Can't make out tails on my little ass NMCI laptop.
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Cool pic of aerial refueling
- Thread starter BigIron
- Start date
During that six hour CAP rotation we had VF-33 and VF-102 from USS America, VF-84 and VF-41 from USS Teddy Roosevelt and VF-14 and VF-32 from USS John F Kennedy and one KC-10 to jockey over so we convinced him to cheat north for us (they got double the Air Medal points for that)
Sometimes there wasn't much of a line. (HJ photo)
^ Great pix ....I'm ashamed to put my low quality, ole "hurry-up's" in the same thread ....
Oh well: REAL tankers, REAL fighters, REAL bombers ....
Oh well: REAL tankers, REAL fighters, REAL bombers ....
^ Great pix ....I'm ashamed to put my low quality, ole "hurry-up's" in the same thread ....
Oh well: REAL tankers, REAL fighters, REAL bombers ....
OK, more Intruders then
CAT: is the A-6 tanker from VA-115??? I think so... back-in-the-day .... VA-115 was known as .... the Arabs!!!A real tanker refueling a real fighter (ah, just disregard the MK-82's, OK?)
I believe that's called ... ironic???
...
Oh well: REAL tankers, REAL fighters, REAL bombers ....
Hallelujah! A correctly indentified flying trifecta.
Heyjoe might have posted some really awesome pics, but yours is sing'n outta my "old school" hymnbook.
......BTW, I never had to ask A-6's for "tanker posit?" .... because they usually knew where they were - and surprisingly actually were there, exactly where they were supposed to be.
(But the A-3 - when found - did carry more gas. )
.....I never had to ask A-6's for "tanker posit?" .... because they usually knew where they were - and surprisingly actually were there, exactly where they were supposed to be.
There was one notorious driver-idiot in VF-213 who would always scream "TANKER POSIT!!! TANKER POSIT !!! "
right off the cat ..... literally right off the cat.He did it (again) one day while still in his clearing turn right off the cat when I was the launch tanker .... "TANKER POSIT !!! TANKER POSIT !!!"
I replied, in my best Chuck Yeager-cool voice ... " .... Tanker's right behind you, in your "6", in tension, on #2 catapult. See you soon .... once I get airborne ... "
The Boss keyed his mic, said something, and we could all hear the laughter from Pri-Fly ... the VF-213 idiot never did it again, either ...
Good eye. Yes, it is a VA-115 A-6. And I never thought about it but yes, they were ironically called "Arabs". (Had a good logo as I recall, with a black ace on orange background.) They were a good squadron and a great bunch of guys, but had a lot of bad luck.CAT: is the A-6 tanker from VA-115??? I think so... back-in-the-day .... VA-115 was known as .... the Arabs!!!
I believe that's called ... ironic???
We got along well with them – which was unique back then, as you know, for fighter and attack to actually 'socialize'. Unfortunately, they took some heavy hits on that cruise. We therefore stopped socializing.
There was one notorious driver-idiot in VF-213 who would always scream "TANKER POSIT!!! TANKER POSIT !!! "
He did it (again) one day while still in his clearing turn right off the cat when I was the launch tanker .... "TANKER POSIT !!! TANKER POSIT !!!"
I replied, in my best Chuck Yeager-cool voice ... " .... Tanker's right behind you, in your "6", in tension, on #2 catapult. See you soon .... once I get airborne ... "
The Boss keyed his mic, said something, and we could all hear the laughter from Pri-Fly ... the VF-213 idiot never did it again, either ...
Great call! And good story.
I initially wondered if VF-213 might have been recently transitioned from F-8's (F-8 drivers were notorious for calling for "tanker posit", but no, VF-213 had been in F-4's for some years by then. (That's not to say some former F-8 guy recently transitioned.)
Nevertheless, one guy sticks out in my mind, and I think he was in VF-213 then. He is still in the news occasionally today, and obnoxious as ever. I cringe whenever I see his name. I'll do some checking if it might have been him.
Roget that. Understand .... Mike McCormick (the 'O Club @ NUW is named for him) was one of the last shoot-downs -- I think THE last Navy aircraft lost over the North --- just prior to the cease-fire. I was originally slated by the VAM Wing for assignment to VA-115, but RAG training schedules changed and Mike went instead of me.
One of Mike's flights was the basis for the lead-in scene in Flight of the Intruder ... the one where his B/N, LCDR Ray Donnelly, took a single round through the canopy, killing him. The return trip and night trap for Mike had to be one of the toughest flights ever flown in Naval Aviation.
