Flying the Hornet

It’s not often you get to fly a multimillion-dollar jet fighter through downtown Honolulu. Although things are not always what they seem.

An F/A-18C Hornet taking off in the humid air of Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. © Steve Mansfield-Devine 1989.

“Watch out. You’re letting the nose drop,” says the voice in my ear. And it’s right. The F/A-18C Hornet jet fighter wallows through inverted in what I’d meant as a slow roll; but the speed has bled off and the nose is well down, aimed at the jagged and inhospitable mountains of central Oahu that are looming close as the slippery machine trades height for fear.

I straighten the wings and consider my options — either roll erect and pull up or try to pull through in a kind of demented half-loop. The latter sounds more fun so I go for it. With the speed now back at a sane level the Hornet responds crisply, and I watch with detached interest as the head-up display indicates increasingly vicious g-loads.

Then the horizon snaps down into sight. I level off and, just for the hell of it, slap the throttles into afterburner, putting a comfortable space between me and those mountains. “Not too bad for a guy with only half-an-hour,” says the voice in my ear. “Now how about landing on the Nimitz?”