99, I've got a friend who's writing a book with a well known author/publishing house. They're looking for someone with F-8 time to talk to. If you've got a lead, please send me a message. Thanks.
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F-8 Crusader pilots?
- Thread starter Faded Float Coat
- Start date
I recall a number of years ago, Thunderbird Aviation in Phoenix had 1 (maybe 2) F-8's that were still flying. Don't know where those airframes are now, but Hoss Pearson was one of the pilots. Here's his LinkedIn profile... should be easy to track down:
There's an interesting effort to acquire one of the former French Crusaders, get it to the US, and get it flying.
vintageaviationnews.com
There's an interesting effort to acquire one of the former French Crusaders, get it to the US, and get it flying.
Bringing 'The Last of the Gunfighters' Home: Vietnam War Flight Museum's Mission to Preserve the Final F-8 Crusader
The Vietnam War Flight Museum has launched a GoFundMe campaign to support its mission of preserving the final F-8 Crusader and "Bringing 'The Last of the Gunfighters' Home." [...]
vintageaviationnews.com
I doubt a whole lot of them are still around. There was an F-8 association that met at Hook, but I feel like it has been a long time since I have seen them. There were a handful that flew them into the 1980s, but those would have been older reservists at the time I'm assuming. Kinda like my dad's old squadron reunion, that has since pretty much just stopped because they are all old or deceased sadly. My dad's bud who flew F-8's, and co-owner of their airplane, passed in the late 1990s from a chronic condition in his 60's. I'd assume the living vets of the Crusader are pushing their 90s at this point. My dad was 88 when he passed last month, and the F-8 guys were wholly in his generation of aviators.
I have a few leads/contacts in Coronado area from a different book project I was, for a short time, involved with, the youngest now being 81. Wanted to pulse this crowd in an effort to cast a broad net. Thanks 👊🏻
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I’m surprised those men lived as long as they did, given they had to lug around such huge cast-iron balls.
The living still hold a "Last Crusader Ball" every year. There are more than you'd think.
I had a training command peer transitioning into F-8s at Miramar in late 1978. He might be 70 or 71 now.
Likely only a handful of 'younger' pilots, there was only a single squadron that flew that late (VFP-206) and training had almost certainly shut down when the last active duty squadron that shut down in '82.
I'm in touch with folks at National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola. Appreciate all the gouge.