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  1. Catmando

    What are my chances?

    "Whiny" my arse. I'm gone without a whimper..
  2. Catmando

    What are my chances?

    Oh my, I did not need that, HAL Pilot. That ruined my day. Color me gone again. Maybe I will try to sneak back in with a non de plume.
  3. Catmando

    What are my chances?

    Can I come back and troll?
  4. Catmando

    Have any of you worked alongside aviators who got picked up for the NASA astronaut corps?

    I knew a few. They were just regular guys in the squadron, but they were damned smart and had a technical background. Dale Gardner was my state room mate right before he got picked up. He was an NFO but became a Mission Commander on some shuttle flights. On the same cruise, J.O. Creighton got...
  5. Catmando

    The Perennial Question: Corpus or Whiting?

    Sage advice was once given on these matters by Yogi Berra: "When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take It."
  6. Catmando

    POW Reunion, 40 years later

    I was there that day at Clark AFB in the Philippines watching as our guys returned from captivity in Hanoi. It is a memory that will stay with me forever. Thanks for posting.
  7. Catmando

    San Diego Drummer?

    My son is a percussionist rather than a drummer. He just moved here to San Diego from the Bay Area where he played professionally in addition to his day job. He is mostly into Latin Jazz, playing congas, timbales and bongos. He has sat in with some major Salsa bands here in San Diego...
  8. Catmando

    USN Splash one SU-22 (merged threads)

    Cunningham thought he deserved and said he was 'promised' the Medal of Honor. He told his TOPGUN CO at the time, Mugs Mckeown, also a MiG killer, that he would not attend the award ceremony for the Navy Cross. Mugs told him that he would first get a haircut and then attend the Navy Cross...
  9. Catmando

    USN Splash one SU-22 (merged threads)

    Yes it used to be an automatic Silver Star, but who knows today. Times may have changed.
  10. Catmando

    Combat Time . . . .

    All I know is that ever since WW-II and probably even in WW-I, combat missions were quantified by number of missions flown. The bombing flights ate up hours, but after 25 missions, you were done...if still alive. In more recent times, I see missions are now often quantified by "combat hours"...
  11. Catmando

    NEWS Waterfront property in the Spratlys? Good investment or not?

    I am saddened to see another generation of Naval Aviators having to deal with these ‘pesky’ islands again. In my day – Vietnam War era – we had to stay away from the Spratley and Paracel Islands or we would encounter some serious AAA. We never retaliated, we just tried to avoid them since we...
  12. Catmando

    HSV 2 sunk by Iranian supplied ASCM

    Who is arguing? I posted that for info and any erudite comments. Oh well....
  13. Catmando

    HSV 2 sunk by Iranian supplied ASCM

    Regarding the USS Mason. I found this to be quite interesting, over at Col. Lang's Blog: "OK. I wonder why the USS Mason did not sink attacking small boats with the 20mm, 4500 rds/minute radar trained gatling guns on board. there usually are two, one in the bow and another at the stern...
  14. Catmando

    Sully retires ...

    A large gaggle of geese can be visible from a great distance. One wonders if their heads were in the cockpit, and not outside. Since there was no apparent movement to avoid the geese, they were not seen. ("See and avoid" is your friend) While the media extolls uncommon airmanship, the NTSB...
  15. Catmando

    Sully retires ...

    Thank you!
  16. Catmando

    Old F-14 vs F-15 Flight International Article (Dogfight of the Decade)

    When they were both new, we fought each other in a big but unsanctioned many v many 'furball'. Here is the 1977 article: F-14s and F-15s fight it out Here are my comments: Dogfight of the Decade
  17. Catmando

    F-4 Phantom news

    I carried the worthless Mk4 gun pod on the F-4 a couple of times, in the RAG and maybe later in my squadron. Of the two or three times i carried it, I think I only was able to fire a total of 5 rounds. On one flight, no rounds fired. It also had a tendency to jam after the first round was...
  18. Catmando

    Sully retires ...

    [This is a repost of what I said on my private airline forum.] It upsets me that this is often called, The Miracle on the Hudson. While it was a challenging situation and a fortunate outcome, it was hardly a “miracle.” Most everyone I flew with could have probably done as well. Ditching in a...
  19. Catmando

    Fencer Air Show

    I used to love doing that to Soviet ships back in old Cold War days with my F-4 and later, F-14.
  20. Catmando

    BzB Update.

