Interview with Vincent Aiello on the USN F/A-18 Hornet

Vincent "Jell-O” Aiello chats about his time flying the F/A-18A-F Hornet and Super Hornet the F-16A/B Fighting Falcon, TOPGUN, his various deployments and his new podcast "The Fighter Pilot Podcast.”
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[@FighterPilotPodcast]

Thanks for a great time, Mike. I hope everyone enjoys sitting in on our chat. Let's do it again some time!

[@Aircrewinterview]

It was my pleasure, I thoroughly enjoyed it! I’m sure we can arrange that.

[@bensmith7536]

Excellent first hand info, many thanks for your time, both of you !

[@Aircrewinterview]

Ben SMITH you’re very welcome.

[@distortedreality4603]

Fighter Pilot Podcast Thoroughly enjoyed it ! Would love to hear a part 2 👍

[@Aircrewinterview]

I'm sure we will get Vincent back on the show again :)

[@user-kn6sz8ji1j]

As a submarine veteran I find Vincent's discussion of the Naval aviation fascinating. My father & brother were both attached to air wings...my father on a PBM Mariner flight crew during WWII while my brother was an AT with a squadron of Super Constellation Willie VIctors at Danang, Vietnam.

[@MrIh8hondas]

A fighter pilot who's into motorcycles and muscle cars? This is a man after my own heart.

[@Thetequilashooter1]

I admire people like Vincent who are modest and has humble. You always hear that fighter pilots have huge egos, but I haven’t seen it in these interviews.

[@marcoeland3405]

a healthy ego doesn‘t need to be presented all the time :D there are unhealthy egos in certain movies though

[@martentrudeau6948]

Great interview with Vincent, he seems very professional, being a navy fighter pilot has to be a risky business, and I have to respect that, thank you sir.

[@Aircrewinterview]

He is an all round nice guy with a great Navy career.

[@colinsweetman6745]

Great interview. And I'm now a subscriber of the Fighter Pilot Podcast. :-)

[@Aircrewinterview]

Brilliant! His podcasts are awesome I must say.

[@TS-ew5sm]

This guy was in my squadron back in the day, VFA-86. He was a good dude. We deployed on the Kennedy.

[@Aircrewinterview]

He is a very down to earth chap.

[@TS-ew5sm]

Aircrew Interview ...he’s pretty humble

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

...hey, don't forget I'm listening here, folks. I made it this far, don't let me get a big head now! But thanks for the compliments.

[@Jacobruxo]

Love this guy! He has a great passion about military aviation! I'm watching all podcast episodes, my favorite is episode #17 with the guy that downed a mig-21 in Iraq. Kudos and have great success mr Aiello!

[@spacebear49]

What a great story teller and a humble guy!

[@carolenewman5180]

Thank you for a vivid discourse on your experience during the early 2000s. . Bravo, sir Enjoyed this interview.

[@mkii1964]

Love Jell-O’s podcast!

[@gacuddy]

Ran the 1992 Los Angeles Marathon with Aiello. Solid guy then, hero now. Well done.

[@RealRavi]

an incredible convo. Thanks to both of you.

[@chrisjones2149]

These shows a just brilliant, thanks to both of you.

[@zombieman9509]

What an amazing interview, very insightful and Vincent seems like a brother from another mother :)

[@robertdownie6574]

Vincent is a great interview! Great fun to listen to you, so quick and articulate! His podcast is a must listen.

[@mtnmist1]

Great hearing the experiences & the insight. Many thanks to Vincent and those like him for their service and dedication.

[@Aircrewinterview]

Hear, hear.

[@darkedge8735]

What a FANTASTIC interview! just loved it!

[@monstrok]

OUTSTANDING interview. I really enjoyed this and subscribed to both the Aircraft Interview here on the KZbin and "The Fighter Pilot Podcast" immediately. Well done.

[@Aircrewinterview]

Thanks very much!

[@ozgurkaratas6450]

Thank you for this immensely captivating and pleasant interview. Experienced and witty yet humble and still enthusiastic. It's hard not to admire that.

[@Aircrewinterview]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@ghostholand]

this is awesome! love it! huge respect to Vincent! he seem so calm and a good man! would love to meet him!

