Cold War Carrier aircraft Top Ten

madrat · by **madrat** » 21 Jun 2020, 18:27

I think those psyche tests are rubber stamps. They say those things about all fighter pilots.

aaam · by **aaam** » 21 Jun 2020, 22:15

madrat wrote:I think those psyche tests are rubber stamps. They say those things about all fighter pilots.

Fighter pilots will tell you they make the same decisions God would make if He had as much information available.

aaam · by **aaam** » 22 Jun 2020, 06:52

Thanks for the cool info, Spazsinbad!

mixelflick · by **mixelflick** » 26 Jun 2020, 14:41

Wow, never knew the F-8's safety record was that bad.

But I appreciate the info. Kind of takes the shine off it, LOL.

madrat · by **madrat** » 26 Jun 2020, 19:39

F-8 got stuck on smaller decks, though, right? Landing on big decks is probably safer by default.

mixelflick · by **mixelflick** » 27 Jun 2020, 17:32

madrat wrote:F-8 got stuck on smaller decks, though, right? Landing on big decks is probably safer by default.

This is a really good point. And man, taxi'ing that thing around the deck.. particularly the part where the radome and pilot are over the edge, with the nose wheel remaining on deck. YIKES. But I really liked the innovation with the wing, haven't seen it before or since.

And of course its clean lines. Must have been a sweet assignment back in its day. Fast, sleek, maneuverable and by all accounts - feared. I know if I was a VC Mig-17 driver, I'd much rather tangle with a Phantom than a Crusader. Smokey engines, big airframe... had to be easy to keep sight of the Phantom. Not as much with the F-8...

spazsinbad · by **spazsinbad** » 28 Jun 2020, 01:20

mixelflick wrote:
madrat wrote:F-8 got stuck on smaller decks, though, right? Landing on big decks is probably safer by default.
This is a really good point. And man, taxi'ing that thing around the deck.. particularly the part where the radome and pilot are over the edge, with the nose wheel remaining on deck. YIKES....

Glad those jocks did not have to contend with FLY ONE parking aboard HMAS Melbourne in A4Gs. Yes Virginny these pilots taxied their aircraft after arresting to this situation with very small hand movements of the 'FlyOne' CPO & others. Getting in and out via the port ladder was fraught, even more difficult for the plane captain to do his thing before aircraft moved.

Two page pdf attached has the photo and a story from the USN about FLY ONE and A-4s and plane captains. YIKES! indeed.

mixelflick · by **mixelflick** » 01 Jul 2020, 15:24

That "maybe too far"? picture is crazy!

Did this guy get out? If he did, HOW did he get out??

That's nuts. Worse than the cockpit/forward fuselage of an F-14 I saw get blown over the deck, hanging into the ocean. This poor chap is facing vertically, straight down. Yet still in the cockpit, with the canopy up??

Doesnt' look real, LOL

spazsinbad · by **spazsinbad** » 01 Jul 2020, 22:29

I think with the carrier stopped (so as not to have turning screw hazards) the pilot would just drop into the ocean. Good story about two RAN Gannet crew hanging over the side having to do the same through two propellers - luckily stopped.

"...An attempt was made to reach us using the flight deck crane but this was not possible and we elected to jump into the water. Fortunately, the double [aircraft] propellers had stopped in a perfect cross giving a relatively clear arc to jump through. To avoid hitting each other, 'Albie' jumped first and when he was clear I followed. We then swam to the sea boat, which was waiting clear of the aircraft, and we were recovered on board and taken to the sick bay and kept there overnight for observation and many beers...." https://www.faaaa.asn.au/wp-content/upl ... Jun-19.pdf (3.7Mb)

spazsinbad · by **spazsinbad** » 01 Jul 2020, 22:41

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File ... arrier.JPG "A U.S. Navy Douglas A-4C(?) Skyhawk hanging over the side of an aircraft carrier" https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... arrier.JPG

Corsair1963 · by **Corsair1963** » 12 Oct 2020, 05:55

HMAS Melbourne and A-4 Skyhawks!

https://twitter.com/i/status/1315237004649537537

spazsinbad · by **spazsinbad** » 14 Oct 2020, 11:23

LONGER VERSION
A4G (with Hook Swinging) Approach HMAS Melbourne https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXnwHyIHQvM

spazsinbad · by **spazsinbad** » 15 Feb 2022, 01:45

UP this page there is an HMAS Melbourne FLY ONE photo with A4G Skyhawks... here is anotherie (via e-mail). The 2nd & 3rd A4G from top photo down have tail markings of VC-724 while rest have VF-805 'CheckMate' tail paint-mid-late 1970s.

spazsinbad · by **spazsinbad** » 26 Sep 2022, 23:22

Sadly this RF-8G NATOPS PDF is very faded mostly making reading text difficult but not impossible. I'll work on making some extracts about it, with some interesting info perhaps on the camera recce aspect of it.

NAVAIR 01-45HHB-1 Flight Manual for the Chance-Vought RF-8G aircraft, dated 1 September 1978
http://aviationarchives.blogspot.com/20 ... anual.html

https://www.docdroid.com/WXKieX5/natops ... fdrive-pdf (77Mb)

edpop · by **edpop** » 27 Sep 2022, 06:37

spazsinbad wrote:LONGER VERSION
A4G (with Hook Swinging) Approach HMAS Melbourne https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXnwHyIHQvM

What happens to the catapult cable after launch??????????