Tailhook Daily Briefing

Ghosts of Naval Air

I thought I dedicate this Halloween post to a little paranormal in our Aviation Navy.  Most Tailhookers are not too concerned with ‘Things that go bump in the night”… cuz usually it’s us!

However there are a number of haunting tales told about sightings of strange humanesque shapes walking the passageways of long retired flattops like the Oriskany, the Midway and many others.  However probably the most famous Ghost of an Aircraft Carrier is “Charly” the well mannered, well dressed former sailor of the USS Lexington who perished in a Kamikaze attack on Halloween night 1944 off the coast of the Philippines   .

[Charly]  - a white-uniformed, blue-eyed young seaman who has been known to tell the tales of the ship to museum visitors who have come to tour her. Only this tour guide is a ghost.

Staff of the floating museum call him "Charly". Visitors have often called him helpful. But whatever you call him, the neatly-dressed sailor in white is not part of the museum staff, but reportedly  a former crew member that simply failed to depart the ship after giving up his life…

On a Corpus Christi Caller-Times web site, as many as 200 visitors to the museum have reported encounters with Charly. Without exception, the reports indicate the ghostly seaman is a "polite young man" that seems to share a great deal of information about the Lexington's engine room far below deck.

[More here]

Charly is rumored to primarily frequent the engine spaces and the lower decks of the ship known to the Japanese as “The Gray Ghost” (due to the Japanese, having mistakenly thought they had sunk her no fewer than four times, yet she kept returning).

Charly has become so much of an accepted part of the Lexington’s lore that even a web cam has been installed in the engine spaces.  In one now infamous image taken by this camera, one can possibly make out what appears to be a crewman standing in space.

 

Many visitors to the ship claim to this day feeling the presence of numerous spirits as they tour the decks.

Visitors say they feel a cold chill when they pass the room and one claimed to have seen something moving around in the darkness of the empty engine room. Another said he saw the engineer’s ghost looking intently at the engine as though trying to fix something.

Others have told stories of feeling something hurriedly push past them, hearing footsteps in the halls, being in the bathroom when the lights turned on and off by themselves and being in bed and feeling the covers beging tugged off them.

Recently, some cadets were staying overnight on the USS Lexington. They got up during the night and ran around the ship on a dare. Running through the engine room, they came face to face with the ghost of the dead crewman.

I’ll leave you all with that image, wishing you all a fun, safe, and Happy Halloween!

If you have any navy ghost stories you’d like to share please feel free to add them to the comments, just click “Comment” below and have at it.

Passing Gas with the A’Rabs of VA-115

This weekend, I’ve had the distinct pleasure of being on a great email thread of ‘One-Up-manship’.  I thought I’d share with our fellow Tailhookers.

The boys of VA-115 Arabs, pronounced “A-Rabs” (class of ‘70-‘72) have been encouraged at the behest of Dave “Snako” Kelly to tell some of their best Tanker (KA-6D) episodes, or at least whatever they could remember…

This invite has borne some great “There we were… upside down, with the number one flamed out!… no moon, and my BN read’n a girly mag by flashlight!”  tales!  The remembrances have also pointed to the fantastic camaraderie shared by that great squadron during their trials over Vietnam.

Squadron mates the likes of: Jack Keegan, Rob '”Toon” Ponton, Dave “Snako” Kelly, Jim Horsley, Thom Watson, John Koch, Paul Barrish, Mike Nettles, and “Hoagy” Carmichael all chimed in with their memories of flying the “Gas Giving Drumbstick!”

At risk of losing my clearance, I will share a few of these tales… Hell, I did receive the permission from the Skipper and the instigator though, so my butt is partially covered!

It all began with Dave Kelly--

All:  There has been a dialog going on about tanker missions, and some of the associated sea stories.  I really enjoy these, because they really speak to professionalism in Naval Aviation, i.e., whatever the mission you do it the best possible way that it can be done.  There may have been a lot of things about the Navy that I thought were done in a less than optimal way, but the crews in 115 seemed to be particularly adept at completing the mission in the best way possible.  (I think this says a great deal about leadership, because it couldn’t be attributed to all us loose-cannon JOs!)

