Tailhook Daily Briefing

Flightdeck Friday: Midway Remembered - 66 Years Later

In every battle there is a moment when the combatants, and the world, seem to catch their breath. It is a fleeting moment, lost in the blink of an eye. But in that same blink, everything changes. Such moments are borne of desperation, of courage, of plain dumb luck. But they are pivotal - for what was before is forever changed afterwards.

Until 1019 on the morning of 4/5 June 1942, things had gone badly for the US and its allies. With few exceptions, the Allies were fighting a losing battle in the Pacific. Indeed, as events unfolded that morning, it appeared as of the rout was on. The attacks by land-based air forces from Midway had utterly failed culminating in the loss of many aircraft. The strikes by the torpedo aircraft were decimated - an entire squadron of TBDs shot down with only a sole survivor to claim witness. An entire airgroup missed the Japanese carriers and the battle altogether and of the remaining forces, they were scattered and disorganized. The future was looking grim. At 1019, Hiryu’s senior lookout shouted he had spotted dive bombers attacking Kaga from overhead. Despite being thrown into a hard turn, Kaga was struck by a 500 lb bomb and then successive strikes utterly crushed her…

At 1024 Soryu was struck a mighty series of blows…

At 1026, LT Dick Best led a flight of two other SBDs away from Kaga in an attack on Akagi. Attacking in a "V" formation from a right-hand turn, history held its breath as the first and third bombs dropped narrowly missed the carrier. But the second bomb, a 1,000 pounder from LT Best’s aircraft bore through the aft edge of the elevator and exploded in the upper reaches of the Akagi’s hangar bay, in the midst of the refueled/rearming aircraft parked there. In the blink of an eye, fate turned and three carriers lay burning.

To be sure the battle was not over and a dreadful price remained to be extracted from the American carriers. Likewise, Kido Butai had not seen the last of the Americans either and would pay the final price later that day.

Across a seaborne canvass that stretched over 176,000 sq nm, larger than the country of Sweden, the battle see-sawed back and forth. No other naval engagment has seen such breath-taking distances involved and few, short of a Trafalgar, have seen such a decisive turn of events. We honor, this coming week, our forebears who fought and gave their all in this signatory battle.

- SJS

Yokosuka Bids Farewell to USS Kitty Hawk

YOKOSUKA, Japan (May 28, 2008) The aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk departs its forward-deployed operating base of Yokosuka, Japan for the last time. Kitty Hawk is the oldest active warship and the only conventional-powered aircraft carrier in the Navy. Kitty Hawk will be replaced by the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73). U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Shawn Cole (Released).

USS Kitty Hawk was the third "Forward Deployed" US aircraft carrier to be stationed in Yokosuka, following USS Midway and USS Independence and she will be relieved by the first nuclear powered aircraft carrier to be stationed in Yokosuka, the USS George Washington (CVN-73). Like Midway before her, Kitty Hawk leaves Yoko as the oldest active ship in the US inventory (next to the USS Constitution).  With her age comes a respect of all those who served aboard and gained their "Navy Experience" on the decks of this great warship.

Kitty Hawk's next stop is Pearl Harbor, before her return to CONUS for her eventual decommissioning.

Flightdeck Friday: T-2 Buckeye Memorial Day Edition

Sometime this summer an orange and white jet that bears a passing resemblance to a guppy or bullfrog, will drop out of a white-hot Arizona sky to the scorching pavement at Davis-Monthan AFB - aka the Boneyard. It will be the final flight, at least in Navy colors, of an aircraft that almost all of us who currently or have worn the Wings of Gold, be they with single- or double anchors, have more than a passing acquaintance with. (Link)

San Diego Tailhookers... Reserve May 22 on the Docket

From Spike...

Greeting to all San Diego ‘Hookers:

We would like to invite you to our special May Happy Hour event at the San Diego Air and Space Museum on May 22, 2008 from 5:00 to 8:00 PM. The invitation is attached. This is a joint venture by The Distinguished Flying Cross Society, the Tailhook Association and the San Diego Air and Space Museum to initiate a new exhibit at the museum. It will honor genuine American Aviation heroes with the centerpiece being the magnificent painting “Distinguished Flying Cross” by the great American Master Artist, Ruth Mayer. The final exhibit will be interactive, emphasizing the historical aspect of unsung aviation heroes as well as famous recipients of the DFC.

