FrankenProwler????

[feddoc]

Has anyone else heard of this?

From this site: http://home.att.net/~jbaugher/navyserials.html


148542 and 148547 are going to be melded into one aircraft, numbered 158542. These planes had been experimented upon by Grumman and the Navy, and the goal is to create one workable EA-6B out of the two aircraft. Project is known as FrankenProwler.


Also found this: 160379/160414 Grumman F-14A-95-GR Tomcat
160390 (VF-41) shot down Libyan Su 22 Aug 19, 1981 over Gulf of Sidra
crewed by Lawrence Muczynski and James Anderson. Crashed into water 10-25-94 during landing on USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72, VF-213) due to engine flameout. Pilot Lt Kara Hultgreen ejected but was killed. WSO ejected and survived.


And this...three Blue Angels aircraft have civilian numbers.




and this: (I wonder if the guys in Afghanistan knew of the historical significance of this bird?)

153314/153403 Boeing Vertol CH-46D Sea Knight c/n 2202/2222, 2225/2234, 2237/2246, 153389 was the aircraft crewed by PFC Raymond Clausen while earning the Medal of Honor Jan 31, 1971 for assisting in rescue of Marines from a minefield in Vietnam. Damaged in Afghanistan. Will be sent to the Marine Corps Museum Historical Branch for display. was at one time modified to CH-46E, and is now at CHAC Air Museum in Charlotte, NC.

 

[Schnugg]

cool stuff. I'll have to look up some of my old rides. I'm sure they've "gotten around town" a bit.

 

[Punk]

well since we don't have enough Prowlers to go around, seems like a good idea to me

that is, until you have to read all the MAF's

 

[Gatordev]

Well, as long as the FrankenProwler flies 10 times, you're good.

I see one of my det birds on there. Didn't realize it was the first in a series. Must explain why it was possesed...

 

[Brett327]

well since we don't have enough Prowlers to go around, seems like a good idea to me

that is, until you have to read all the MAF's

The "real" frankenprowlers are 139's ICAP III birds.

Brett

 

[SteveG75]

The "real" frankenprowlers are 139's ICAP III birds.

Brett

Brett,

I was at a meeting with "Kilo" Parks (in his new contractor role) and he told me that the ICAP III is one bad-a$$ mofo in terms of capability. Any truth to that?

 

[Pugs]

A lot of work for an airplane that should be gone in a few years. Seems like a recipe for a hangar queen or a good FRAMP bird. If you've never have been to St Augustine and seen them put all the wires back across the turtle back it isn't trival. They actual used a test rig that was originally used to test the wire layouts at drive in movies (back when they had wires) pretty cool

Assume you meant 158542 and 158547 as 148547 was a VA-216 A-4 lost over Laos in 69 (pilot rescued)

Seems 209 still has the oldest. My last flight was in 158029 last year. Still a young pup compared to the KA-6's or Phrogs.

Pugs

 

[Brett327]

Brett,

I was at a meeting with "Kilo" Parks (in his new contractor role) and he told me that the ICAP III is one bad-a$$ mofo in terms of capability. Any truth to that?

I'm good buddies with the OTE director at VX-9 for ICAP III who is also going to 139 as their PTI/TO to oversee the transition. He says that it had its issues, but overall is a pretty amazing system. Think of the jammers as a real time, automatically adjusted spot-on-top. Apparently, the geo-loc feature on it is so good that you can see all the other players in your strike group by their various electronic emissions. Who needs MIDS!

Brett

 

[Goober]

I'm good buddies with the OTE director at VX-9 for ICAP III who is also going to 139 as their PTI/TO to oversee the transition. He says that it had its issues, but overall is a pretty amazing system. Think of the jammers as a real time, automatically adjusted spot-on-top. Apparently, the geo-loc feature on it is so good that you can see all the other players in your strike group by their various electronic emissions. Who needs MIDS!

Brett

You talkin' about Bert? Good guy - met him a few mos. ago.

 

[Brett327]

You talkin' about Bert? Good guy - met him a few mos. ago.

Yeah, we were in 133 together, roomies and crewmates.

Good times,

Brett

 

[Flash]

Has anyone else heard of this?

From this site: http://home.att.net/~jbaugher/navyserials.html


148542 and 148547 are going to be melded into one aircraft, numbered 158542. These planes had been experimented upon by Grumman and the Navy, and the goal is to create one workable EA-6B out of the two aircraft. Project is known as FrankenProwler.

Ahhh yes, FrankenProwler. I am not sure if that is same bird but we did have a 'FrankenProwler' when I was out in Iwakuni. You could see the seam where they put the two airframes together, it was kind of freaky when you looked at it. The Maintenance guys said it was the bird that bounced off the ground at Fallon, the crew then ejected, and then it nose dived into the desert (one of the backseaters was doing his CAT III when I was in the RAG, a good story if I was not going to bed....). I guess they took the nose off of another Prowler and welded it onto the back end of the broke bird (if I remember correctly, it was right behind the back cockpit).

So yes, Virginia, there is a FrankenProwler.........

P.S. I will see if our former PAO has any pics....

 

[T.M.Gray]

FrankenProwler is alive and well, currently flying off Theodore Roosevelt. This is from the Northwest Navigator. http://www.northwestnavigator.com/i...bey/vaq_141_frankenprowler_rejoins_the_fleet/

"VAQ-141’s third jet, Bureau Number (BUNO) 158542, was dubbed the FrankenProwler because its unique conception was the construction from three different EA-6Bs, in mothballs, patched together to build one fully functional Prowler. With the last built EA-6B rolling from production in 1991, Prowler fleet inventory was dwindling. Looking for a way to increase inventory in 1999, the novel idea of using jets from the Advanced Capabilities program was devised and implemented. The three jets, BUNO 156482, BUNO 158542 and BUNO 158547, were originally fleet aircraft off of the production line in March 1970, March 1972 and September 1972, respectively. The fifth, 20th and 25th EA-6Bs in inventory were sidelined from the Prowler community between 1988 and 1990 to become test platforms in the ADVCAP program."