Skipper Hoagy wrote the following email describing a tanker mission  he and Roger flew where ADJ1 Wells ‘pre-started’ the aircraft for him.  This particularly struck a chord with me, because Wells was one of my guys as Power Plants Branch Officer during the first cruise.  During the second cruise Pat Wells became the Power Plants Flight Deck Trouble-Shooter.  (I imagine this was where he started the Skipper’s plane.)

From Hoagy Carmichael…

Sorta funny how a subject like tanker mission could get so many of us to go look in our log books to see when we flew a tanker mission. Well, I did the same and I did fly a few… believe me I did.

I can only remember one flight that will always be with me. I was the ready tanker pilot one night when we… I think Roger was my BN… were both sitting Ready 5, in full flight gear of course, when we got the call to launch the Ready Tanker. 

Roger and I hightailed to the flight deck. Yep there it was behind the island, tail over the edge and Air Boss telling us to “Hurry Up!!! (are there any other words in an Air Boss’s vocabulary?)

As we approached the plane, we were met by 1st class Wells, he said, “Skipper I have already checked the plane over and started the starboard engine!”

I have to admit, I was a little surprised, but Wells was so good in my eyes, that I didn't think twice and climbed in. As I remember we launched, gave fuel to the Phantoms and recovered on that recovery cycle.  All thanks to the initiative of Pat Wells.

Back to Snake…

I had an experience with Wells on the flight deck that was rather interesting.  I think it was the one and only plane I downed on the Cat.  (And I think, like most of us, if Maintenance said it could fly, then we flew it.)

WARNING - SEA STORY TO FOLLOW (“this is no shit”):  John Koch and I were scheduled for a day Alpha.  We manned-up, taxied to the Cat, and ran up our engines.  We heard a muffled explosion of some kind, and we went to suspend.  Once we were secure Wells came up my ladder, and Bud Wilson came up John’s.  Bud was giving me a violent thumbs up.  I turned to Wells and shouted for his opinion.  Wells gave me a thumbs down.  I turned to Bud and he was glaring at Wells and still violently indicating thumbs up.  At that point I think my Irish temper got the best of me.  I invited Bud to climb into the right seat in John’s place, if he really felt that plane was ready to go. 

…We were then shut down and towed off the Cat.

Petty Officer Wells was really an exceptional sailor.  I never heard from him after I left active duty.  I did write a recommendation for him to go to the Warrant Officer Program, and I know he was accepted into that program.  (If anyone has any contact with him, I would like to touch base.)

Thom Wilson added one from there…

This exchange has caused me to recall various tanker missions, and one stands out – It had nothing to do with the amount of gas passed, however. Bob Wilson and I had gassed up the F-4’s and had the rest of the cycle to kill. Bored, we decided to test the KA-6 service ceiling, and began a slow orbit over the ship gradually increasing altitude – as I recall, we got to about 60,000 feet before positive pressure breathing started –…

Just before we reached 63K or so, we were shocked to see a contrail over our heads – way over our heads, at least another 15-20K above us! The contrail was headed north, and approaching Hainan Island –

We reported what we were observing to the ship – concerned that whatever it was we saw would soon enter Chinese airspace – A few minutes later “Jehovah” came up on the radio, and told us that we had not seen anything and to forget it. We decided it was a SR-71 mission (what else could make that altitude and with complete deniability?)

Then Jack Keegan made the scene with a great tale of how well a cross-decked Air Force exchange puke fared with the A-Rabs!

I'll relate the most interesting tanker hop that I had.  It was during the second cruise and I had an Air Force puke in the right seat (standard drill to get them a cat shot and trap).  We were Barcap and the F4 guys were Mugs and Mike Rabb (LSO) from 161.  As you all know, at that point in the war, the F4 guys were always painting MIGs over the north, but the guys in control would never let them engage.  I can still hear one of the F4 guys telling the control guys (whoever they were) that they had bogeys and wanted permission to engage.  The response was always quick and was always "Negative".  This time, the control guys said "Standby"..I about jumped out of my skin.  You probably remember that they engaged and that Mugs shot down both MIGs.  What you might not know is that he shot the second MIG off Mike's tail and that Mike was freaked because he was out of gas and still over the North. 