 

This event is “no cost” to the Tailhook membership. The hors d’oeuvres, wine, beer and beverages are being sponsored by Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and the DFC Society. I think this will be a great function as the organizations supporting the event so far are the Tailhook Association, the Order of Daedalians, the Association of Naval Aviation, the Red River Valley Fighter Pilots Association, Air Force Association, Marine Corps Aviation Association, Naval Helicopter Historical Society, the Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum, the Midway Museum, the San Diego Veterans Museum and Memorial Center as well as the DFC Society and the San Diego Air and Space Museum. We are also trying to get significant active duty participation and one of the DFC recipients in the painting, Maj Espinoza USMC, is back from his fourth tour in Iraq and will present the DFC Society with a US flag that was flown in Iraq.

I feel that the exhibit will give us “air warriors” and their friends a great opportunity to attract some publicity and will educate the youth of America on a unique slice of history. Please feel free to copy this and pass it to friends who might be interested in the event.

I would ask that those planning to attend please register online at www.sandiegoairandspace.org or via e-mail to csweeney2@san.rr.com so that we can have an estimate of the number coming. Thanks and I look forward to seeing you there!

All the best, Spike

Safety Checker Would Have Liked a Fresh Coat of Non-Skid!

A safety inspector on board USS Kitty Hawk gets a little too close the line of Blast from a VAQ-136 EA-6B... and goes for a slide!  Click the video below. [link]

 

FIRST CARRIER LANDING

By Tom Bennett

Right up there, high on the list of the most memorable days of my life, was Monday, 9 August 1953. It was a clear, warm beauty of a day on the waters off Pensacola, Florida — the “home of Naval Aviation,” the place where the Navy trains its pilots. The date was the day I made my first carrier landings.

We had been working all summer on “field carrier” landings at Barin Field, one of the outlying fields of the Pensacola complex. The runways at Barin had been painted to resemble the deck of a medium sized aircraft carrier. We were judged on our ability to plop the aircraft down at the proper spot to catch the carrier’s arresting wires.

The Navy taught “full stall” landings, as opposed to other methods where the plane was guided to a gentle, smooth landing. The goal for the early carrier pilot was to have the aircraft run out of lift just above the flight deck at the right spot, cut power and crunch solidly onto the deck — a kind of controlled crash.

One of the standing jokes in aviation quotes the fearful mother who cautioned her aviator son to “always fly low and slow, so you won’t be hurt if you crash.” The Navy taught us to manage our air speed and altitude – and thereby not crash. Now we were learning to fly very low and very slow indeed. The SNJ training aircraft, which normally cruised at 120 knots, was to be flown at 57 or 58 knots at the level of the corn stalks.

During the hot months the Florida sun, beating down on fields, roads, buildings and runways, caused a confusion of thermals, which jostled the planes alarmingly — a bumpy, scary ride. When we finished with the field carrier landing training, and were going to do the real thing.

We were nervous, of course. Our nervousness was intensified by the fact that on the Friday before we were scheduled to make our landings, one of the training planes went over the side of the USS Monterey (AVT-2), the carrier on which we were to make our qualifying landings. There had not been an accident on the carrier for some weeks; the demonstration that something fearful really could happen made for a very jumpy weekend. My own jitters were intensified — early in the flight-training program, during basic training, my roommate had been killed in a mid-air collision. My wife's fears were multiplied because just a few days before, a transport plane full of Aviation Cadets had crashed, with all hands killed.

Our flight of student pilots was to board the Monterey at the pier in Pensacola. The planes were to be flown by another group from Barin field. They would rendezvous with the carrier and make their qualifying landings. Then they would turn the aircraft over to us.

We showed up at the pier dressed in our blues, with flight suits and helmets in our carry-all bags. My wife of three months drove me to the pier, and bravely wished me luck (At that time I was so immersed in my own anxieties that I didn't appreciate how frightening the experience must have been to a new bride. She had been suddenly thrust into this world where men went to work in the morning, but sometimes did not return at night.)

