We had an underway vertical replenishment today, in which a helicopter flies pallets of stuff from a supply ship (the USNS Niagara Falls) onto our flight deck.

What made this one noteworthy was that the helicopter wasn't military; it was a civilian variant Sea King operated by an American charter airline company.

They landed to take on fuel from us, which was a complicated evolution. They didn't have a crew chief, so the pilot hopped out to supervise. He had to rig an adapter hose because the military spec fuel hose nozzel wouldn't fit his civilian size fuel intake. And we watching troops were mightily amused by the copilot's truly impressive, flowing, pure white beard and moustache.

Posted by: Boviate at 04:31 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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