This is the good part.  I called Mike and asked him where he was and where he was headed.  I told him that I would rendezvous with him and headed west toward feet dry.  The AF puke went nuts and told me that I couldn't do this because we had no ECM, etc.  Not that I was a smart ass in those days, but I think that I said to him "Watch me!".  We never went feet dry, but were probably in the SAM envelope when he plugged.  The AF puke was ghost white as I remember.  Rob made it back and the ship was actually cooperative as we were cleared straight in from many miles north.

I don't think that many of you knew this story.  Didn't want the old guys (senior officers) to lose any more hair than they already had, so I kept it to myself...

Don't know what happen to the AF puke.

This was not the only yarn to include the infamous Mugs McKuen, as Snake recalls…

I was taking a midi up in the right seat of a KA-6D somewhere in the summer of the 2^nd cruise.  We were suppose to tank the F-4s in the Alpha on their way to the beach.  A whole covey of Charger  F-4s (VF-161) pulled up on my left wing, and there was something very unusual about Charger Lead.  (I would find out later that it was Mugs McKuen).  He gave me a hand-sign to take fuel, and I extended the drogue as he slid in behind me. 

After taking several thousand pounds of fuel, Mugs disengaged, and Charger Two slid into position.  Mugs pulled up on my right wing to wait for the rest of the tanking.  It was at that point I asked the midi to get the side number on the F-4 on our right wing.  The midi turned in his seat, and then he stammered something loudly into the ICS, turned to me, and started waving his arms.  It turns out during this whole evolution, Mugs had his helmet off, and he had donned a full monkey head Halloween mask.  When the midi turned to look at the F-4 all he could see in the front cockpit was a gorilla flying the aircraft.  I guess that sort of blew him away.

Jack Keegan confirms…

I can validate the Mugs Monkey story.  He did the same thing with me and a Middie.  I told the Middie that the fighter losses were heavy and they were training anybody/anything they could...

The legendary Jim Horsley then called out…

TOON—I’d love to hear your rendition of our day overhead tanker flight when directed to give everything we had to boltering Phantoms. You mentioned something about a low fuel light before we ever started down...never saw the ship on the 1^st pass. And the rest of the story??....Toon, over to you!  -JIM

Rob “Toon” Ponton obliged…

Horse et al,

My youngest son says he worries about my wife and me because one of us forgets and the other makes it up.

Couple thoughts:

1. Over the years, I suppose “naïve confidence” or “clueless confidence” may have been applied to my general outlook. But I gotta tell ya, Horse, being crewed with Snake and then you turned a bunch of that confidence into “informed confidence.” Truth to tell, failure simply wasn’t an option for any of us Arabs.

2. I remember saying/thinking something along the lines of “1460 pounds of fuel plus 200/minus 100; the stand pipe’s in the back of the service tank; so being in a descent we got 1660 pounds remaining instead of 1360”.

3. I remember you saying something about “tighten your lap belt and check your face curtain just in case”.

4. As I recall, MIDWAY had the best damned CATCC in the fleet. Didn’t we have to fly case 2 or case 3 all the time following loss of the E-2 at the end of the first deployment? Our controllers were damned good and would set us up well. A “short turn in” was no problem for them or for us.

5. You stayed on the instruments and my eyes were outside.

6. Fuzz was on the platform. His “roger ball” call would calm any “wobbly knees”.

7. Finally, as you well know, I was blessed with a short memory, so “interesting flights” were quickly forgotten, but only after completing Spook’s award folder notes.

For whatever reason, I’ve come to realize the VA-115 Arabs were something special. For all of our individual failings, be it a forgotten MR switch; forgotten external light switch at night, “feet dry” or selecting “nose” vice “tail” on the ACU panel resulting in 12 snake eye retards vice slick, we made us some quality history.

Toon

Well, there you have a taste, many more tales were exchanged and I may be inclined to add a few in the future...  I would like to thank all of the Arabs for sharing pieces of our Naval Aviation History!

I also extend the invite to any other squadron to share your tales here on our pages, especially as we approach the Centennial of Naval Aviation in 2011, we will then all be called on to help share our heritage!

If you have any tales you would like to share, please feel free to email me directly {here} -- JC

Note:  Many of the images used to help tell these tales are from Buzz Nau’s great USS Midway Historical Site CV41.org a wonderfully nostalgic visit for all you former USS Midway and Airwing 5 guys.

