We had a Viggie on a stick near the chow hall at NATTC Millington when I went through A school back in 1986…and boy is that a HUGE plane.
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The Great, Constantly Changing Picture Gallery, Troisième partie: la vengeance!
- Thread starter SynixMan
- Start date
It is a BIG airframe. We had Viggies on my first cruise on CVN-68. RF-8's after that. Had a former Viggie driver in my A-7 squadron. They hated taxiing on deck after dark, when the yellow shirts would try to taxi them until the nose gear was almost at the scupper. The cockpit was way in front of the nose gear which meant they were sitting out over the water looking back at the yellow shirt.
As an EA-6B Prowler guy, I’ve had my share of scary night taxis over the water, albeit probably not as scary as the Viggie.
When the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm decided on the McDonnell F-4 Phantom in the mid-60s, they made some modifications to minimize the gnashing of teeth in the UK. Notably Rolls-Royce Spey engines replacing the J79s (at considerable engineering expense). To allow the Phantom FG.1 (aka F-4K) to operate from the smaller RN carriers, there was also a nose gear mod to increase the angle of attack for takeoff from the smaller RN carriers and a folding nose to fit onto elevators.
To minimize deck damage, they attached a heat-resistant steel plate behind the catapult and periodically hosed the area down to cool it.
In the event, only one squadron operated Phantoms from HMS Ark Royal and only from 1969 to 1979, after which the RAF inherited the RN's Phantoms to supplement their own Phantom FGR.2s (F-4Ms).
To minimize deck damage, they attached a heat-resistant steel plate behind the catapult and periodically hosed the area down to cool it.
In the event, only one squadron operated Phantoms from HMS Ark Royal and only from 1969 to 1979, after which the RAF inherited the RN's Phantoms to supplement their own Phantom FGR.2s (F-4Ms).