Practice, practice, practice
A member of the ground crew prepares to fill an AV-8B Harrier, (above left) one of the planes in the U.S. Marine Corps’ VMA-211 squadron, the “Wake Island Avengers,” with a load of water Thursday evening at Auxiliary Landing Field on the western edge of the Barry M. Goldwater Range. An AV-8B Harrier makes a vertical landing (above right) Thursday evening at the site. After filling an AV-8B Harrier with a fresh load of fuel and water, a member of the ground crew (below) signals the pilot that he is good to go. The squadron, based at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, and another out of Cherry Point, N.C., practiced the skills necessary to safely take off, land and re-fuel an aircraft on a simulated carrier runway. Auxiliary Landing Field simulates the deck of an amphibious assault ship. The practice flights continued into the night.