[@luichek1858]

what a delicious interview and what a nice person mister Vincent Aiello is... Congrats!

[@rodneysayshi]

This was awesome. I’m based in MCAS Iwakuni with CVW-5, shout out to VFA-115!

[@Its_YourImagination]

Amazing he goes from Blue Collar to Top Gun Instructor......awesome!

[@Semipr0]

Great show thanks for the info and Jell-o's very interesting Naval career...!

[@ozgurkaratas6450]

Most sincere and amiable fighter pilot I've ever seen.

[@tailhookmd2546]

So funny how humble he is yet he’s a former FWS instructor. Bravo Zulu!

[@B1900pilot]

I just listened and heard you were in Atsugi...I was there 98-00’ with HS-14 and I really enjoyed that tour.

[@bigsaxoholic99]

Jell-o was on the Nimitz with David Fravor. He was there during the " Tic Tac" incident.

[@Planehazza]

I may have walked past you at one time, Vincent. I was visiting San Diego around 2011 and a friend showed me around the Naval base on Coronado Island. It was a privilege getting to see all the 18s up close.

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

Indeed you may have! (Although in 2011 I was actually based on Pt Loma across the bay--but you never know...)

[@Michael-4]

Great interview. Just starting learning DCS Hornet. Well it's the nearest I'll come.

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

That's why I began The Fighter Pilot Podcast, Michael--because I knew there were a lot of people out there with that sentiment. I consider myself extremely fortunate.

[@mastathrash5609]

Someday ill have a comp that'll run DCS smoothly

[@danieldunlap4077]

I was aboard the USS Kitty Hawk as an aircraft mechanic with vfa-195 during operation Iraqi freedom. He got there right after we left. Our Pilots never told us cool shit like this.

[@simonrichardson5077]

Thanks mike,i love your videos,top notch lad

[@Aircrewinterview]

Cheers Simon. Much appreciated

[@vincenzogattola1244]

I am from Rome, Italy and actually one of the boys in my classroom was a Vincenzo Ajello (by the way Vincenzo, the Italan version of Vincent, is my name too), but besides that a very interesting interview with a brilliant, happy, but humble professional. Thank you!!

[@bluescanfly1981]

Vincent is an amazing dude

[@richardfisher2961]

This is my favourite interview so far! This was a really enjoyable listen. Thank you Vincent, really interesting hear about TOPGUN and your career as a whole... Also, Thank you Mike for making this happen.

[@Aircrewinterview]

Cheers Richard. Happy to hear you enjoyed it.

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

Concur with Mike, thanks Richard! If you haven't already found the podcast at fighterpilotpodcast.com/ come on over and check us out!

[@richardfisher2961]

Cheers Vincent! Really enjoying your content. Some great information and and fantastic insight, especially to aspiring aviators like myself...

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

Excellent. Best wishes--I hope you make it!

[@IrishManJT]

Another great interview.

[@Aircrewinterview]

Cheers :)

[@bjjace1]

great interview

[@TheDekker99]

Great interview Mike!

[@Aircrewinterview]

Thanks Juha.

[@mmmriggs]

Thank you Mike & Vincent, a genuinely lovely man :)

[@Aircrewinterview]

Cheers :)

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

Che is right, Mike: you certainly are!

[@harmendejong4754]

And in regards to Che's genuine, that would be indeed the only possible reply.. + Thx, for that mesmerizing hour...

[@_Winterz]

Thank you!

[@Aircrewinterview]

You’re welcome.

[@terifarley4770]

VFA-86, my favorite squadron in the Navy! Sweet sidewinder graphic on both the F/A-18C, as well as the previous A-7E!

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

That was my very first squadron out of training. You never forget your first!

[@LRRPFco52]

What's your favorite squadron art, and what did you notice about the different squadron cultures relative to the colors, insignia, etc.? I remember studying all the different squadrons when I was a kid, especially for the Tomcat, A-6, and A-7 squadrons, from really strange and dark units to more sociable themes (examples: Devil's Disciples and Clansmen, vs Jolly Rogers and Flying Aces). The squadron cultures really interest me more than anything else that we can talk about.

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

My favorite squadron art was whichever one I was in at the time! But now that I'm out, honestly, I don't have a favorite--they were all great. Squadron cultures come and go, depending who is in the front office.