Flightdeck Friday: Midway POV - Wade McClusky

Written narratives and biographies are important and a primary research source. However, when one has the opportunity to listen to a narrative, especially of one who was there and played a key role in a major event - that is even better. Courtesy friend and contributor to this blog, LCDR George Walsh, USN-Ret, himself a dive bomber pilot from the Pacific theater (SB2C Helldiver) comes a clip of a radio interview with then RDML Wade McClusky, USN-Ret conducted on the 30th anniversary of the Battle of Midway and a few short years before he left this life for greener pastures. - SJS

(click here to listen) → C.Wade McClusky, Radio interview 1972

Rear Admiral Clarence Wade McClusky, Jr., USN (Retired), (1902-1976)

Clarence W. McClusky, Jr. was born in Buffalo, New York, on 1 June 1902. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1926 and became a Naval Aviator three years later. Over the next decade, he served in several air units, as well as on command staffs, as an instructor at the Naval Academy and at shore facilities. In 1940 he was assigned to Fighting Squadron Six (VF-6), based on USS Enterprise (CV-6), and assumed command of that squadron in April 1941.

Lieutenant Commander McClusky became Enterprise air group commander in April 1942. During the Battle of Midway, while leading his air group's scout bombers on 4 June 1942, he made the critical tactical decision that led to the destruction of the Japanese aircraft carriers Kaga and Akagi, thus making a vital contribution to the outcome of that pivotal battle. Later in World War II, he commanded the escort carrier USS Corregidor (CVE-58).

Captain McClusky served in a variety of staff and shore positions in the later 1940s. During the Korean War, he was Chief of Staff to the Commanders of the First and Seventh Fleets. He commanded Naval Air Station, Glenview, Illinois, in 1952-53, and the Boston Group of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet in 1954-56. Clarence W. McClusky, Jr., retired from active duty in July 1956. At that time, in recognition of his vital contributions to the outcome of World War II, he was advanced to Flag rank. Rear Admiral McClusky died on 27 June 1976.

USS McClusky (FFG-41) was named in his honor.

234 Years Ago

When we numbered… Two…  ships of cloth and wood, but the same men of steel who sail our fleet today!

http://www.history.navy.mil/birthday.htm 

 

Happy Birthday Navy!

For you NASA Historians, We Have a Request

TDB Reader, Diana Solomon has an interesting question she posted in the comments of one of our B-52 articles. 

She asks:

Can anyone tell me what the symbols on the B 52's that carried and dropped the X15 are. There is B52 sitting in Hickham AFB right now with 3 symbols of the x15 one nose down one nose up and one nose straight. We were wondering if this stands for the 3 flights and the condition at the end of the 3 flights.

Maybe someone out there has a Father or a Grandfather who flew or was crew. Thanks

- Diana Solomon

Well?… Anyone?  SteelJaw?  Hoot?   Pony up in the comments.

-JC

Docu-Drama “A Day in the Life of CVN CO, Mike Manazir”

Created a year ago or so… by LTJG Rivera and IS2 Wulwick, the following chronicles a day in the life of then CO of the Nimitz, Capt. Mike “Nasty” Manazir.

As accurate as any Michael Moore film for sure!!!

Enjoy!

 

 

The Producers would also like to thank their primary sponsor.

Naming the Enterprise!

As regular contributor SteelJaw Scribe mentioned in his recent post “CVN Naming - Enough With the Politics Already” there is a plan afoot to name our future CVN after yet another politician, in this case USS Barry Goldwater!

Look, no matter how much you may like or not like a politician’s views regarding their treatment of the US Navy, naming the primary ship of the line after them has become tiresome!  It is time we who know the Navy and its traditions put our collective foot down!

Let’s return to naming our carriers in a more traditional fashion.  As for the Next yet to be named CVN (CVN-79) there is now a just and proper petition available online to christen this mighty vessel with the most traditional name in our Naval History, USS Enterprise!

