"204, see you at 15."
"Roger 204, update state and switch tower."
"6.5"

Switching frequencies, Coyle finally has a moment to think back on today's patrol as he continues flying towards the carrier. Despite being relatively uneventful as usual, there was some action when his flight of two was rerouted for a potential troops in contact situation. Luckily, things seemed to have resolved itself not long after arriving on station, a false alarm it seemed. After remaining in the area a little while longer for further support, they set off to return to the boat.

'One of the flights from the next event will no doubt be tasked to further monitor the situation closely, just in case.' Coyle figured.

Nearing the carrier now, the tower frequency on the primary radio is silent as expected. As a general rule all communication is ceased from here on out - barring any safety issues - leaving the next bit of flying a matter of standard procedure. As routine a flight now as ever, Coyle leads his wingman overhead the ship having arrived 5 minutes early prior to the launching of the next event.

"Flight, BRC 074, 28 knots down the angle. Let's settle in a bit as we wait, go loose cruise." Coyle speaks over the secondary radio to his wingman, a simple reminder of the information passed on to him earlier during check in and a simple instruction to fly in a relaxed state.

A clicking of the radio is all that is needed to convey the affirmative as the wingman eases off from his current position, flying a little further back to be at ease. They watch now as aircraft below them line up on the catapults and start to take off. In the meantime, a few other flights join them in the low overhead pattern as the sky above the carrier starts to fill up.

Just as the last of the aircraft line up on the catapults, Coyle's flight is approaching position 3 above the carrier. This marks the exit point where they’ll be able to be the first flight to depart the stack and land.

"Flight, commencing 284, go parade." Another click on the radio is heard as his wingman closes in and they begin to depart. The two start their descent down to 800 feet and speed up to 350 knots before turning back towards the carrier where they approach the three mile initial point.

"204, tower, requesting a Sierra Hotel break." Coyle breaks the silence over the radio.

"Tower, 204." There is a short pause before they continue. "Approved Sierra Hotel." If smiles could be heard, Coyle was sure the radio would be buzzing by everyone who listened in on his request.

"207, maintain speed." Coyle addresses his wingman but there is no click this time. Looking over his shoulder, he sees his wingman simply giving him a thumbs up.

Nothing more needs to be said, we’ll see each other down on the deck.

With a grin, Coyle hits his afterburners and speeds up to 500 knots and further descends to 400 feet. 400 feet lower than he should be. He'll need to give it his all to make his stunt look as slick a spectacle as he can.

Half a mile aft of the ship, he rolls hard to the left and begins a 5G pull overhead the carrier, soaring past any onlookers as Coyle makes sure to show the belly of his aircraft to the Landing Signal Officers, bleeding off his airspeed as he circles in for his landing.

‘As good a 'Shit Hot' break as they come.’ Coyle muses to himself before his instincts kicks in for the approach.
'Fly the ball.' He reminds himself now, chuckling as he often does thinking on what it means. 'Quite a fitting phrase for any canine, indeed...'

...

A gruelling hour and a half later after touchdown, Coyle sits in the ready room relaxing alongside his squad mates, party cups full of beer as they celebrate another day's job well done when there's a knock on the door.

A wolf, the Senior LSO on duty from their sister squadron walks in holding a paper that contains the landing grades of the day for our squadron and hands it over to a nearby squad mate to pass on before handing Coyle a smaller, slightly more personalized piece. It reads in the their typical shorthand:

(HX) (LULIM) OK 3
-Good stuff, hot rod.

‘Little high at the start, little lined up left in the middle. OK 3 wire. A successful landing, despite minor imperfections. The crowd was clearly pleased.’

The wolf reaches out his paw to Coyle for a hearty shake. "You put on quite a show up there, Coyle. That break had everyone watching." His praise was accompanied by a hint of admiration.

"Thank you, sir." Coyle nods gratefully, returning a smile. With a pat on the shoulder, the wolf ends their handshake and excuses himself for the night. Coyle returns to his squad mates now, and they raise their cups of beer and chant out their squadron's name before resuming the night's festivities.

---

If you got this far, I'd like to give you a huge thanks for reading my story. I don't expect many to understand some of the military jargon that's going on, but this art piece and the story I wrote myself represents and showcases my 6 years of studying the F/A-18 platform in... quite extensive detail. I've flown my beloved hornet over many thousands of hours now, operating it in various simulation platforms, but most notably in DCS world. I've had the absolute pleasure in helping to lead a small handful of virtual squadrons and share my knowledge, often acting as instructor pilot that would allow most pilots to shine after working with them. I've made quite a few friends along the way that have shared my passion for Naval Aviation.

 Kirena-Kaya was an absolute treasure to work with and there will unfortunately be a lot of detail that won't show in this submission that I've spent several hours now looking at. Please, do go look at their work and consider commissioning them. I can't thank them enough.