stand in the crotch, between the angle and #2 catapult, just forward of the #2 JBD, just starboard of the foul line. You could be in deep shit if anything happened, so, as Smitty put it, \u201cthink about where you are and where you want to jump.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The job was simple: wait until the aircraft traps safely, run out to meet the plane and make sure the pilot sees you (you\u2019re about twenty feet away), give him the hook up signal, and if the hook raises, begin taxiing him out of the recovery area, turning him to the starboard side, give him the signal to fold wings, and pass him along to another Yellow Shirt in Fly 2. Then thirty seconds later, do it all over again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This was my favorite job on the flight deck. I don\u2019t know why, but I enjoyed this post more than any other. There was, however, one harrowing experience that almost changed my mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    An \u201cOh Shit\u201d Moment<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    We were running flight ops as we always did, and I was in the crotch directing aircraft out of the recovery area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    During this flight op, we were launching at the same time as recovering. We had recovered the first batch of F-14s and A-6s and were bringing aboard the A-7s. At the same time, we were launching F-14s on cat #2, right next to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    It was really loud when you are that close to an F-14 in afterburner, even though I was in no danger of getting blown over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"
    \tFlight deck personnel watch as an F-14 Tomcat hits the afterburner before launching from the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) during Exercise Foal Eagle ’99 on Oct. 31, 1999. Photo credit: Airman Recruit Mara McCleaft.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    After the third A-7 Corsair landed and I directed him out of the recovery area, I was watching the next A-7 approach. He was flying a little awkwardly, so I figured he was a new pilot still working on his quals and not used to landing on a flight deck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Meanwhile, an F-14 was preparing for launch right next to me, and my attention was bouncing back between the F-14 in full afterburner and the A-7 landing. I was stooping down, ready to spring into action when the A-7 landed. As it hit the deck, it grabbed a wire with its hook, and the pilot applied full power as they always did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"
    A-7 Corsair recovery aboard USS Midway (CV-41).
    Official U.S. Navy photo. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    The only problem was that this A-7 pilot not only applied full power but also pulled back on his elevator at the same time. He had the cable in his tail hook, yet he was also about ten feet off the ground fixing to make a big splat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Let me pause here at this particular moment in time and relay to you what was going on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Between a Rock & a Hard Place<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    For one, the A-7 Corsair was in the air about ten feet above the deck with an arresting cable in its tail hook, soon to splatter on the flight deck. I was less than fifty feet away. To my left, about twenty feet away, was an F-14 Tomcat in full afterburner, ready to launch. To my right, about five feet away, was a sixty-foot drop down to Davy Jones\u2019<\/strong> locker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    It was not looking like a good day. I basically had two choices to make: one, become instant toast, or two, find out if Davy Jones really does have a locker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    At that moment, I think every flight deck crash training film I had ever seen flashed through my mind, and none of them were good thoughts. I had heard of an A-7 Corsair earlier on the Constellation<\/em> that had done the exact same thing, but when he slammed down onto the flight deck, the nose gear slammed up and pierced the cockpit, right between the pilot\u2019s legs. The pilot was okay, but the A-7 was not. No fire, thank God, but it took a while to clear the recovery area. That was the thought I had in my mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I jumped up very quickly. The Shooter on cat #2 had seen what was happening and immediately went into abort mode, shutting down the F-14. The A-7 slammed into the deck, but the nose gear held and did not go through the cockpit. The pilot was a little shaken, as was I, but we both managed to get the A-7 out of the recovery area without having to change skivvies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I was fine after that, but it did shake me up a bit. Smitty came over and asked if I needed a break; I took him up on his offer. As my dad would say later on when I relayed this story, \u201cBuilds character, doesn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Infamous \u201cFalcon Codes\u201d<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    During one of our sea times, one of the Yellow Shirts found a listing of what was commonly known as Falcon Codes<\/a><\/strong>. I don\u2019t know who created these, but the idea of the Falcon Codes was to provide a shortcut of \u201cthoughts\u201d that you could not say over radio frequencies. Most of them were vulgar, and since you would get your ass chewed out if you muttered \u201cBeats the shit out of me\u201d or \u201cYou must have shit for brains,\u201d you would instead say Falcon 103 or Falcon 173.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    We had fun with these on the flight deck, and most of the time, you would say it quickly, and no one could tell who was saying it. As I got closer to my discharge date, my favorite was Falcon 116, which meant, \u201cShort! Fuck it!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Until we meet again,
    Andy Adkins<\/p>\n\n\n

    \n
    \"Andy<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

    Andy Adkins is a US Navy veteran<\/strong> (\u201973-77) and the author of several books (www.azadkinsiii.com<\/a>), many of which are free downloads (PDF, eBook format). He is currently retired and lives in Gainesville, Florida with his wife and life-long soulmate, Becky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Answers:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    1. Aidan Chambers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. Wayne\u2019s World<\/strong> (1992), Wayne Campbell (Mike Myers), Garth Algar (Dana Carvey).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    3. We Are the Champions<\/em><\/strong> (1977), Queen; written by Freddie Mercury.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Previous Blogs mentioned in this Post:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n