Many o WesPac Aviator of the 60', 70's and 80's remember and oft would like to forget many of their experiences at the Cubi Point O'Club. One legend that all remember is the Cubi Cat! And if you ask any Aviator if he trapped in the Cubi Cat and his answer will be, whether a lie or not... "Damn right I Did!"
This article was submitted for the NAS Kingsville newspaper, the Flying K. Some amazing history.
MWR unveils the "King Kat"
By Jon Gagné, NAS Kingsville Public Affairs
The Morale, Welfare and Recreation Department unveiled their latest "toy" for base personnel Friday, Oct. 31 in the form of a mechanical device designed to simulate catching a wire on an aircraft carrier. The "Kingsville Catapult" or "King Kat" as it is called, was designed and built by VT-21 Training Officer LT Casey Bates. The project took three months to complete from design to test drive, and included the volunteer efforts of several other aviators, dubbed the King Kat air crew.
The design is taken from the famous Cubi Point Catapult, aka Cubi Cat, which became a Naval Aviation legend at the old officer’s club at NAS Cubi Point, Philippines in the 70’s and 80’s. The Cat made its debut in 1969, the result of some dedicated workers from the Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Depot (AIMD) at Cubi Point.
A friend of mine, former NAS Pensacola Gosport editor and retired Navy Chief Photographer’s Mate Art Giberson, wrote about the legend of the Cubi Cat. Back in the day, according to Giberson, Cubi Point Naval Air Station and the adjoining Subic Bay Naval Base in the Philippines were a place where war-weary Navy and Marine Corps aviators, Marines and Sailors, could let off a little steam after flying combat missions over Vietnam or spending weeks on the gunline aboard ships on Yankee Station. Club managers were always being tasked with coming up with new and interesting ways to keep personnel entertained, which wasn’t always easy.
Enter CDR John L. Sullivan and the now famous Cubi Point Officers' Club Catapult. The "Cat" came into existence in 1969 and immediately created a division within naval air among those who had ridden the cat and caught the wire, and those who had ridden the cat and missed the wire and gotten soaked. The escapades of Navy and Marine pilots at the Cubi Point Officers' Club, according to Sullivan, is the stuff of legend.
One of these escapades, Giberson wrote, involved catapulting a squadron mate down a half dozen stairs in a chair from the bar upstairs onto the dance floor below. The practice often ended with disastrous results. Because of the injuries, the NAS Cubi Point Commander, CAPT ‘Red Horse’ Meyers stopped the chair shots and tasked Sullivan, who was the AIMD department head, to come up with something else to entertain the aviators. Heading off to the surplus yard, Sullivan and his band of AIMD scavengers liberated a banged-up refueling tank which was quickly converted by the metal smiths into something resembling an A-7 Corsair II. The Cubi Catapult was born.
The 'Cat,' Giberson stated, was 6-feet long and had shoulder straps and a safety belt and was equipped with a stick that, when pulled back sharply, released a hook in the rear of the vehicle to allow arrestment. Propulsion was provided by pressurized nitrogen tanks hooked up to a manifold.
"This arrangement provided enough power to propel the vehicle to 15 mph in the first two feet," said Sullivan. "Acceleration of zero to 15 mph in two feet is the equivalent of the G force of World War II hydraulic catapults. The downward curvature of the track had to be precise. The rollers would bind if the curvature were too sharp. Beyond the exit from the club was a pool of water 3 1/2 feet deep, which would stop the Cat, if the pilot were not successful in catching the wire and stopping the Cat.
Sullivan named the vehicle 'Red Horse One' in honor of CAPT Meyers. Successful "Cat" pilots were held in high esteem by their peers and their names were inscribed in gold letters on the club's Wall of Fame. Reaction time was short because the wire was some 14 feet from the nose of the vehicle.
"Since the pool water was the force that stopped the vehicle, we had to get the vehicle as deeply and as quickly into the pool as possible," Sullivan stated. "Engineers from the Strategic Aircraft Repair Team used their 'slip sticks' to solve the problem."
The vehicle was retrieved from the water by a mechanical winch and cable connected to an eye welded to the back of the A- 7.
Word of the Cat quickly spread throughout Southeast Asia and even attracted Air Force F-4 pilots from Clarke AFB. They would come swaggering in loudly claiming they were equal to the task. Each and every one of them failed to catch the wire, much to the delight of the Navy onlookers.
Just how successful the King Kat will be here remains to be seen. A good crowd of aviators turned out for the official grand opening, including Training Air Wing TWO Commander CAPT Bill Davis and NAS Kingsville Commanding Officer CAPT Phil Waddingham. LT Bates and his staff of volunteers helped load and launch the pilots. Those that were successful owned bragging rights and quite possibly their name on a future "Wall of Fame," while those that hit the water were encouraged to purchase a t-shirt that would remind them of their first attempt at stardom.
LT Bates was all smiles during the official grand opening. Perhaps it was because he had finally witnessed his dream become reality, or, the long weeks of planning, building, and testing the Kat were finally behind him. Whatever the reason, the King Kat has big shoes to fill as far as naval aviation legend is concerned. Fortunately for Bates, and all future King Kat-ers, legends are built one flight at a time.
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Well Done Casey!
And because nothing can be done in NAVAIR without NATOPS... I Provide the following direct from the:
Here's to new memories.
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