Chronicles of Naval Aviation: Tailcodes
Alas, the budgetary axe eventually fell on both the Steeljaws (’96) and Wing 12 (’05) so it would appear that would be the last time GE will fly on a Hawkeye…
– SJS
P.S. Hey Boom — SH is taken by VMFAT-101…
Alas, the budgetary axe eventually fell on both the Steeljaws (’96) and Wing 12 (’05) so it would appear that would be the last time GE will fly on a Hawkeye…
– SJS
P.S. Hey Boom — SH is taken by VMFAT-101…
Mix one gonzo engine (the Pratt & Whitney XR-4360-10 Wasp with 3,000 righteous HP) and a requirement to carry a large bomb load off a carrier deck for long range strikes against Japan and you have this week’s Flightdeck Friday subject – the Boeing XF8B-1. In 1943 the Navy contracted with Boeing to produce a…
Martin XPB2M-1 & JRM Mars August 2004. While conducting a survey in Hawaiian waters of a Japanese mini-sub site, a NOAA minisub crew stumbled upon a large debris field, consisting of what appeared to be a seaplane keel and wings. Maneuvering the sub around the crew was able to clearly read the word “< ?xml:namespace...
Over the years, the acreage afforded by carriers from the Essex through Nimitz-classes have stirred some creative thinking as to what might be launched and/or recovered therein. Of course, everyone should remember the specially configured P2V-3C’s that provided an iterim nuclear capability until the AJ Savage could come along. Along the way, though have been…
(a little early, but it fits the subject –SJS) Eighty-four Years Ago — The First Tailhooker! On October 26, 1922 LCDR Godfrey DeCourcelles Chevalier, USN made the first arrested landing aboard the USS Langley, a converted coal collier (ex-USS Jupiter) and the Navy’s first aircraft carrier, underway off Cape Henry, VA. Already an accomplished aviator…
Ryan FR Fireball In 1942 the Navy was less than impressed with the state of jet-powered development. Hedging its bets, it comissioned construction of two “composite-powered” aircraft — the Grumman XTB3F-1 (last week’s Flightdeck Friday subject) and a fighter from a little known company, Ryan, who had not previously built an aircraft for the Navy….
Part 1 1958 was a year of ups and downs. The world’s first satellite launched in October 1957, Sputnik, came crashing to earth with the New Year. The Cold War gets ever hotter as nuclear tests continue (35 by theSoviets alone) and the means for delivery become faster and more complex. Across the Atlantic…