US Military aircraft and picture stories

[BlackAces]

Hi all! I served in the US Navy for nearly 31 years. I was always an aviation mechanic/supervisor/certified Navy instructor/maintenance manager.

I have hundreds of pictures from my military years. During our full time RV traveling years we visited numerous military installations where there were aircraft on display and sometimes aviation museums. I have pictures from all of them.

During my early years cameras were not allowed on flight lines or other operating areas. That changed slowly over the years to a time when we could even take cameras on aircraft carrier flight decks during flight operations.

My first duty station out of the Great Lakes, IL boot camp was AIRBARSRON2 at Barbers Point Naval Air Station, Oahu, TH. The aircraft were Beech Craft (SNB designation) and Super Constellations (designations WV2 and R7V). The years were 1957 – 1959. I was 18 when I got there and 20 when I left. The following pictures are file photos.

If there is interest shown for this thread, I will periodically post more stories and pictures and/or answer questions about the pictures.








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[SpinWhite]

Thanks. I'd like to see more.

[ROBERT CROSS]

Bob
🇺🇸

Lakehurst NJ 1964------MCAS, EL TORO...1966.---------Da Nang, RVN 1967

[centennialman]

Cool pics....following!

[skyguyscott]

Wow, Connies Beaches, herc and goonie, all planes I have had the good fortune to ride and jump out of!

Here is a thread I’m sure you’ll enjoy: https://www.airforums.com/forums/f48...ne-197710.html

[Silvr_Bullet]

Navy designation C-47 or C-54, next C-130, next called a whale not sure of designation used as air-air fueler although I am not sure of this one. Bonus Photo mate F-86 Sabre ? A little guessing, been a long time.

[21Airstream]

B47?

[Flynavy]

Proud member Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club here. Always good to hear from fellow vets. 1967-71. Two westpacs with VA-146 & VA-93 on board Enterprise & Ranger.

I also was aircraft mech, AMH2 by the time my enlistment ended.

[Woosch]

Love this stuff. A C121!!! A nemesis at my A school. I think I have published this picture on the forum before but here it is again.

[kb0zke]

More pictures, please!

[BlackAces]

Originally Posted by 21Airstream

B47?

I-95 at Savanna, GA.

[Salvagediver]

Always thought the Constellations were gorgeous birds, and the Beechcraft too. I too worked with Naval Aviation in my 40 years in the Navy as both AD and as a Federal Employee; I was a diver.

[Escape_Plan]

following

[SPARKLE19]

Nice trip down memory lane. I also enlisted in 1957, after boot in San Diego went to Glynco (blimps) then Lakehurst then...many squadrons retired at 25 years.

[SVTOTEM]

Can the Army play?

Everything I flew in my 32 years is in the museum now. Here are my two favorite.


Ft Rucker, AL has an excellent museum, and campground for those eligible.

[Tom_T]

Originally Posted by BlackAces

If there is interest shown for this thread, I will periodically post more stories and pictures and/or answer questions about the pictures.

Sounds great to me!

My Dad's 1st Cousin Dick (not sure what that is to me other than cousin) was a WWII Flight Engineer on the Connies you show, then went on to do so for TWA's Connies, and he stayed in until retirement in the 1980s as TWA's most senior Flight Engineers on 747s, getting to choose the LAX to London Heathrow run once a month & done! His wife "Mike" was the most senior flight attendant with the same pick rights, and they did the run together. While he was trained to pilot all of the aircraft he engineered on as "Third Seat", he never went for 2nd or PIC - so I asked why not, & he said that he'd lose his seniority and benefits of same. Dick has been gone for years now.

Growing up in the 1960s I wanted to be a Navy Fighter Pilot, but my less than 20-20 vision, and finishing college in `74 and eligible for an OCS try at aviation flight school just when they started furloughing pilots conspired against those plans. But I did eventually get my private SEL license, which has been inactive for years - unfortunately.

PS - My inspiration for the Naval Aviation goal in the 1960s was my Mom's HS classmate, who was an Annapolis grad who flew the Demon, Phantom II & Vigilante in Nam and the non-war over Laos, and he always shared his non-classified 35mm slides & 8mm films with us at his home aviation shows to my delight. It was also a thrill for a 10-17 year old kid, to sit in his F4 on the deck of his Carrier before deploying, as well as at Miramar NAS while in port between his deployments. Gerry finished up landside as the North American Tactical Air Defense Command, then instructor at the USAF Academy, retiring outside of the Springs. When our Army Sniper son was posted to Ft. Carson & living in C'Springs, I was going to visit with Gerry, but he'd passed a year before.

Some of you posting here may have known Cdr. Gerry G. &/or my cousin Dick T., but the "Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club" post reminded me of Gerry, since he'd used that too after a "swim"!

While born in Pittsburgh PA, we moved to San Diego in 1963 when I was 10, and lived under to NAS Miramar approach path in University City, and the boys on the block always went out to watch whenever an aircraft augered in, to see if we could collect a few spare parts for our collections after the SP/MP cordon was gone.

Thanx to all of you who did serve!

Looking forward to more installments from you!

Stay safe & well!
Tom
///////

[Steamy1]

Long Live the "Red River Valley Rats"!

[tjansen]

Thanks for your service. Since only 1% of the population has been in the Military this is a small crowd. I was USCG Air Station, Corpus Christi. 1968 - 1972. Aviation Electrician 2nd class. Radio man, Flight Mechanic. HU16E Flying Boat. Now I have a 1995 Sovereign and would love to camp on some bases. Do you know if Veterans can camp or it has to be Retired or active? Living next to Pensacola and Naval Air Museum. A must see for all. Perdido Bay for camping on the intracoastal with space for your boat on the dock area.
Tom Jansen
Daphne, Al.

[Nozz]

Served 20 years in the USAF, flying F-16s, T-37Bs, and T-6As. Retired 2015. Keep any and all pictures and stories coming!

Nozz

P.S. We’re camping by Widbey Island NAS at Deception Pass SP and I love all the jet noise from F/A-18E/Fs and EA-18Gs! Even the P-3s and new P-8s.

[Boxite]

The last bomber lost in Europe, Germany, April ‘45, Richard Farrington crew, B-24 Liberator.
466th Bomb Group, Based at Attlebridge, East Anglia/Norwich
My Dad, flight engineer/top-turret gunner in the same bomb group, served with and knew this crew. The US Post Office issued this stamp, illustrating that particular B-24 sixty years after the loss.
Ironically, the nose-art and name of the plane: Black Cat
It came-apart from flak. Only two survived.
A book written by a descendant who discovered his deceased uncle’s diary is “Wings of Morning”, tells the story of the days leading up to the mission and the aftermath, and his search for and discovery of the site, including the German treatment of the wreckage site and crew remains. An excellent read.