Author Topic: Stumbled across this old 1967 film, brought back memories  (Read 2873 times)

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Offline Libertas

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Stumbled across this old 1967 film, brought back memories
« on: August 26, 2018, 01:27:53 PM »
Flight Deck Safety, 1967...on the USS Forrestal, ironically.

https://youtu.be/71KSuxTVTVc

That first pair of jets taking off with the wing that pops up for more lift on takeoff are F-8 Crusader's, famous for making a dangerous tree-top run on Cuba during the Missile Crises to get photos for JFK who was advised not to use the original U2 spy plane photos that alerted us to the Russian nuclear ballistic missile installations going up in Cuba for fear of revealing their capability, so it was the Crusader photos that were brought to the UN as evidence.

My first squadron was a recon outfit, the last to use the F-8 in active service.  I liked that plane, big single engine single-pilot cigar-shaped thing could haul ass.  IIRC I think it was the plane John Glenn set a transcontinental flight record in as a marine pilot before joining the Mercury 7 program.  Was featured in that sci-fi "Final Countdown" flick with Kirk Douglas.  I saw it launch hundreds of times, saw a super-sonic flyby too, never forget that.  Good plane, referred to as The Last Gunfighter.  Early in Vietnam guns were dropped in favor of missiles, once they learned their error rate they put guns back in.

The third delta-shaped jet taking off is the F-4 Phantom, my last squadron was the last naval fighter unit using them in active service.  It was a serviceable fighter, but not too subtle...you could see it coming by noticing the belch of black exhaust it trailed.  Not the easiest to land on a pitching carrier deck, especially at night as the commander of our squadron learned when he drove the main strut through the starboard wing and turned that plane into a giant paperweight the rest of the deployment.

In both cases the planes lived out their final days as reserve planes and mothballed shortly thereafter as F-14's and F-18's were replaced/upgraded.
We are now where The Founders were when they faced despotism.

Offline AlanS

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Re: Stumbled across this old 1967 film, brought back memories
« Reply #1 on: August 26, 2018, 08:19:01 PM »
The third delta-shaped jet taking off is the F-4 Phantom, ....

In high school I had dreams of being an F-4 pilot.

About 10 yrs ago, we made a trip to Pensacola, FL and visited the Naval Air Museum. On the 2nd floor they had cockpits from various aircraft you could climb in and get a sense of what it took to fly them. One of them happened to be an F-4. Giddy with anticipation, I climbed in. That was when I realized fighter pilots are averaged height. 6'2" of body does NOT fit well in an F-4. You don't get in it, you put it on. I almost didn't get it off.
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Offline Libertas

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Re: Stumbled across this old 1967 film, brought back memories
« Reply #2 on: August 27, 2018, 07:56:31 AM »
Yeah, it's shocking how cramped cockpits can be, my first peak into an F-14 had me wondering how much stuff I shouldn't touch would get touched cause I moved my knee, hit my elbow, maybe sneazed and spaz-whacked a missile relase....

Others looked roomy, S-3, E-2, heck hello's look more spacious.

Even short and beefy pilots can have issues, there's definitely a sweet spot I was never going to meet!

No plus-size fighters...   ;D
We are now where The Founders were when they faced despotism.