    Sad news. I just found this on Face Book this morning from BzB's daughter: "My brave & courageous dad, Hugh Magee, passed away today...he was an adventurer, a traveler, a Brother BDF & had a tender, caring & a very loving heart for all of his large family beneath his beloved Navy Wings...I...
  21. Catmando

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

    My favorite beer coaster from Spitfire Ale in Kent, UK. The 'bottle of Britain'.
  22. Catmando

    NEWS This is US Navy... We Fly?

    No, and no problem. My reference was to when I flew F-4s. The F-14s had INS although it drifted. But they should have been able to avoid the Paracels if the so desired. Maybe they did not, so desire. Back in the day, that route was flown by a multitude of aircraft, coming and going. Because...
  23. Catmando

    Interesting Air Superiority article

    Interesting...probably 'poopie-suit' air conditioning, rather than pressurization-suit pressurization, maybe? OT - There were some times where I was also, ah, maybe, "completely non-functional," albeit still government supported and subsidized. But OPSEC precludes me from exposing said...
  24. Catmando

    NEWS This is US Navy... We Fly?

    Long ago during Vietnam, our guys would sometimes cut the corner (before GPS/INS) too close, going from the Gulf to Cubi. If they did, they would always have a few rounds of AAA shot at them from the Paracel Islands, just North of the Spratly Islands, by the Red Chinese. Obviously, an act of...
  25. Catmando

    NEWS CTW1 T-45 is now a float plane

    "Splash" Corrosion Control might have its hands full.
  26. Catmando

    Interesting Air Superiority article

    Another thing planned for that never (thankfully) developed was tactical nuclear air warfare. Navy crews were issued lily-white flight suits, torso harnesses, and gold visors to protect from the nuclear flash. Later while the gold visors and white flight suits had all disappeared because guys...
  27. Catmando

    Interesting Air Superiority article

    OK, here’s one titled “How Wrong We Were.” On my first cruise aboard the USS Midway, there were these little strange pipes sticking up out of the deck, one or more next to each chair in the ready room. One day the Skipper decided he wanted a new colorful RR deck, so our metal smiths spent...
  28. Catmando

    Interesting Air Superiority article

    Although not battleship sailors, here are some black-shoe responses yesterday from guys who were on the gun line of North Vietnam, when I asked how close to shore they got. Depends on how far inland you want the shells to land. Well within the 5 fathom line at times. BB's would have stood off...
  29. Catmando

    Interesting Air Superiority article

    Good question. Answer, very few. Battleships and our other surface combatants did a great and heroic job running on the gun line, shelling North Vietnam coastal gun emplacements, and some even took some serious hits doing so. However, the battleships' 16"/50 caliber Mark & guns had 'only' a...
  30. Catmando

    Interesting Air Superiority article

    Navy and Air Force operated in two entirely different universes. You are right about the AF ingress. Operation BOLO was early in the War and the Air Force did finally modify their tactics later after losing a lot of men. Experience level differences were amazing! Air Force guys had one tour...
  31. Catmando

    Interesting Air Superiority article

    The best fighter in the world... isn't, ... when it's winchester and the bad guys aren't yet. Also, quantity over quality sometimes has some surprising value.
  32. Catmando

    Interesting Air Superiority article

    Some comments: Yes, the vast majority of losses were from AAA, but not necessarily for the reasons stated. By Linebacker I, (and even before) nobody was doing multiple runs. It was verboten. While the Air Force, especially the B-52s in Linebacker II stupidly did predicable ingress/egress...
  33. Catmando

    Interesting Air Superiority article

    We have never had any real threat to our overwhelming air superiority since Vietnam… and really not even then. However that particular air war still remains instructive, even if may not be very relevant in today’s world. More recent air war successes in the Falklands, Bekaa Valley, Desert Storm...
  34. Catmando

    Interesting Air Superiority article

    It was... and that is what is interesting. We F-4s smoked big time in Mil. But on a hot vector, we always went to min-burner to eliminate any J-79 smoke. 'Stealth" at the time. My friend, for whatever reason and who was on the same hot vector against the same MiGs (but did not have a lock...
  35. Catmando

