Naval Aviation

Recently someone posted about having heirloom jewelry melted down to use the gold for a set of wings for winging. I was wondering if any jeweler can do this...is there a mold that they can get to use? How do you make certain that the gold used is the gold from your family treasures? How long does it take to do this? How much notice will we get before we are notified of a winging date? Do most aviators get gold wings at the time of their winging? Sorry for all the questions. I like the idea and am prayerful for a winging this spring.

Hello all...I've just arrived home after a wonderful 6 days in California with my daughter and her hubby.  While sitting in the airport waiting for my flight this afternoon, I received a call from DS...he flew 5 times in the last 5 days and solo'd yesterday.  So excited...the winds were "sporty" but not "varsity".  So, he has tomorrow off; then he starts Aerobatics.  Can't wait to hear all the details of that!

Sounds like lots of goings on with your aviators.  I will keep Rory in my prayers this week.  And you too Leslie.  Hope everyone has a great week!

Yes Dawn, he is at Whiting in Primary.  He and his wife live in a cute duplex in Milton.  

Leslie, Thinking of you, hang in there.  Your nerves of steel are an inspiration to the rest of us.  I've been following along on my phone and I can't comment from there.  Someone asked when my son will wing--next Dec. 6 is the date they are talking about...we'll see!   We are going to Kingsville for Easter weekend and his birthday.  Looking forward to seeing him.  He's on a flight tonight...hoping it's going well!

Kabar, It was our family that had the wings made.  Sorry for the delay, I have been in Florida taking care of an elderly relative.

My Mom and Step-Dad (he was a private pilot) always encouraged our DS to fly. They have both passed on and I wanted our DS to have something from them.

I melted down a solid gold bracelet that was my Mother's and a Jeweler made a wax mold from a set of wings that are standard issue when they wing.  I don't think that you will have a problem finding someone who can make them. It is very labor intensive, so the cast was $500 to make.  He inscribed the back with "Always your Co-Co" because he would always ask his grandfather to be his  "co-co" (co-pilot) when he was pretending to fly!

It's my understanding that most wear the standard issue wings day to day and the solid gold ones for special occasions.

It took about two weeks once they started working on the cast.

Any other Moms out there with LO's on the GW (USS George Washington) other than NancyW and I?

If the jeweler still has the mold maybe he can make more.

Anyone else going to winging in Kingsville April 12th?

Judy M:  I am going to the Kingsville winging on April 12!

Congratulations Judy and gonavymom on the upcoming winging, just a few weeks away! Safe travel to Barb on your Easter trip to Kingsville. And Leslie I am thinking of you, not sure how long SERE lasts, hopefully finishing soon!  I am getting ready for the upcoming weekend, I am in our church choir and we have a big service on Saturday evening, the Easter Vigil. Music brings me peace! I wish all of you a happy Easter.

gonavymom, we will have to think of how to meet.

All I need to know I learned from the Easter Bunny!

• Don't put all your eggs in one basket
• Everyone needs a friend who is all ears
• There's no such thing as too much candy
• All work and no play can make you a basket case
• Everyone is entitled to a bad hare day.
• Let happy thoughts multiply like rabbits
• Some body parts should be floppy
• Keep your paws off of other people's jelly beans
• Good things come in small, sugar coated packages
• The grass is always greener in someone else's basket
• The best things in life are still sweet and gooey
  Happy Easter! 

So, I'm exhausted from work, hanging out in front of the tv, surfing the net, when I check facebook.  My DS hardly ever posts anything, but what do I see?  A pic of him...sitting on his T-6 trainer, having just completed his Aerobatic solo flight!  Looking so happy and proud.  Makes me a happy mom!

Thanks chospmom...got a laugh thinking of those tough guys searching for eggs in unison!  Sometimes I think they are a different breed!

JudyM: When will you arrive in Kingsville?  I am arriving next Wednesday and can hardly contain my excitement! I am traveling with my DIL's mom.  We are going to stay at the Holiday Inn Express.  I took wings in to the jeweler today for engraving.  They were very dear.  They said "oh this is a very important job!"  Really looking forward to meeting you and all the other families. 

gonavymom, we are arriving Thursday afternoon and also staying at the Holiday Inn Express. Let's message about meeting. I sent you a friend request.