Then a few months later -- Mike and his B/N Al Clark (picture below) were lost ... just prior to the cease-fire. They were MIA for 30 years .... a data plate from their aircraft was found in a NV museum ..... their remains were identified @ 2002.
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From the Virtual Wall.org webpage:
A fellow shipmate and Naval Aviator:
I knew Robert aboard the USS Midway. The VA-115 Ready Room backed up to our Ready Room door (VF-161) and as was common a lot of friendly harassment went on between the "fighters" and the "bombers". On either side of the common door was the Squadron Duty Officer's desk and whenever a fighter made a particularly poor landing and Robert was the VA Duty Officer, he would fling the door open and bang a loud gong into our ready room. We obviously would retaliate when one of theirs screwed up coming aboard, usually with a volley of wadded up "bomber" maps. I remember the day he and Mike did not return, no one harassed anyone that day, we had all lost two comrades and friends, so close to the end of everything.
Jim Bragdon
Seems like the best guys are sometimes the ones who never came back ...
Roget that. Understand .... Mike McCormick (the 'O Club @ NUW is named for him) was one of the last shoot-downs -- I think THE last Navy aircraft lost over the North --- just prior to the cease-fire. I was originally slated by the VAM Wing for assignment to VA-115, but RAG training schedules changed and Mike went instead of me.
One of Mike's flights was the basis for the lead-in scene in Flight of the Intruder ... the one where his B/N, LCDR Ray Donnelly, took a single round through the canopy, killing him. The return trip and night trap for Mike had to be one of the toughest flights ever flown in Naval Aviation.
Then a few months later -- Mike and his B/N Al Clark (picture below) were lost ... just prior to the cease-fire. They were MIA for 30 years .... a data plate from their aircraft was found in a NV museum ..... their remains were identified @ 2002.
[FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica]Ltjg Robert Alan Clark
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From the Virtual Wall.org webpage:
A fellow shipmate and Naval Aviator:
I knew Robert aboard the USS Midway. The VA-115 Ready Room backed up to our Ready Room door (VF-161) and as was common a lot of friendly harassment went on between the "fighters" and the "bombers". On either side of the common door was the Squadron Duty Officer's desk and whenever a fighter made a particularly poor landing and Robert was the VA Duty Officer, he would fling the door open and bang a loud gong into our ready room. We obviously would retaliate when one of theirs screwed up coming aboard, usually with a volley of wadded up "bomber" maps. I remember the day he and Mike did not return, no one harassed anyone that day, we had all lost two comrades and friends, so close to the end of everything.
Jim Bragdon
Seems like the best guys are sometimes the ones who never came back ...
They were the best!
Small world. But thanks for your post, although it hits a little hard.
I refused to buy "Flight of the Intruder" because author Coonts from another air-wing "borrowed" that tragedy without appellation – and it's an incident that lives vividly in my mind even today. It was terrible, and it happened just at the very start of the cruise. (Coonts borrowed some other incidents from our air-wing, too.)
Mike and Al and others were whom I referred to in my earlier post. They lived in the bunkroom next to ours, and we often 'socialized'. They were great people, even for attack pukes
, and I often think of them still, 35 years later. They made an impression.View their memorial site:
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/usn-aircrew-01101973.htm
In addition to Mike and Al, I should also mention our other former VA-115 neighbors:
Lt. Ray Donnelly VA-115 Died, 19 July, 1972
LTJG Micheal Bixel VA-115, Lost at Sea, 24 Oct, 1972
VA-115 was my first fleet squadron; the name change (Arabs to Eagles) occurred about two years before I arrived, but several of our O's and E's were Arabs and wore those nametags. Great squadron. The first A6 squadron to win the Wade McClusky award. Interesting to hear the banter between the ready rooms (115 and 161). It was still there in the late '70's and early '80's.
While I can fully appreciate your reasons, one thing you have to recognize is the fact that he brings to light in the mainstream stories that would probably go untold to a vast majority of Americans. How many people saw/read Flight of the Intruder, that would never know other wise? I can't even begin to fathom that flight back to the boat or living through the following weeks/months.
And then there is Capt "Hook", an epic single seat story who was on his 163rd combat mission flying an A-4 Skyhawk during the Vietnam conflict when he was hit by AAA that severed his right arm at the elbow. He managed to get feet wet and eject and returned to duty for subsequent deployments challenging the conventional notion of disabled aviators. His story is very compelling.
Yes, thank you. I do well recognize that fact.