The Great, Constantly Changing Picture Gallery...part DEUX

[flaps]

nope, not an x-35. keep guessing.

two more grumman photos from about '73. we returned two f-11's to flight status (one came off a pedestal from somewhere, i believe) and modified one with an in flight thrust control system (not vectored).

these were the last f-11's to fly.
seems to me it would be an excellent bird for some rich guy to buy. shouldn't be much harder than an f-86 to restore and there's lots of them flying

 

[jmcquate]

Sorry......X-29

 

[Catmando]

... two more grumman photos from about '73. we returned two f-11's to flight status (one came off a pedestal from somewhere, i believe) and modified one with an in flight thrust control system (not vectored). ... These were the last f-11's to fly.

I remember landing at Pax or Andrews once and seeing these two. I was really surprised since I thought they were all long gone. They had a great paint job, and the bare metal on the leading edges and elsewhere shined like a brilliant mirror. Beautiful aircraft! Wasn't NASA flying/testing them at the time?

 

[flaps]

re:" Wasn't NASA flying/testing them at the time?'
there was DARPA and NASA. one or the other continued to fly them after grumman did the initial flight evals.

BTW, i've often wondered how the f-11 did against the f-8 in 1v1 ACM. not sure much of it ever happened but it would be nice to know.

 

[Recovering LSO]

nope, not an x-35. keep guessing.

two more grumman photos from about '73. we returned two f-11's to flight status (one came off a pedestal from somewhere, i believe) and modified one with an in flight thrust control system (not vectored).

these were the last f-11's to fly.
seems to me it would be an excellent bird for some rich guy to buy. shouldn't be much harder than an f-86 to restore and there's lots of them flying

Anyone around here have any traps in that thing? Seems to me it would be a nightmare to try and get aboard with those TINY, stubby, swept wings. Equivalent airspeed for approach AOA must have been pretty high?

 

[flaps]

re:"Anyone around here have any traps in that thing? Seems to me it would be a nightmare to try and get aboard with those TINY, stubby, swept wings. Equivalent airspeed for approach AOA must have been pretty high?"

tried google. couldn't find any adverse comments on f-11 carrier suitability.

did find this bit of trivia, though.

"First flown in July 1954. Subsequent test trials provided for one of the most bizarre moments in aviation history when a Grumman pilot managed to "shoot himself down" with his own bullets. Firing the guns in a dive, the trajectory of the bullets allowed him to overtake them on his pullout causing aircraft damage, an engine flame-out and a crash landing."

http://www.aerofiles.com/tiger-tail.html

note, he probably used rwy 32 at calverton and it appears he would impacted the ground just about where f-14a number one crashed in dec of '70.

certianly a 'WTF?' moment.

this version must have been quite a rocket ship,
super tiger,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F11F-1F_Super_Tiger

 

[Catmando]

BTW, i've often wondered how the f-11 did against the f-8 in 1v1 ACM. not sure much of it ever happened but it would be nice to know.

My money would be on the F-8:

F-8 Thrust/Wt.= .62:1​

F-11 Thrust/Wt.= .50:1​

​

F-8 Wing Loading= 77.3lb/ft2​

F-11 Wing Loading=84.0 lb/ft2​

​

 

[navyao]

Speakin' of Fallon, a month of fun in the sun... as one of 6 newly winged ENSs, famming the sweetest, nimblest non-afterburning Navy jet fighter EVER, the FJ-4 Fury. Got to play with these neat toys for 4 months after our redesignation from VF-94 to VA-94, while awaiting delivery of 14 factory-fresh fleet intro A4D-2 (A-4B) Skyhawks. Great times, bagged 90 FJ hrs. including 2 X/Cs awaiting our A-4s.
View attachment 11592
Below, BzB flying wing w/ LT JIM "J. J." Brennan leading. Flying over the (under construction) new NAS Lemoore, CA in late 1958 (NLC didn't open 'til July 1961).
View attachment 11593
Below "Martini Flight" relaxing at cold, snowy NAAS Fallon in Dec. '58. Famous ex-POW (then LTjg) CAPT Dick 'Beak' Stratton 2nd from left... ENS BzB on far right.
View attachment 11594
BzB

BzB,

When you were in VA-94 were they known as the "Shrikes?"

 

[navyao]

View attachment 11597View attachment 11598

Sitting in the ordy seat I decide to look outside and what do I see - that...and I freak out!

 

[BusyBee604]

BzB,

When you were in VA-94 were they known as the "Shrikes?"

Roger "Shrikes"! That squadron nickname was selected in an all hands Contest, & became official on 1 August 1958, when we were redesignated from VF-94 to VA-94.
<-VF-94 <-VA-94

Shrike: "A small ferocious bird', we thought that a very fitting description of our brand new Skyhawks! Rumor has it that the small orange 'shrike' on the new VA-94 patch... was inspired by the bird on the label of a Thunderbird wine bottle!!!

BzB

 

[ea6bflyr]

Roger "Shrikes"! That squadron nickname was selected in an all hands Contest, & became official on 1 August 1958, when we were redesignated from VF-94 to VA-94.
View attachment 11609<-VF-94View attachment 11610 <-VA-94

Shrike: "A small ferocious bird', we thought that a very fitting description of our brand new Skyhawks! Rumor has it that the small orange 'shrike' on the new VA-94 patch... was inspired by the bird on the label of a Thunderbird wine bottle!!!
View attachment 11611View attachment 11612
BzB

Must be the old logo.....

 

[BusyBee604]

Must be the old logo.....

Not sure, but I think the T'Bird label was different some 50+ yrs ago before Gallo was in the picture??? Back then, T'Bird had a bad rep as a cheapo jug for winos. Gallo I think upgraded it's rep quite a bit.
BzB

 

[MasterBates]

T-Bird is pretty much still that.. I only see it in the stores when I'm working in the 'Hood, like tonight.

If a store sells T-Bird or MD 20/20, odds are you will be hit up for cash/food within a block of there.

 

[KBayDog]

If a store sells T-Bird or MD 20/20, odds are you will be hit up for cash/food within a block of there.

 

[Catmando]

Roger "Shrikes"! View attachment 11612
BzB

View attachment 11612 Not to be outdone...