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Pic's from my old Squadron A4M Skyhawks

Article about: Well these are some pic's of my A4's fly shooting and bombing. My squadron taught pilots how to Attack. The came to us after flight school, They were either a Fighter or and Attack . Fighter

  1. #11

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    Awesome pics Phil! Yes the fighters are very sexy and easy to appreciate planes. But I like that C-130! I m slightly biased as it is, seeing as how I build parts for them everyday now though. Lol. Seriously great photos thanks for sharing them. Kindest regards.

    Brian

  2. #12
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    Thank Gent's,
    I'm glad you liked them.

    Anderson I like that camo job on that one and also looks like it is all dressed up to party!! . With 5 pylons we could pack then full of ordnance .
    We used to have them painted up until early'82, then the navy must of been trying to save on $$$$$ because the order came out and said all will be painted battle ship Gray, This is how we used to look. This one is dropping napalm canisters.
    Pic's from my old Squadron A4M Skyhawks

    And to RickW, We had a TA4F & TA4J . Those were the two seaters used for the Pilots familiarization for flight of the A4. They had to learn how to fly it with an instructor in the front seat, Student in the back.. Those only had a Gun site, The A4M had the HUD (Head Up Display) Its what you see now every time they show a pilots view out the front windscreen. It has your speed, altitude, Heading and your directional gyro input displayed on a silver nitrates coated glass to reflect the information ,but still transparent to see thru. Gun Site on Steroid's!!!
    The A4M, The one with the Avionics/weapons system hump on the back. Was their final flight test to graduate to the fleet. That is the one used for the Gun and Bombing qualification..
    We had what was called the ARBS , Angle Rate Bombing System installed on our last upgrade.(Testbed/Evaluation platform) It put a Eyeball(Camera) on the nose that could differentiate colors , So Black/Gray and white. Black/Gray was the background It would lock on to the White. This was before thermal. I went to a conference when they were try to get the Navy's approval and one of our Captains told the audience. " I can out a 500 pounder in the back of a pickup truck traveling 60 MPH down a dirt road? Yeah the Navy bought it!!!
    Semper Fi
    Phil

  3. #13

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    From what I've read in the past from those who flew them, the pilots loved them and the way they handled, not just a bomber, a real fighter.

  4. #14

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    Wow.
    Go photos!
    I imagine its sound flying at low altitude!

  5. #15
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    Quote by Anderson View Post
    From what I've read in the past from those who flew them, the pilots loved them and the way they handled, not just a bomber, a real fighter.
    You are right about the Fighter. It could hold it own in a dog fight. We play dog fights here in Yuma. Back then 3 of each, F4 and A4 would go out to fight.! 1 F4, then 2 A4's shot down . Then when chased the third A4 would deploy landing gear,both top and bottom Flaps, Speed breaks ,then the slat would come out and basically put on the breaks and the F4 HAD to maintain speed since they had a glide ratio of a brick, They would fly by the A4 he would tighten up and kill the 2 F4 as they passed in front with the Aim 9 sidewinders we carried. It happened ALL THE TIME!!! The missile were a pod carried on the wing that was tied to receivers on the ground, It calculated the speed ,G's and rate of turn and would simulate a missile lock-on and launch characteristic of the AIM 9. All this displayed on a giant screen in the TACT's center. It was like watching a video game but the planes were real. It was very cool to watch. When a missile would "Hit" it's target a coffin shape would appear around the plane and he would be called dead by range control.

    State of the art back in the 80's, They still use those pods to this day when playing at the range. That is what the Marine Adversaries use on the Jets we had over there at VMFT 401(F-21Kfir then F5's) when folks would come to play with us

    Semper Fi
    Phil
    Last edited by AZPhil; 11-06-2019 at 05:02 AM. Reason: Made correction

  6. #16

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    Quote by reneblacky View Post
    Great shots Phil, the UK didn't like these much back in '82!
    The RAN used these on HMAS Sydney & HMAS Melbourne.
    No, but they were a lot less fond of our Harriers when the A4 on the tail of a Harrier first encountered "VIFF'ing" (Vectoring in Forward Flight). The A4 whizzes past and gets a warm sensation up his butt

    All's fair and that!!

    Regards

    Mark
    PS I believe USMC is quite fond of the Harrier (AV8B?) too
    "War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing he cares more about than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature with no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."

  7. #17

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    Quote by AZPhil View Post
    Well these are some pic's of my A4's flying, shooting and bombing. My squadron taught pilots how to Attack. They came to us after flight school, They were either a Fighter or and Attack Pilots. Fighter's went to VMFAT 101 and flew F4 Phantoms or you went to VMAT 102 and flew A4 Skyhawks to become an Attach Pilot. Both located at MCAS Yuma in the 80's.

    These pic's are taken at our range also referred to a The Barry Goldwater Range.

    These are early to mid 80's time frame.
    The call sign was Serria Charle for the SC on the tails
    The last one is my favorite!!!
    Semper Fi
    Phil

    Attachment 1352791Attachment 1352792Attachment 1352793

    Attachment 1352794Attachment 1352795
    Cool pics of a very capable machine.

    Tom Cruise seemed to find them difficult to handle as I recall in Top Gun and he is the best of the best I hear!!

    Regards

    Mark
    "War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing he cares more about than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature with no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."

  8. #18

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    Quote by bsiwula1 View Post
    I like that C-130!
    Brian
    Yep, "Fat Albert" (Brit nickname for the C130) has a charm of his own whether creeping around as the Spook, belching fire as the Spectre or just with a trail of 'chutes behind him as he tips out a whole "can of whup-ass" on the naughty boys!!

    Regards

    Mark
    "War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing he cares more about than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature with no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."

  9. #19
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    This was the official patch. We referred to it as the Stab in the back attack patch
    Pic's from my old Squadron A4M Skyhawks

    This became the unofficial patch for us Desert Rat's
    Pic's from my old Squadron A4M Skyhawks

    Semper Fi
    Phil

  10. #20
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    Mark,
    We had the VMA-513 nightmares on the other side of us, They were the first AV8A squadron. Showed up at MCAS Yuma in 1981. They had a British officer who was the trainer/advisor. They lost 3 Harriers in one month. I would stop working just to watch vertical take off's because there was a good chance I would see something and I did. One day a AV8A was doing a vertical hoover and lost control. NATOPS emergency procedure said under 50 feet shutdown engines. He did and just slammed into the ground and the wings just bent down . The pilot was fine, But total loss. The next was one flying to MCAS El Toro. Had a fire light came on in the cockpit annunciator panel, He punched out and the AV8A just kept flying and crashed 5 miles later. The 3 third was an engine failure and that resulted in a loss of life. Yeah they moved on to the AV8B which was the death of the active duty A4's. They were sent to the reserve fleet, All my tech's were transferred to the VMA 214 the Black Sheep squadron who were now flying the Harrier AV8B and stationed at MCAS Yuma. I EAS'ed that same time frame.Now our base has moved to the F35 and the Harrier is on its way out. Pilots from the Harriers were transferred to that program. Aviation Progress!

    Semper Fi
    Phil

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