MasterBates
Well-Known Member
Nevermind Phrog.. He just returned from the Mad Scientists' (Igor's) lab.
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Strange eBay Find
- Thread starter jride200
- Start date
Yep... Every trip I made to the "hell hole" on an A4 I saw a tailhook painted like this. I'm sure it was for visibility.
Steve
And thank you (and your brethern) for all those "trips". It was always appreciated if not always adequately acknowledged or rewarded.
MasterBates
Well-Known Member
Whats an A-4 HellHole? In most helos, its the hole that the cargo hook is in that you can see down out of.
Where's A4's??? On your "6" ... where else???
But the tailhooks ... all of 'em ... F-8's, A-4's, A-6's, A-3's, RA-5's, A-7's, EA-6's, STOOFs, COD's, TRACOM birds ... all save the F-4 .... were black and white. Why??? To make it easier for the LSO to spot a hook that was not down @ the 180/abeam and call it to the slovenly pilot -- thus garnering another favorite bottle of spirits for the LSO's upscale home bar. Or at sea ... another donation to the next wetting down ...
Why not the F-4??? Ol' Smokey made all the hooks soot black -- the white didn't stand a chance of survival ....
BTW ... I have a couple of tailhooks -- A4 and A6. Still looking for a 747 ...
Besides ... the F-4's hook was so friggin' BIG in profile (looked like a 2x6 compared to the rest) that you could easily see it 1 1/2 mile abeam with or without binoculars and with or without the black & white paint scheme of the rest of the AirWing.
In your dreams, wiley coyote!Where's A4's??? On your "6" ... where else???
Hey, who you callin' Ol' Smokey? C'mon. Fox-Fours didn't smoke….....much.
Note: There is no light, pesky, underpowered overachieving A-4 on those powerful 'smokers' six.
Massive talent plus massive ego require a massive hook to trap aboard your mere average carrier deck. QEDBesides ... the F-4's hook was so friggin' BIG in profile (looked like a 2x6 compared to the rest) that you could easily see it 1 1/2 mile abeam with or without binoculars and with or without the black & white paint scheme of the rest of the AirWing.
phrogpilot73
Well-Known Member
What he said... Between being inundated with all things Sikorsky, and the USCG results, I wasn't in the right frame of mind. What I meant to say was:
"I prefer helos, but I'll fly anything."
The A-4 had a couple. As I recall, the aft hellhole - which was just forward of the hook attachment point – housed the pressure refueling receptacle, among other things. I think the forward hellhole housed avionics.
And both were just hot, greasy, dirty places that the pilot had to stick his head into and pretend to "really" be looking for something on preflight. You were basically just looking for leaks in a "leaky" place ....
In hundreds (maybe a couple thousand??
) preflights on the A-4, I never did see anything worthy of maintenance other than one hydraulic leak ... however I did bang my head a few times and get grease and hydraulic fluid on a couple of ball caps ... 