Once aboard we were assigned to a ready room where we could change into our flight suits, and smoke and sweat. I was luckier than the others: a college classmate was among the crew of the Monterey, and he met me at the gangway and offered the hospitality of the officers’ mess.

When we arrived there, films about Naval Aviation were being shown to a group of visiting VIP's. One of the films, now famous for having been aired  often on television, showed a series of crashes on carrier decks: one plane ran into the ship’s bridge and caught fire. Another broke in two upon landing. A third slid off the side of the deck and hung precariously over the water.

“My God what are you trying to do to me,” I hissed urgently at my buddy. “I'm nervous enough without seeing these disasters.”

“Watch carefully,” he answered, “watch the last second or two of each of the segments.” I did, and found comfort: those last few inches of film showed the pilot jumping out of the wrecked plane and sprinting across the deck.

“If they all survived their crashes, what harm can you come to?” he asked.

In time — about two and a half centuries it seemed — our aircraft appeared overhead and began their landings. Each pilot did his required six landings without mishap. We, watching from various perches, were comforted.

Then it is our turn, and the tempo changed. As each of the earlier group makes his sixth landing, one of us was hustled by plane captains onto the deck and into the aircraft. The routine snapped into my mind: Strap on the parachute, buckle up, plug into the radio. Hurry, hurry — the engines were not even being stopped.

I watch the flight officer with the baton — he signaled me to run up the engine to full power, with the brakes on hard. The plane shuddered and shook. Then the signal — off with the brakes and start the roll down the all-too-short deck. The end of the deck approaches — my God, I'm not going fast enough. I'm going to crash into the sea right in front of the fast-moving ship. A moment of sheer terror, then the plane lifted gracefully into the air. I had not remembered that the carrier itself was moving through the air at thirty knots, adding that extra speed to my own.

Now for the big test — landing. But no. We were ordered to orbit a mile off to the starboard side of the ship. A group of advanced students flying operational aircraft arrived from NAS Corpus Christi. They, with a tighter fuel situation, were to land before us.

A moment of comedy — after orbiting patiently for thirty minutes or so, our flight leader was called on the radio: “Blue Leader—What is your state?” That is carrier code for “How much fuel do you have left?” The answer should be given in minutes of flight time left. Our leader, a southern boy, hesitates, then answered: “Uh—Georgia?”

Now for the landings. We tightened up our formation — the eyes of the fleet were upon us. We flew up the centerline of the ship at a thousand feet, then executed a sharp “carrier break.” Each plane, in turn, snapped to the left, and came all the way around so that we flew in single file down the port side of the ship on a course opposite to that of the ship.

I completed the last few items of the landing check-off list: mixture full rich, prop at full low pitch, hook down. I started another left turn to come around behind the ship to line up with the deck. I found the landing signal officer (LSO) standing on a platform at the stem of the ship, watched the paddles with which he told me how my approach was going. Paddles droop — I’m low, add power. Too much — power back a mite. I'm in the groove ... all of a sudden I was almost to the stern of the ship — a half second to do it right.

The LSO gave me “cut,” a slashing movement of the right paddle across his throat. I jerked the throttle all the way back. The plane drops the last few feet — Bang! I crunch onto the deck! I did it!

Men run out to disengage and re-stow the hook, I quickly taxied forward — another plane is right behind me. Here was the flight officer, he signaled with his baton for me to run up the engine — the whole routine repeated, and again and again—six times. What a feeling — relief, triumph, exhaustion. I did it.

A not-so-funny footnote: After completing our six landings, we were ordered to make a seventh take-off and form up our flight again. We were to fly the planes back to Barin field. That had been the plan all along, but no one had told us. So back to Alabama we go-leaving our uniforms on the ship.

We were not allowed to leave the base wearing flight suits, and our dress uniforms, along with wallets and keys, were back on the ship. The fortunate ones, including me, were able to borrow clothes from bachelor friends who lived on the base, and to hitch rides back to Pensacola. The others pooled their funds, bought new shirts, trousers and ties, and hired a taxi.