 

Go Here! And allow your voice to be heard!  [ LINK ]

 

1. The first Enterprise, a British supply sloop, was captured 18 May 1775 at St. Johns, Quebec, Canada, by Col B. Arnold, named Enterprise, and armed for use on Lake Champlain.
2. The second Enterprise, a schooner, was a successful letter-of-marque before she was purchased on 20 December 1776 for the Continental Navy. Commanded by Captain Joseph Campbell, Enterprise operated principally in Chesapeake Bay. She convoyed transports, carried out reconnaissance, and guarded the shores against foraging raids by the British.
3. The third Enterprise, a schooner, was built by Henry Spencer at Baltimore, Md., in 1799, and placed under the command of Lieutenant John Shaw. On 17 December 1799, Enterprise departed the Delaware Capes for the Caribbean to protect United States merchantmen from the depredations of French privateers during the Quasi-War with France. Within the following year, Enterprise captured 8 privateers and liberated 11 American vessels from captivity, achievements which assured her inclusion in the 14 ships retained in the Navy after the Quasi-War.
4. The fourth Enterprise, a schooner, was launched by the New York Navy Yard on 26 October 1831, and commissioned 15 December 1831, Lieutenant S. W. Downing in command.
5. The fifth Enterprise, a bark-rigged screw sloop-of-war, was launched 13 June 1874 at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine, by John W. Griffith, a private contractor; and commissioned 16 March 1877, Commander G. C. Remey in command. Enterprise's first duty after fitting out at Norfolk, Va., took her to the mouth of the Mississippi River for surveying operations. Returning to Norfolk in April 1878, she remained there only briefly, sailing 27 May for surveying duty up the Amazon and Madeira Rivers. This completed, she repaired at New York, then (December 1878) joined U.S. naval forces in European waters, calling at numerous ports in northern Europe and in the Mediterranean. She returned to the Washington Navy Yard on 9 May 1880 and was placed out of commission. Recommissioned on 12 January 1882, she cruised the east coast until 1 January 1883 when she sailed on a 3-year hydrographic survey that took her completely around the world. Her findings on this cruise added materially to the knowledge of the oceans, their currents, and their bottoms. Enterprise was decommissioned at New York on 21 March 1886. Placed back in commission on 4 October 1887, Enterprise sailed from Boston in January 1888 for 2 years in the waters of Europe, the Mediterranean, and the east coast of Africa, where she showed the flag and looked out for United States interests. She returned to New York in March 1890 and was decommissioned on 20 May.
6. Arguably the Airship Enterprise L-5
7. The seventh Enterprise (CV-6) was launched 3 October 1936 by Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Newport News, Va.; sponsored by Mrs. Claude A. Swanson, wife of the Secretary of the Navy; and commissioned 12 May 1938, Captain N. H. White in command.  The hiostory of this ship is WAY to long to post here, recommend going here to read more.
8. The eighth Enterprise (CVA(N)-65), the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, was launched 24 September 1960 by Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Newport News, Va., sponsored by Mrs. W. B. Franke, wife of the Secretary of the Navy; and commissioned 26 November 1961, Captain V. P. de Poix, in command.

The Next?

You Decide!  Again the petition to congress is here.  [ LINK ]

CVN Naming - Enough With the Politics Already

It's time to return some sanity to the way ships are named. Why? Because the silliness is upon us once again:

111th CONGRESS 1st Session H. CON. RES. 83 Expressing the sense of Congress that a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier of the Navy, either the aircraft carrier designated as CVN-79 or the aircraft carrier designated as CVN-80, should be named the U.S.S. Barry M. Goldwater.

Bill information and status here

It began with CVN-70 ( Nimitz - ok, Ike, yes; but Vinson???) and reached the height of historical blindness with the Truman (honestly, naming a carrier for a president who tried his hardest to kill naval aviation and oversaw the death of the United States (CVA-58) in favor of the B-36). Why not Enterprise (CVN-65 isn't long for this world)? Coral Sea? Yorktown? Hornet? Midway?  (Note - this is not/not a slam on the great crews of those ships - its the process of naming that we have a bone to pick with...)

Enough with the politicians - these ships are going to last to the middle of the century and outlive many of us reading these words. Why not go back to naming the carriers after famous battles and reclaim some of our heritage and linkage with notable CVs from the past? And, BTW, what better way to celebrate naval aviation's upcoming centenary?

Leave it to a Chief to put it succintly:

"One man’s hero is another man’s goat. Carriers should be named for things we all have in common, not the party in power’s favorite politician. I vote we go back to the traditional carrier names as a reminder of the great ships and men who held the line when the chips were down and the odds were against us. Those names are a tribute to America’s greatness. Politicians? Not so much."

