February B/S thread
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From: Omaha/Elkhorn, NE
Have you ever been down by the shipyard down there? It's a pretty rough place. I guess they were having problems with sailors off of the boat getting mugged and what not. This was in 94 (I think) so maybe it's changed since then. I just remember that there were 4 or 5 little stripper bars right outside the pier gate. Dives, but it was the closest place to get a beer without having any transportation!
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From: Millersville, MD
Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock? Been there a great number of times. Was a supplier for the Medical Dept. Knew the audiologist real well, Chris Zambus. Always drove in and parked inside the gate tho. Never spent any time just outside their gate tho....
Is the A7 still being used in the fleet? The A6's I was working on are all retired. There MAY be a few EA6's running around tho.
Is the A7 still being used in the fleet? The A6's I was working on are all retired. There MAY be a few EA6's running around tho.
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From: Omaha/Elkhorn, NE
Nope, all the A-7's are gone. The last of the fleet squadrons transferred over to the F-18 in 91 I think. All the A-6's are gone too. Still have the EA-6B's. I couldn't beleive it when they phased out the A-6. So much for the Navy's medium bomber. Oh, and so much for the tanker too. Somebody wasn't thinking there! That a-6 was an awesome plane! A-7 was a good bird, but single engine. Our saying for it was "If it's not leaking hydraulic fluid, then it's empty"!
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From: Millersville, MD
That was very typical for a Chance-Vought aircraft!! LOL When I first joined the Navy, I worked on the then new F8U-1 Crusader. Was in the 1st Squadron to fly it - VF32 - out of Cecil Field, Florida (near Jacksonville). It too was a leaker! The A7 was really a smaller version of the F8.
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From: Omaha/Elkhorn, NE
I know at one point, they were going to bring out the A-6G. Rebuilt wings, improved avionics, and actually adding sidewinder missile stations on the outer wings. But, it died in Washington. That plane should have at least had a gun.
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From: Millersville, MD
Did you know that the F8 was the first plane the US had that could actually shoot itself down. I was equipped with 50 mm cannon on either side of the fuselage. Pilots had to be careful when they used them that they didn't accelerate and dive and run into their own bullets!!! Was the first 1000 MPH aircraft.
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From: Omaha/Elkhorn, NE
Ha! I never heard that one! I really miss working on those planes. I actually wanted to stay in, just not at Lemoore. I hated it there! I wanted F-14's at Miramar, or something on the east coast, but I couldn't get orders. So, like a moron, I got out. dumb.
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From: Millersville, MD
I worked on that ugly aircraft (A6) for a good number of years in the 60's and 70's.
I HATED that tailpipe...it was always cracking. We were forever removing those things and sending them to AIMD for welding.
I HATED that tailpipe...it was always cracking. We were forever removing those things and sending them to AIMD for welding.
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From: Omaha/Elkhorn, NE
Those things were huge also! I remember seeing them on the boat,it seemed like they'd never get their vertical stabilizer in the hangar deck. Yeah, they were ugly, but good bombers. They could carry some serious ordinance!
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From: Millersville, MD
How long were you in? I wanted out after 15 years...Navy was letting judges all over the US put druggies in the Navy and that longhair, ADM Zumwalt accepted them too. I was so sick of putting up with baby-sitting and not being able to write them up for their insubordination!!!
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From: Omaha/Elkhorn, NE
I was only in for four years. Too young and dumb to know better. I was in the active reserves for a while, but then they shut down my reserve center in Kansas City. I didn't want to drill here in Omaha, I would have had to change rates to a hull tech. No thank you.
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From: Millersville, MD
Wife put her foot down...she said after putting up with it for THAT long, if I got out then and screwed up my retirement, she'd leave me. I took a longer-harder look at my decision after that.....HAHA