In the meanwhile, my young wife had returned to the pier where she had dropped me off in the morning. She arrived in time to see the Monterey come in, tie up, and begin disembarking the VIP's and the student pilots who had flown out from Barin Field, and who came down the gangway in proper uniform. They had been forewarned to take their uniforms with them.

When the last few started down the gangway, she began asking,“ Have you seen my husband, Tom Bennett?” None of them had anything to say. Soon, the last had gone their separate ways — and no Thomas. She waited, a lonely figure. A half hour, an hour ...

After that bitter, tear-stained hour she headed home, expecting to find the Chaplain awaiting her with the bad news. Instead, she found me sitting on the front steps, my uniform, wallet, and keys still on the ship. I had to go and get them myself — she was too exhausted, poor girl, after her day of worry and fear. “You were scared,” I asked incredulously? “There was no need — it was a Snap!"

Did Y'all Watch the Same Show?

Many of us affiliated with the Naval Aviation community were drawn to our televisions last week to watch the PBS series "CARRIER."  Most I suspect with a bit of a suspicious tilt of our head as to how our beloved community would be portrayed.

The 10 part series covered the entire 2005 deployment of the USS Nimitz (CVN-68) and her embarked Air Wing 11.  The series delved into some fairly controversial subjects, oft avoided in polite conversation about what takes place onboard including race relations, sexual tension on a mixed gender warship, religious issues, family issues, political issues and yes it even showed that some of the navy is not an adventure... unless cleaning urinals and sinks is your definition of adventure.  However the series did cover many of the experiences most of the readers of TDB are all too familiar with, from "Crossing the Line", to cyclic ops, to the "Night in the Barrel" (who knew the days of 15 straight bolters or wave-offs was not a thing of the past!)

Whatever your opinion of the series, favorable, unfavorable, indifferent, amused, nostalgic or indignant, I find it interesting how different people SAW the special through their own prismic view.  To which I point yon gentle reader to the "PBS Ombudsman" site, where selected letters and comments about the series are presented... below are a few select nuggets but I  highly recommend you navigate on over to PBS Ombudsman to see it in its entirety. [Link]

I have never been so drawn to watch a show as this one. I became addicted to it within 5 minutes. I served 2 years in the US NAVY and I miss that dearly! Thank you for flooding my brain with memories that I will cherish for a lifetime!

Robin Stephens, Acworth, GA

___________

Carrier — I expected a show about carrier operations. Instead, I get a show that interviews the 'carrier rats.' Just 'loved' the parts about — "Oh yes, we have a lot of homos and lezzies on board. We are not supposed to get involved with physical relationships, but nobody is going to tell me how to run my life." Nobody is going to tell me?? Too many young, immature & recalcitrant jerks within our military nowadays!!

WEO, East Orange, NJ
USAF veteran

____________

It is crystal clear to me that the pseudo-documentary "Carrier" is nothing more than recruitment propaganda for the military. We have had to endure endless hours of this justification for war which is broadcast continually during prime time and even throughout the night. It seems to have been carefully coordinated for broadcast just when Gates is sending another carrier to the Middle East to justify a possible attack on Iran. While I support those serving in the military, this type of glorification of the military as a "family or fraternity" does not match the lack of support for the veterans coming back from war. Mel Gibson is the producer of this series so it is no wonder that it presents the military as "cool and patriotic". If PBS continues to broadcast pro-military programs another unjustified war could actually happen, only this time it will be nuclear.

J Hirschinger, Loomis, CA

_____________

Carrier. War is about killing. War kills people; war kills towns and countries. This fact remains no matter how magnificently you portray our military heroes or how miraculous the technology. The PBS series did an excellent job of showing our military might and the valor of our service people. Because we can, PBS appears to be saying we should go to war with (Iran), with or without just cause. Go team! Rah, rah, rah!

Carol Seideman, Boulder, CO

_____________

I, a financial supporter or PBS, am disgusted by the PBS series "Carrier". Why is the last vestige of rational American journalism presenting such a single-minded militaristic viewpoint? Is this what PBS is all about? Is this what PBS supports? Is this a balanced and international viewpoint presentation of what America should stand for? Is this lifestyle and worldview what young Americans should strive to emulate? Navy? Marines? Military Industrial Complex. Unfocused youth. Confused foreign policy. You've lost a lover of the old PBS.