[@LRRPFco52]

A buddy of mine who was a career F-16C/D pilot did exchange on a carrier with a Hornet squadron. He said the Tomcat guys wouldn't even talk to the Hornet drivers, were very elitist, condescending, and there was a lot of that type of animosity between them, similar to F-15C mafia vs Vipers in the USAF. His first pick was F-15, but he says he's glad he got the F-16 instead.

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

In my experience, most guys were friendly and happy, go-lucky no matter what they flew. But there were always a few exceptions.

[@harmendejong4754]

Thx Mike ... binge-watching. From a Mig 27 than by means of the Vulcan hopping on the Concord to go straight to the Hornet.. next up: Justin's JSF ... Cheers to you, mate... ;^)

[@Aircrewinterview]

Brilliant!

[@RedArrow73]

I'm so old I remember VA-86 as a Corsair Squadron. AT CECIL.

[@thedarkknight803able]

I truly Enjoyed this video!😎👍🏾

[@Aircrewinterview]

Thank you.

[@pontiacGXPfan]

Jello! I'm already subscribed to him podcast!

[@billvoorvaart7206]

awesome job jello

[@SDsc0rch]

i thought you looked familiar! i was on GW in late-90s with CVW-1 too : )

[@daffidavit]

I guess I was born just at the wrong/right age. I love the Navy. My dad was in WWII as a young kid entering at the end of the war. So I was a boomer in the early 50's. I soled at 16, so my mom had to drive me to the airport so I could fly a C-150 before I could drive a car. During college just as the Viet Nam war was ending, I applied to the Navy and the Air Force to become a pilot. I remember taking my flight physical at McGuire AFB and listening to the pilots returning home from Viet Nam complaining that they weren't getting any "flight time". I wondered then what all these young pilots were going to do with their "unused" time. I missed out in a military career in aviation, but I went on with a commercial license and instrument and flight instructor ratings. I used those ratings to work my way through college and law school. But the best thing I ever did was keep my CFI so I could teach people in later years "for free". Yeah, they paid for the gas in their own airplanes, but I got the joy of flying and helping others learn to slip the surly bonds. I have never regretted learning to fly airplanes. I don't know what my life would have been like without airplanes.

[@Nghilifa]

Inspiring story! Fly safe!

[@daffidavit]

@@Nghilifa Thanks, may your skies be always blue, unless you need instrument practice.

[@davidsandell7833]

Fantastic Interview. 3rd fleet Hq was in Pearl Harbor when I was stationed there. When did they move it?

[@Deano084]

Seems a good bloke! Great interview!

[@thefrecklepuny]

Once more a very informative interview. Seems a nice chap too and the total opposite to how many fighter pilots are represented in movies such as 'Top Gun' and 'Independence Day'.

[@Aircrewinterview]

Thanks again:)

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

That is a major reason why I decided to stick my neck out and begin my podcast--gotta set the record straight!

[@albeerivereagleam-ind1562]

I remember this pilot i was in VFA-25 when he was in VFA-97 AND VFA-94

[@Relax2437]

Great guy!

[@archer8492]

Vincent's podcast is great, I've been blasting through all the episodes and each one is incredibly informative and entertaining, so much so that I'm also seeking out any content of his I can find on other channels. Anyone who hasn't already, go and check out The Fighter Pilot Podcast, Jell-O is great, really entertaining and knowledgeable, and his guests are excellent too.

[@RogueBrit]

Great interview, ironic that both planes were designed for the same contract

[@StarStream707]

listining to Vincent I was surprised at his comment re: that the F-18 and F-14 were not "all that different".

[@TakeDeadAim]

C'mon up to Oshkosh some time. IIRC there are only two P-38's still airworthy, one of them "Glacier Girl" flies here every couple of years.

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

Sign me up!

[@acballen2613]

Awesome!

[@airprok8328]

The block 111 will be a beast

[@VitorMoura]

Nice video!

[@Aircrewinterview]

Thanks.

[@buldingm]

nice interview ;)

[@Aircrewinterview]

Cheers David.

