Confessions of a COD Pilot

[mirth]

http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/16535/confessions-of-a-c-2-greyhound-carrier-onboard-delivery-pilot

[trailrunner]

That was a great story.

We also carried personnel in 24 aft facing seats—four abreast facing aft with two tiny windows for one row to look out of. These poor souls would get to experience either a cat shot in a dark tube or a fun ride down to an arrested landing, in the dark. Frequently, you would look at the passengers (pax) shambling out white faced as they unloaded (we called pax, "self loading cargo").

I got to land on and take off from a carrier in a C-2.  The catapult launch while facing backwards was very disorienting.  Immediately after the shot, it felt to me like we were plunging downward into the ocean.  They hadn't told us how to evacuate, so for a brief few seconds, I thought it was just my unlucky day and that I was a goner.  When we didn't hit water, I regained my orientation and realized that we were actually flying.  Whew.   

[mirth]

I got to land on and take off from a carrier in a C-2.  The catapult launch while facing backwards was very disorienting.  Immediately after the shot, it felt to me like we were plunging downward into the ocean.  They hadn't told us how to evacuate, so for a brief few seconds, I thought it was just my unlucky day and that I was a goner.  When we didn't hit water, I regained my orientation and realized that we were actually flying.  Whew.   

yikes!