Quote:
Originally Posted by onzedge
Wow. A friend of my Dad's (also a retired Captain) was an A-7 pilot and was on the Kennedy the night she collided with the USS Belknap.
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That wasn't a shinning time for the Kennedy
It was kinda neat that one of the engines in one of the F-14's that shot the Migs down I nearly died testing it. I did the final testing of engines fixed in our shop. We would chain them down on the fantail and run them to full power to ensure everything was ok. Well the engine had a bad fuel heater and I changed it out right there. Jet fuel was everywhere and before the end of the testing a major storm moved in. We ended up with waves over the the flight deck later. Anyway I either slipped in the fuel or tripped over the fuel lines and started skidding towards the opening where the jet exhaust was. Luckily there was a lip about 2 inches high that my heels hit and stopped my slide. If I had gone over I would have been pulled right into the props just below. The guy on the other side of the engine didn't notice anything till I got up.