[@AvengerII]

It should be mentioned that the USN DOESN'T have a dedicated training carrier anymore. Not since 1991 when the Lexington (CVT-16 or AVT-16 as the training carrier; in frontline deployment CV-16) was retired. The USN was originally going to replace the Lexington with the Forrestal (CV-59) as the training carrier but I think they just decided it was too expensive and not worth it to keep a training ship in service. Forrestal itself was coming up on 40 years of active service and if I'm not mistaken from memory was a "finicky ship" with quirky boilers/powerplants that were harder to keep up than the later ships of its class (not that the Forrestal ships were perfect, period -- they had some flight deck layout issues). The problem with the Lexington was that it was a very limited ship. It was built to World War II specs and becoming increasingly limited with the type of planes they could operate from it and it was getting harder to keep that ship running with the age it was and limited spare parts support. I think may have even had a partial wooden deck still on the Lexington! Lexington was retired and became a musem ship. Forrestal itself rusted for another 20-22 years after it was retired in the early 1990s and was eventually scrapped. Today, they rotate in whatever carrier is available and the student pilots fly out to meet that ship. Lexington itself operated mainly in the Gulf of Mexico as the training carrier. Its homeport/base was rotated between Pensacola, New Orleans, and Corpus Christi. Now, I think they fly out to meet the carriers off the coast of California for initial training.

[@Nghilifa]

The Lexington was actually an Essex class straight-decked carrier when it first was commissioned in WW2, after that, sometime in the 50s it got an upgrade with the angled deck and the (closed) hurricane bow and steam catapults, I believe the modification was called SCB-125.

[@AvengerII]

@@Nghilifa The enclosed hurricane bow was a good thing. Some of these ships -- the Midway Class especiallly -- had a tendency to plow their bow underwater in heavy seas! I've seen video of this happening. It was provided by a gentleman who used to work for Hughes aircraft electronics/radar. He was involved with both the F-14 and F-18 programs in the development and upgrades of the AWG-9/APG-71 and APG-65/-73 radar systems. The video I saw was of the CV-43 Coral Seas in heavy seas off California's coast. That carrier had awful handling in heavy seas! The USS Midway/CV-41 was even worse from what I've read. The modification programs the Navy carried out for the formerly straight deck carriers elevated the gross weight 10,000-20,000 lbs above the original design specifications -- that was for both the Essex and Midway Class carriers. That stressed the hulls and in the case of the USS Midway they were very concerned about the hull breaking at points since the ship was very stressed. It was probably in service at least 15-20 years past what they felt was safe for it. I think the Midway was retired more for concerns about hull fracturing than it was the viability of operating the powerplant past 40 years. If you discount the years it was in refit and repair, the US Navy got around 38-40 years of practical service from it. The modification programs took around 6 years total to implement and then enlarge the revamped flight deck. Those programs were among the most expensive restructuring programs of existing ships the Navy ever implemented and the second angled deck modification was never carried out on the Midway's sister ships. These carriers (built during the World War II era and into the 1960s) were not originally designed for use beyond 20-25 years. The Nimitz class has been the most successful carrier design devised to date but it built on what they learned from the previous carrier types. They still made some mistakes or learned to live with certain design flaws in the Nimitz class but whatever shortcomings they have are not as bad as what the earlier ships dealt with is my understanding.

[@sherwinsalvatori6997]

I wish all step parents could gave there step children sounded advice like yours did.

[@davidsandell7833]

Great video as usual. What is the normal Altitude for dropping bombs? Is it strictly based on type of bomb and the weather or is there more than that?

[@markburgess4544]

Love these interviews Mike, especially this one. Vincent, you'd be great company on a long flight and I'm downloading your podcasts as I write, so you'll be company on my communte. Now, if you can persuade Buzz Aldrin to drop in, he could probably fill several episodes all by himself just on his pre-NASA experiences! Regards, Mark

[@Aircrewinterview]

Thanks mark, I’m glad you enjoyed it. I am guessing you’re referring to Vincent to get Buzz on, as he would he certainly had more chance than me!

[@markburgess4544]

Both of you actually, why not drop him a line:-)

[@Aircrewinterview]

Mark Burgess you never know I suppose, it’s worth a shot at least!