    Interesting Air Superiority article

    One can also envision an airspace battle far away from AEGIS and similar assets, at ranges beyond their impressive capabilities, along with perhaps IFF deception techniques and other confusion.
  36. Catmando

    Interesting Air Superiority article

    FWIW, although I may not agree with all that was written, I thought it an interesting and thought provoking article, regardless of the author's lack of credentials. Some thoughts: Although state of the art technology provides immense BVR capabilities, there can be a tendency of overreliance on...
  37. Catmando

    "There I was" stories from a Vietnam era A-4 Driver

    Maybe... but then why did my legs and knees sometimes shake uncontrollably after a trap while I was taxiing to the bow? My legs were always steady with the other aforementioned good (and often great, sometimes) 3. Bueller?
  38. Catmando

    "There I was" stories from a Vietnam era A-4 Driver

    Great post, BzB! Great people to remember. Stirred up some memories. Low profile for me, today. Like a cartoon I saw today - a child with his father at a national cemetery asking why "only today?" - I remember almost 365! I smile, but do not quite share the "Happy Memorial Day" wishes I...
  39. Catmando

    Cricket... cricket...

    Huh? Whaa? Snort! .... Wazzat for us?
  40. Catmando

    LAX closure

    Agree. U2? Much more to this. Anyone notice the Santa Ana winds, recently. Desert winds from the East in SoCal? I think not a U2, but a "diversionary" weather ballon launched near Roswell NM, to throw us all off course for the real reason SoCal ATC went down..... which is that...
  41. Catmando

    "Quirks" of Past Aircraft

    Well........ I took a cut in/before the wires once, at night on the USS Midway. Guys who were there still talk about it 40+ years later. Wish I had the plat tape. Or maybe I don't. LSO saved my life. Should have ejected. RIO should have too. Most all would have. I reached, but didn't...
  42. Catmando

    "Quirks" of Past Aircraft

    Two good questions... F-4: Rock solid on approach to the boat. Instantaneous throttle/thrust response thanks to the turbojet J-79s. It was a pleasure to bring aboard. But what made it difficult was her higher approach speed -around 143 kts as I recall, compared to the F-14's of maybe 20...
  43. Catmando

    "Quirks" of Past Aircraft

    Well, yes... but you still hat to stay on-speed and AOA. Like Zipmartin says with the A-7, the TF-30 was very slow to spool up. However in the F-14, we could and did land with speed-brakes extended, and with DLC engaged lifting the spoilers a few degrees. That extra drag seemed to do the...
  44. Catmando

    "Quirks" of Past Aircraft

    A couple of the top of my head: A-4- Everyone who has flown it has been suddenly surprised by the un-commanded snap-roll induced by the mechanical/aerodynamic slats coming out, asymmetrically! F-14- Everyone I know has at least once, while doing a Sierra Hotel high speed break with the...
  45. Catmando

    Life insurance

    A visiting finance professor I had in college was also an executive of Mutual of Omaha Insurance. It was an excellent, advanced course. One day a student asked about life insurance. He stated that term was the only way to go in most all situations for those with dependents. If you need...
  46. Catmando

    Afterburner Seminars trademarking wearing of Flightsuits

    Yeager is not the issue here. It is the incredible arrogance of Afterburner to try to capitalize on what we have all worn in our service, for their own largesse. Some good men are paying heavy legal fees, defending themselves from Afterburner's flight suit patent litigation, even if it will...
  47. Catmando

    RIP BlkPny

    Oh, this hits hard. I didn't know. Thank you, Flyfastnow for posting. When in Vietnam, we were in awe of what those guys - HAL-3 & VAL-4 - did. Over four decades later, I was again impressed again with BlkPny here on AW. We never met personally, but we were brothers. God bless. Requiescat...
  48. Catmando

    Tomcat Yawstrings

    Seriously, it was a free-bee, fun hop. But still a legit, syllabus hop. Some of the old and bent F-9's with centrifagal flow engines could; and some couldn't achieve the purpose - to break Mach 1! You couldn't get an "above" or "below" grade unless you crashed, or saved the free world.
  49. Catmando

    Tomcat Yawstrings

    As you know, it was once The Advanced Training Command's, "Transonic" Fighter. We had one syllabus hop - it's only purpose was to break the sound barrier. On mine, most of the hop was spent to climb to high alt. Then at full power, go into a steep dive. Some guys exceeded Mach 1, I didn't...
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