VF-24 Navy Airdales

21/07/2024

Vought XF8U-3 Crusader III a supersonic air superiority fighter designed to succeed the F-8 Crusader and as a competitor to the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II.

First flight of the Crusader III was June 2nd, 1958, she was designed for blazing fast speeds up to Mach 2.7 however the prototypes only ever reached Mach 2.39. A point in this aircraft's favor in competing with the F-4 was that the XF8U-3 could out maneuver the F-4 and NASA pilots routinely defeated F-4's in mock dogfights. Points in the Phantom II's favor were a much larger payload and the fact that the F-4 was also capable of the ground attack mission, the Crusader III was not. Furthermore the Phantom had a Radar Intercept Officer to guide the AIM-7 Sparrow missiles, this was often overwhelming for the single pilot of the Crusader III. Alas the XF8U-3 was not to be and sadly all 5 aircraft built were scrapped.

17/07/2024

“Project Bullet’ 67 Years Ago: It was 6:04 am PDT on July 16, 1957, when USMC Maj. John H. Glenn took off in a Vought F8U-1P Crusader (BuNo.144608 - later RF-8G) from NAS Los Alamitos, CA. The flight established a transcontinental speed record averaging 725.25 mph. Glenn landed at Floyd Bennett Field, NY three hours 23 minutes and 8.4 seconds after takeoff. The F8U-1P only departed supersonic speed four times to slow to approximately 300 mph to refuel from USN/NAA AJ-2 Savage tankers. This was five years prior to John Glenn became a household name, as he became the first U.S. astronaut to orbit the earth in Mercury “Friendship 7’’ on February 20, 1962. After the record flight the Navy wanted to show off their new F8U-1P Crusader, and Glenn performed at several air shows in the summer of 1957. As a youngster, I was fortunate to have watched Glenn perform at NAS Masters Field, FL. The lasting impression and overwhelming sound, during the aerial display of the powerful F8U-1P, certainly helped direct me towards an aerospace career. Some 30 years later during the late 1980s, I was fortunate to have met Sen. John Glenn while working Public Relations for the USAF Rockwell International B-1B Lancer. --- U.S. Navy photo

17/07/2024

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1012645153704987?fs=e&s=TIeQ9V&mibextid=0NULKw

10/07/2024

Big shout out to my newest top fans! 💎

Bruce Huddler, Tony Schantz

03/06/2024

01/06/2024

I’d rather talk to you at 4:44 am in the morning than talk at your funeral. Nothing worse than losing a friend because they didn’t think they had anyone to talk to. Phones are on, the doors always open, fires can be lit and coffee can be poured
Support each other. I need eight people to post this message to show you are always there when someone needs you. I have an idea who’s going to write “done”.
WHO ARE MY 8?
Сору / Paste. Be the one ☝️
Let's start the conversation.

11/05/2024

Big shout out to my newest top fans! 💎

Mike Brown

27/04/2024

Thanks Stan .

02/04/2024

Best plane blues ever flew. April Fools!!!

31/03/2024

An appropriate video for this date ( Vietnam Veterans Day )

America's involvement in the Vietnam War dramatically intensified in 1964 after the Tonkin Gulf incident, an incident in which the blame falls squarely on th...

17/01/2024

22/12/2023

Hanoi Jane Fonda sits on North Vietnam anti aircraft gun mount

21/12/2023

USS Hancock 1968

21/12/2023

They have a booming career 😆

08/12/2023

Firing squad, don’t be bad onboard ship.

08/12/2023

https://flic.kr/p/q5SGj6

VF-24 F9F-6 Cougar M-109 on the port bow catapult while M-116 is moving into position for launch during flight operations, USS Yorktown (CVA-10), 02 October 1953. VF-63 or 64 F9F-5 Panther folding its wings at right.

02/12/2023

When U.S. Navy planes were sent to intercept Tu-95 Bears during the Cold War, the Soviet crews often requested that the American aviators switch to a frequency so they could talk. In addition to asking how much the Americans were paid, the Soviets wanted to know if it was true that U.S. aircraft carriers had no women aboard. The Soviets could not believe that 5,000 men went to sea for months at a time without women.

26/11/2023

Subic Bay and Cubi Point

26/11/2023

F8 cockpit

20/11/2023

https://www.instagram.com/p/CcOPl3JsDV3/?igshid=MzY1NDJmNzMyNQ==

02/11/2023

BON HOMME RICHARD (CVA-31)
The attack aircraft carrier USS BON HOMME RICHARD (CVA-31) in Gulf of Tonkin, RVN, 5 April 1969. Photographed by Photographer's Mate First Class J.D. Martin.

28/10/2023

Taken by a Soviet Tupolev Tu-142 crewman - look closer at the navigator....

https://planehistoria.com/the-mach-2-39-f-106-delta-dart-cornfield-bomber/

28/10/2023

Taken by Rodd Smith a Vietnam vet stationed in Danang .