[@thetreblerebel]

I listen to the Fighter Pilot Podcast! "JELLO"

[@Gomendio]

OMG. Is that the Vincent who appeared on the Carrier PBS series? If I recall correctly, the pitching deck chapter, in which he is holding a chart explaining the pitching deck movement and how difficult is to fly the ball on those circumstances. Glad to see him on your channel.

[@Aircrewinterview]

It is indeed. Hope your enjoyed the interview.

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

That totally sucked! Even though they showed that clip while talking about day landings, in fact I had just landed at night in that crap! I walk into the ready room just glad to be alive and, bam, a camera in my face. Swell.

[@clicks2flickswiththewiz563]

Watched the series. Which episode/carrier was that on?

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

The pitching deck episode... 6 or 7 maybe? Not completely sure. We were on the USS Nimitz (CVN-68) on that deployment.

[@clicks2flickswiththewiz563]

Ah, the Smithsonian Channel is only showing episodes 1-4 at present.

[@DJones476]

Hey, Jell-O, I know it's been a long time, but if you can remember, what was the TACAN/ILS channel/frequency for MCAS El Toro?

[@utopiasnow]

Awesome

[@B1900pilot]

FLY NAVY! The best always have:-)

[@DD-sw1dd]

Need to trying get Lt Col Dan “2 Dogs” Hampton to talk about some of his career in the F-16. Guy is legit badass. If you haven’t read his autobiography “Viper Pilot” your missing out.

[@Aircrewinterview]

I read this a few weeks ago and it was brilliant. A very confident man let’s say that!

[@littlebits6231]

Work on (the) questions. Seems like you could put a little more thought into them. An short intro would be nice too. Jell-O is awesome, I could listen to him talk all day!

[@Aircrewinterview]

Thanks James, I shall take that on board. Hope you enjoyed the interview.

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

You can at fighterpilotpodcast.com/, James.

[@keepyalegs2gether]

AAAAA+ Great vid.

[@Aircrewinterview]

Thanks Jim.

[@gikaradi8793]

6:43 f16 cant ?

[@tabascoindy5005]

Good carrier

[@michaelwithstand]

Does he play DCS F/A-18C?

[@Aircrewinterview]

I don’t believe so.

[@michaelwithstand]

He should. It's a late lot F/A-18C. His favorite model. It's lot 20. The last batch of F/A-18C delivered in 1998 and retrofitted in mid 2000's.

[@SurfVR]

He plays. Look it up. He had Matt Wagner in an episode. Matt taught him the basics. lol

[@airprok8328]

I wouldn’t call the F18 slow, it super cruises! The legacy that is. The F16 is one of the best thrust to weight in the world

[@Zakariah1971]

Why not Air Force

[@RedArrow73]

Your 'ground job' as a Division officer affects Actual People, so it can make you or break you as well. Division officer is ANYTHING but a Menial Job.

[@Bravo2Zulu]

THANK GOD FOR HORNETS!!!!

[@CastilloinaSpeedo]

Where are all the "pee shiver" comments?

[@dks13827]

Great show. For you guys who want to fly..........go take 5 hours of flying and 5 hours of groundschool. You won't regret it.

[@lilletrille8998]

Wierd, he seems so "normal" and friendly, yet he is a highly trained killer of aircraft, and military hardware...

[@boisecityplanes]

Lille Trille ...Really? They're humans that just have training. Its like police officers, they're normal humans that have the training to do what they need to do if needed.

[@Make-Asylums-Great-Again]

No Name Nomad Calm down, It was humor.

[@MrEddieG420]

17:00 I’m callin bullshit they just send up super hornets as tankers with gas for the guys that can’t land

[@colonelkurtz2269]

What he's referring to is returning aircraft cannot land fully loaded so they jettison fuel and/or ordance to get weight down. That's why he said they didn't fly too heavy so they didn't have to drop anything in the ocean.

[@Neccronix]

You literally need to be an expert in advanced Mathematics and physics with a school score of 99+ to be even considered for entry at a military academy to become a fighter pilot

[@jakspyder]

"excessive thrust to weight" mmmmmm

[@rostamr4096]

FYI; it is called THE PERSIAN GULF.

[@TheSquazzafuscus]

Oh, don't be an ass.

[@lukasikmarcin]

Look who I found here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iaCzc3-Cmd-dhKMm59s