And yes, I'm familiar with Rickover's quote - how about standing firm this time anyway?

(h/t: SB)

UPDATE: A petition to SECNAV and Congress is in the works - stay tuned...

(cross posted at steeljawscribe.com)

Solving the Fighter Gap will Create a… uh… Fighter Gap!

No seriously…  This is not a joke.  There is a storm on the horizon…

(Image: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Elliott Fabrizio)

The continued failure of Congress and the Pentagon to properly procure US Navy Strike Fighters is coming to a head!  Of course this is merely preaching to the choir for many of you.

Because of the high operational tempo in Iraq and Afghanistan, the F/A-18 C/Ds “are overutilized” and wearing out, which is causing “constant turbulence among the air wings” as air crews and service crews are transferred from squadron to squadron “to get the deploying ships up to where they should be,” Each of the 10 carrier air wings is expected to have four squadrons for a total of 40, but there are only 37 active squadrons, including 36 Navy and one Marine Corps. – Vice Adm (Ret.) Robert Dunn, Pres. ANA

Over at Aviation Leak Week, they are reporting how the plan to SLEP more legacy Hornets will in effect create an increased shortfall in deployable strike fighters.

Extending the service life of F/A-18C/D Hornets to close a U.S. Navy fighter gap could still lead to a tactical air shortage because of the amount of time the Hornets will be out of service pending their upgrade, naval aviation analysts said July 21.

Ronald O’Rourke, a naval affairs expert with the Congressional Research Service (CRS), said the service life extension program for Hornets, aimed at allowing them to fly an additional 1,400 hours, is one way to solve the expected shortfall in carrier-based fighters. Officials have testified before Congress that the Navy and Marine Corps could be short between 125 and 243 aircraft by the mid- to late-2010s (Aerospace DAILY, May 21).

…The Hornet upgrade could take an estimated 1,100-2,200 man-hours per aircraft, removing them from the active force and creating a different kind of gap, according to the president of the Association of Naval Aviation, Vice Adm. Robert Dunn (ret.). Speeding up F-35 production is unlikely to happen soon, Dunn added.

Super Hornets to the rescue???… Not so fast…

Congressional committees have yet to agree on how to acquire more Super Hornets. The Senate Armed Services Committee wants to buy nine more aircraft but won’t approve a multiyear procurement plan. The House Armed Services Committee took the opposite approach, while the defense subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee favors doing both.

Simply put, the needle is stuck in the groove of a never ending record (there’s a hair on your Compact disc to you Generation Y-ers).  Fighter aircraft shortfalls and ever increasing maintenance requirements are not new to NAVAIR.  Ever since the end of WWII equipment supply levels of our tactical aviation has been behind the curve (maybe with the exception of the Regan years when a 600 ship navy was a goal).  Making sure the Civilian Leadership in Washington is aware of the consequences of these shortfalls has not been the strength of the US Navy.  Increased op tempos are always to be expected and planned for, yet we all know the US Congress does not possess a wealth of foresight. 

So the question is, who do we write to, talk to, yell at? 

To start here is a list of the Armed Services Committee members:

• House Armed Services Committee Members [List]
• Senate Armed Services Committee Members [List]

As Tailhookers, interested in the Security of our Nation, but more importantly the SAFETY or our Aviators, we can do some good if we let our voice be heard.  Don’t be shy.

(Stacked F/A-18s image:U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class John P. Curtis)

Strike From the Sea

A new book, with pictures and everything to assist our Marine Corps Tailhookers, has been authored by Tommy H. Thomason.  Strike From the Sea follows on the heals of Tom’s other book US Naval Air Superiority and promises to be full of great images and quality historical information about Naval Aviation.

For those of you unfamiliar with Tom’s history…

“Tommy H. Thomason has worked as a flight test engineer, manager, and executive in the aerospace industry for nearly 40 years, including two years as a flight test engineer on the F-4 Phantom. He has flown more than 3,000 hours in 60 different airplanes, helicopters, and sailplanes. His previous works include U.S. Naval Air Superiority and monographs on the Grumman F-111B and the Bell HSL antisubmarine warfare helicopter.”

To take a gander of what you can expect from the pages of Strike From The Sea, click the this link [ Chapter 5 Preview ].  And if you would like to get yourself a copy all you have to do is place your order here [Link].