F-8 Ejection

[Harrier Dude]

I soloed in the T-34C at 20 years old.

 

[NavyLonghorn]

I soloed in the T-34C at 20 years old.

You already were my hero, but now you are like.. my hero and a half.

But seriously, thats impressive. When I was 20 I was still working on walking.

 

[e6bflyer]

He's still there? That guy was cool!

He's hilarious. He's the guy with "no helo time in my logbook and no VD in my medical record".

Still the same jokes 5 years later. One of the other ancient guys there told me he has toned down his act for the PC era that we live in. I would have loved to have seen him pre-tailhook timeframe.

 

[Catmando]

.....I'm sure A4's or Catmando have some good stories aout this fine piece of machinery

The best stories come from those that actually flew and fought the machine (I did not). And what is really amazing is half their stories are true! Anyway, here are a couple of my random thoughts:

The ejecting F-8 pilot in the video, Terry Kryway, was later one of my instructors in the F-4 RAG, VF-121. He was an extraordinarily talented pilot.

Probably the most dangerous aircraft to bring aboard a ship, F-8's ironically were also deployed on the smallest decks – the "27 Charlie's. (Therefore, they unfortunately and unsurprisingly, crashed a lot.)

Every fighter pilot of that era wished (openly, not secretly) he could fly one, just once.

Until F-4 tactics were finally changed and improved with Top Gun, the F-8 pilots generally ruled over the newer F-4. (Fortunately, that later changed)

F-8's had an advantage up high (30k); F-4's had the advantage low (10k). To change altitude was to fight the opponent's fight and be disadvantaged. So oftentimes during ACM, we would just fly through, each stubbornly maintaining altitude without ever engaging. (Good for the ego; bad for training.)

A good friend of mine, in an unarmed Photo-Recon RF-8, engaged a MiG over North Vietnam for a few turns. In the debrief, they asked if he was nuts – engaging a MiG defenseless, with nothing to shoot? My friend said he wanted to get a "picture" of the MiG. (True story)

For landing, the "wing didn't raise, it was the fusalage that was lowered."

Great F-8 website, with lots of pics and links: http://www.cloudnet.com/~djohnson/index.html

Then there was another F-8 legend – and good friend of mine no longer with us – "Bug".
http://www.tailhook.org/bug.htm

 

[A4sForever]

F-8's ..... the Ensign Eater ..... Hud'n Hud'n ...

 

[phrogdriver]

I soloed in the T-34C at 20 years old.

They let you get commissioned out of community college?:icon_tong

What, skipped three grades or something? How can you celebrate your tie-cutting if you can't drink?

 

[Catmando]

F-8's ..... the Ensign Eater ..... Hud'n Hud'n ...

Thanks alot, A4's!!! I had thankfully long forgotten.

There was nothing more obnoxious than those F-8 guys going around saying, "Hud'n, Hud'n." Man, I hated that!

 

[Harrier Dude]

They let you get commissioned out of community college?:icon_tong

What, skipped three grades or something? How can you celebrate your tie-cutting if you can't drink?

I was a NAVCAD. Only needed 60 hrs of college. I used to drink beer etc. at the club, often times right by the skipper. Who thinks to card a flight student in a flight suit in the O-club?

By the way, that was several years ago. Underage drinking and other buffoonery isn't nearly as tolerated as it was. This was not my greatest period of maturity and judgement.

 

[bunk22]

Not many NAVCADS left. One of our pilots, retiring this month as an O-4, is a NAVCAD. He was prior enlisted though so he looks a bit older then your normal, old, balding O-4.

 

[MIDNJAC]

yeah, I thought NAVCAD was long dead......like before AOCS was dead. I know I've heard stories about it from my dad (NAVCAD class of '59) and it seems almost prehistoric compared to the modern commissioning programs. Were they still sending wash-outs to RTC when you went through? Talk about a harsh "change of environment".....

 

[Harrier Dude]

I'm not sure when the official end of the NAVCAD program happened. I was AOCS 20-89, and when I came back as a Marine in 95 I ran into a couple NAVCADs at the P-cola O-club.

Back then, if a guy washed out, they tended to let them go back to civilian life, depending on the circumstances. If the DOR'd, then they had to go enlisted. I was in the RIF of 90 (Black Tuesday), so I got to go back to college and eventually was accepted into the Marines. Kind of a long story.

 

[Blutonski816]

Hud'n Hud'n ...

okay, I just gotta ask....

What's Hud'n Hud'n Mean??

I know it's a 'Sader thing... but what's the story behind it?

 

[Fly Navy]

F-8... what a sexy fighter... a real fighter too. Last of the gunfighters...

I'd kill to get some time in one

 

[Chubby]

I've heard stories about that... man what a way to run the show :icon_rage

Is that the ubiquitous 'check under your seat before all AOM's and Safety Stand Arounds' one?

 

[Harrier Dude]

That's the basic idea. It didn't work quite that way, though. There was nothing under our seats. The skipper just said "The following individuals are being released from flight training......." or words to that effect. It sucked. It wasn't his fault, and I don't think he had the final say. LOTS and LOTS of politics involved.

Anyway, it was the worst day of my life (to that point) but the best thing that ever happened to me. It all worked out in the end.