Cool story bro, but I’ll take you at your statement.

So you’ve never been shot at before. Gotcha.

Please tell me more about how a gun 20 feet away from me fired into the air sounds “very different” than a gun fired at me from the same distance.

What happened was an absolute travesty and in all likelihood another case of scumbag cops being unfettered thugs.

How about you take of yours and take a look at this.... There is a problem in this country, but its not race related... its asshole cops, and asshole people...

There is no one in this world who wakes up thinking (minus like a couple actual psychopaths)

I can’t speak for all police departments, but A LOT OF THEM have specific rules and regulations that prohibit firing into a moving vehicle for a whole host of reasons, the most obvious of which are:

First things first. that picture is NOT a 15 year old... maybe when he was 10.

I mean, I wasn’t there so I’m hesitant to presume but let’s go so far as to assume the cop was not a racist and not trying to murder anyone. Let’s say there were indeed gunshots prior to the incident. Let’s pretend it was an honest mistake. Even so...

I so much love the Tomcat love on this site. When I was a kid growing up we would have our bench races over which plane did this or that. I of course was the Tomcat guy (first experienced them on The Final Countdown), but I was the only Tomcat guy as the other guys were all Air Force rules etc. and on the Eagle /…

I would love to interview one of them! Tyler@jalopnik.com

Boss is going to be dealing with everyone on the flight deck; directors trying to run planes into other planes (and people), aircrew trying to troubleshoot and maneuver their aircraft, maintainers running around inadvertently FOD’ing out the deck, shooters launching (or suspending) aircraft off the catapults...there’s…

That’s very romantic of you. The reality is it’s a stressful and dangerous job that must be executed with a high degree of precision. Any mistakes you make could lead to someone working under you to be hurt or killed. Air bosses that spend their time looking out at the ocean don’t last very long in their position.

I still see minesweeper

I used to be a moderator on airliners.net. Have long since left and thought I lost my interest in aviation. Your articles are truly reeling me back in. Looking forward to the next. Thank you!

What a GREAT trip down memory lane, Smokin'! That was definitely back in the bad old days of pure Fighter Aviation! Hell, where does one start? With how scary it can be taxiing around a dark, pitching and wet flight deck before launch? Trying to pre-flight in heavy rain coming down literally sideways due to 40kts…

I'm a civilian who has taken a catapult shot off of a carrier. (In a C-2, not a jet) It was awesome.

Awesome article! The Tomcat has always been my favorite, and to hear the details of a cat shot is incredible!

So they are a backup if your primary lights fail?

You know what I hate? Modern cars with "perimeter lighting" that makes use of the backup lights. Just. No. Reverse lights are synonymous with a vehicle... reversing. I HATE waiting 30 seconds for a car to back out of a parking space, only see someone walk up to or away from it. It's misleading. If you want to add…