Judy I see your request.  I got rid of my old profile picture since I was in scrubs and you can't really see what I look like.  This one is from the September wedding of my DS. I definitely won't look like this but I do clean up alright! 

Hi All,

My son has to report to Norfolk in May and wants to rent a house. Anyone know of nice neighborhoods near the base and/or a good realtor?

lou2949....Thank you so much..I am going house hunting for him next week with his GF and we need some leads.

Hello All!  We just got back from Kingsville late last night.  Thank you everyone for your well wishes.  It was so good to see our DS! His schedule was super uncooperative this time around so we didn't really do much but shop at the Walmart for his house and wait for him to get back, but that's okay, it was warm there!  The first night he took us to the Sims and was able to turn one on to show us--wow!  They are really amazing.  Another day we got to go in to the maintenance hangar and look at the T-45s there and then he also took us into the "ready" room and climbed into all his gear for us!   

We went to the beach at Corpus on Saturday, but we had his sweet doggie along so we didn't venture too far.  It was nice to see the ocean though and put our feet in.  Had giant drinks outdoors at Fajitaville's.  (And we all got farmer's tans.)  I made a turkey for Easter dinner.  In Kingsville we ate at the Cherry Blossom Tea Room and it was very cute and then celebrated his birthday dinner (between his brief and his flight) at Butch's, which I think is the nicest restaurant in town.  Both are in the cute little downtown area.

Suzie, Enid was small, but Kingsville is about half that!  He has a nice little house, super run down, and his neighbors on either side are nice but wow, this is a poor community.  I was pretty horrified as we drove into town, but after bopping around a few days I felt better about it. How is Meridian?

Leslie, glad to hear your son is back from SERE and that both of you survived it well.  I have to admit that his comment, "it was awful," kept me awake a few nights even though my son's is still off in the future.  Sometimes the worry gets to me and it can be overwhelming. 

Sorry to go on and on...it was just so good to see him!  I love listening to him talk about flying...our SNAs are so smart! Have a good day everyone.

Great to hear the scoop Barb!  So glad you had some good time with your DS.  Love hearing about the next stages.  We too can't get enough of the flying details.  And the excitement in their voices!

Just got word that DS finished his last flight in the T-45 at Kingsville. YEAH! I am so happy, and relieved.

Wow, there is never a chance to relax, is there?  Thanks for letting me know.  He does have his date.  We'll just keep providing support and prayer.  Thanks!

The challenge of communicating in short posts is that you don't get the whole picture, feel the emotion behind the words and understand each situation.  But the benefit of this site is finding women all across our country that have this one thing in common.  Loved ones in a challenging, dangerous, and often heart-breaking profession.  I pray that each of us is able to apply some grace to each other.  I know that I so appreciate hearing what each of your aviators is going through...it helps me to know what might be ahead for us.  And I hope that my sharing helps those just steps behind.  I hope that my DS gets to fulfill his dreams, but surely don't want him there if he doesn't have the makeup to perform in the highly challenging environment.  I shall be forever proud of him for following those dreams...however they turn out.  

Barb:  Another mom a long time ago posted on here a recommendation to buy your airplane ticket from Southwest Airlines because they will let you reschedule without a fee.  As soon as we had a tentative date, I bought cheap airfare from SW.  If you have to change they only charge you the difference in the fare price.  

All:  My heartfelt gratitude goes out to each of our young people & their families for the sacrifices that they have made & continue to make in order that we can have the most skilled air power in the world.  I want to share something that is a favorite of DS & mine, the "Man in the Arena" speech by Theodore Roosevelt (and this goes for the woman in the arena also!):

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

Yes, being 'washed out' is a common navy phrase for failing a training program. Pedsdoc, There may be personal bias or regional dialect difterences that make that phrase offensive to you...  A very old term for failing flight training was "fallen angel", I'm sure someone else may find that offensive.  Always good to ask for clarity, especially on a discussion site.

Congratulations to Judy and JMwrites! We've had our share of anxious, sleepless nights worrying about our LO.  I imagine these past few weeks wondering if your son was going to wing must have been very hard, I wish you safe travels and a wonderful winging!  

Thanks ulua, there were a few anxious moments . . . and I am sure more to come.

Leslie, well said. Scary, but true.

Great News! DS just got his assignment - he will be going growlers at Whitby Island. That was his first choice and he got it. We are thrilled he will be on the West Coast. Only a few hour flight away.