’s Executive Officer, sat down next to Wilson. Johnson shared the same name as the flame-throwing major league hurler, stood at six-foot-four, and had a bone-crushing handshake he had developed from regular workouts in the foc’sle weight room. He possessed the good looks of a movie star — with his thick, dark hair, brown eyes, square jaw and cleft chin — he was one of the nicest guys in the wing and a solid carrier pilot.
“Flip, ready for another fun-filled night of stupid human tricks?”
“Yes, sir!” Wilson responded, and then added, “How’s Betty doing? Heard about her long bolter.”
“She saw the elephant on that one. She said she had a ball, but she could sense the deck pitch down — it just slid out from under her. She knew she was going to bolter and just held what she had, but the deck seemed to fall further and further away. She saw nothing but water and lit the cans just as she touched down. My understanding is that she was pretty far up there.”
“Yes, sir, my gunner saw it from the de-arming hole. His eyes were big.”
“Yeah,” Johnson chuckled. “I’ll bet he could see Betty’s eyes a mile away when she was abeam on downwind! After she trapped, she came into the ready room in her gear muttering ‘Holy shit! Ho-ly shit!’”
Wilson laughed, having been there before.
Johnson continued. “You know, it always amazes me… Here we are in the middle of friggin’ nowhere, flying in these varsity conditions, which is pretty dangerous when you think about it. Yet, we go to the ready room, watch the PLAT and crack up laughing as our friends risk their lives! No one else on earth has any idea this little drama is happening. And only about 50–60 people aboard are intimately involved in it right now. That means only about one percent of the crew has a clue about how screwed up this is.”
Wilson smiled and nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“And we howl laughing and critique the finest pilots in the world doing their best under tremendous stress with very little margin for error.” The Big Unit shook his head. “And before long, it will be our turn again.”
“I promise I won’t laugh at you, sir,” Wilson said with a straight face.
“Bullshit!” Johnson whispered and smiled. “We heard the Raven ready room howl from a hund’erd frames away when Betty boltered!”
“I swear I wasn’t there, sir!”
A loud roar filled the space and made further conversation difficult. A Hornet in tension was at full power on Catapult 3 above them. Two white cones of fire leapt from the tailpipes and licked at the jet blast deflector, the brilliant light washing out the camera. The sound inside Air Ops became a deep, vibrant, continuous boom. They watched the pilot select external lights—