Paul Bhorjee, Bethesda, MD

______________

My family and I have enjoyed the series Carrier so much. It is a brilliant show and I will be sad to have it end. It is entertaining and informative, and from the opening moments, so very engaging. It is wonderful.

B. Rose, Stratton, ME

______________

This is not the kind of programming I would choose to support. While it was interesting, engaging and like watching a soap opera, or reality TV as a Salon.com reviewer suggested. To me, it was ultimately propaganda for the Navy. If this boat is part of Iraqi Freedom, then show us Iraq. Show us what war really looks like. Show us our soldiers injured, dying, being transported back home in body bags. Show us the crying, terrified children, whose parents have been killed, whose homes are blown up, whose families are torn apart. Show us the largest immigrant crisis in the world, caused by the US invasion of Iraq. Show us what war really looks like. Carrier missed the mark and sank under the weight of its own message.

Cynthia Smith, Portland, OR

Perspective is all about Viewing Angle!

By the way, if you missed any of the series it is all available online at http://www.pbs.org/weta/carrier/ .

"We're Not Breeding Any New Intruders!"

These words were spoken numerous times throughout this year's Intruder Reunion!  And... We're not! 

I had the honor this past weekend in San Diego to meet hundreds of gathered Intruder Pilots, BNs, Tech Reps, their families and friends. I listened to their stories accurate as a Cracker Jack Prized Watch, laughed at their jokes, smiled with them as their joy overflowed at the first sight of long ago friends and comrades not heard from in 30 years, and I cried with them too as they raised their glass to missed friends left long ago... eternally young.

The compassion in the rooms was tangible, hugs and vice grip handshakes abounded.  These men are INTRUDERS and always will be.  And there is something to be said and yes even possibly envied for being able to claim that moniker.  At least one sure felt that in their company.

These men flew and fought in a truly unique aircraft.  Beauty is said to be in the eye of the beholder... or in this case the crew of an Intruder!  The A-6 in its many variants with the exception of a few bumps here, and a few radio fins there, and a giant chin pimple called a TRAM, the overall airframe remained throughout its historic career much as it was when she first rolled off the Grumman Iron Works assembly line in 1960... she was a flying DRUMSTICK!

But despite having looks only a mother could love, the A-6 piloted by heroic crews, earned a reputation, even legacy, no other aircraft can match.  And I do mean Crews... the Intruder is a 2 man aircraft, Pilot and Bombardier Navigator  (BN) and it takes these two to make this aircraft the formidable weapon she became known as.

Featured Speaker, and A-6 transplant (from Vigilantes of all planes!), Admiral Fox Fallon, alluded to the uniqueness of this great airplane in that the crew sat side by side instead of the more common tandem arrangements familiar to most in NAVAIR since WWII.  This seating allowed for unique communication between Pilot and BN, one could recognize trouble or confidence in a simple look exchanged between crewmates.   Navigation advice could easily be exchanged without the need for the later "Banana on a Broomstick" method employed NFO's in F-4's and F-14's.  Also, the Intruder's mission often required single aircraft going in a night, low level, without the benefit of today's modern conveniences of NVG's or FLIR's... without their crewmate they would indeed be "Alone."  This is also why a number of Intruder crews would be lost without benefit of a clear accounting for the causes or knowledge of their final resting.

It was these unique men, that openly shared their stories of, "Aw Gee, we were just doin' our job... that black night... on one engine... inverted... with the RADAR crapped out... in the mire... and both generators sounding like coffee grinders, when we dropped all 18 slicks in the smoke stack of that there COMMIE power generator!"  "Shur was a fun firework show that night!"... "Then Sheeeaught, we had to return to the damn dutch rollin' boat... by the way, Paddles is STILL A LYIN' SUMBITCH! I was not high! The hook skipped!"

As I mentioned there were not only crewmates here, there were also the wives and other family members of these fine men here as well.  And believe me the stories to be heard from these women were equally awe inspiring, albeit from a different perspective.  The trials and tribulations these women had to endure being Officer's Wives, CO's Wives, Mom's to their own kids as well as in many cases a Mom to the Newlywed JO's wives in a world that would be foreign enough had it simply been Naval Aviation... without the war, demonstrated a different breed of heroics, but recognizable none the less.  There were many tears at seeing the wives not seen in these many years as well... but most of our tears were shared for one cherished wife especially... Tonya Clark.

