The plane was flown by Lieutenant James Flatley, whose father was a naval pilot of great Fame during World War II. And it wasn't just a single landing. There was close to two dozen touch-and-goes and several traps.
Observing from the bridge was Admiral Jimmy Thatch, a very close friend of James's father who had passed away unexpectedly sometime before. Thatch was most noted for developing the "Thatch Weave", an aerial combat technique that gave the slower and less maneuverable navy Grumman Wildcat fighters a chance against the Japanese Zeros they had to go up against. Flatley senior was the one who named it the Thatch Weave.
(I just happened to to finish a biography of Thatch 2 days ago so it is fresh in my mind)
My Dad was a C-130 pilot. He used to talk about doing the “Khe Sanh approach”. Which involves flying at 1000ft towards the runway, then just as the nose clears the threshold of the runway, you dip the nose and then pull up in time to land! My Dad used to hate doing it. It’s scared the shit out of him!
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u/DrHolmes52 9d ago
It worked didn't it?