February 18, 2004

Lieutenant Alan Clark was in the last Navy plane shot down in Vietnam; remains identified January 2004 and he was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

He was the love of her life. Her husband. Her soulmate. Her everything.

"I just didn't want him to go," says Tonya Clark.

Alan Clark went. He went to Vietnam. And before it was all over, the A-6 Navigator based out of Whidbey Island Naval Air Station, would make history.

His shipmate from the USS Midway would write about him in his book: "I felt the tears pouring down my cheeks," Jim Horsley says.

Alan's wife would be haunted by the question: What if? What if the war had ended just two weeks earlier?

January 10, 1973. Lieutenant Alan Clark's plane was shot down. It was the last Navy plane shot down in the war. Pilot Jim Horsley searched for the two Navy flyers.

"With my oxygen mask on, I'm sobbing tears," says Horsley.

They found nothing. Two weeks later, the Vietnam War ended. Troops started coming home.

"I remember when the guys came back. It was so hard seeing them flying in and they had the missing man formation and that was just so difficult," says Tonya.

For the next 31 years, Navigator Alan Clark and his pilot remained missing.

"When you go to war it's a hard thing," says Clark. A hard thing leaving your wife -- your pregnant wife -- to go to war.

Tad Clark was just two months and 10 days old when his father was killed in Vietnam.

"He never got to hold him and see him!" Tonya said.

Tad never met his father, but he would do something that would have made him proud. He followed in his footsteps. Tad Clark is an Air Force Pilot and Thunderbird!

"He just wanted to be a fighter pilot all of his life," says Tonya Clark.

... Tonya always had faith that one day, the military would find Alan.

And they have. Alan Clark's remains were finally found and identified through DNA. In 2004, his shipmates and family helped bury Navy Lieutenant Alan Clark, the recipient of the Purple Heart, at Arlington National Cemetery.

"You just can't help by feel grateful and say 'Oh God this is so amazing' It is amazing," says Tonya Clark.

Tonya's soulmate; her best friend; her everything, is home.

Tonya was as beautiful as ever, and we were all thrilled to see her there!

The Intruder is long gone, now relegated to a museum piece or a gate guard, or a reef in a nearby ocean.  But these crews are still with us, to share with us their knowledge, their humor, their warmth, their love of flying, their love for their fellow man... But we're not breeding any more of them.  So I highly recommend getting to know these men while you can, the tales are great, and 100% truthful. ;-)   Below are but a sampling of the images of this reunion. 

YHS had the opportunity to intrude on VA-115's special moments (nepotism will do that, right Hoagy?) thus many of the photos are of the men and wives of the ARABS of 1972-73.  But if you have good digital images of friends at the Intruder reunion, please send them to me, I am compiling and creating a public image gallery of as many as I can gather.  I will post all there for free download for all!  Captions and info about the subjects of the images are very welcomed.

 

 

Ready Room 5 Dedication, complete with ship's bell calling to order, and Red Bull Air Races off the port side competing for our attention!

VA-115 Circa '72-'73

And finally Tonya Clark!  Our Hero!

UPDATE:  Thanks to folks like, Larry Yarham and Paul Barrish we are beginning to add to our collection of Reunion Photos!  And rather than posting them all here I have created a repository Gallery of all of the submitted photos for your viewing pleasure!  Click the hyperlink below and visit the gallery...

Intruder Association 2008 Reunion 

Please feel free to add your comments for clarification of individuals in the images, I will work to update the captions accordingly.  Also once in the gallery simply click on the larger image to see a variety of size options available for free downloads and if you are not computer savvy you can also order prints direct from the site!

Here's a few for a taste...

PLEASE! If you have other photos of the Intruder Reunion, please send them to me at carmichaelj@comcast.net I will gladly write an addendum to this article and include them in the planned gallery which I will identify here once I have it established.

Thank you Intruders!  It was a blast!

Editor, John Carmichael