# Wrecked French Navy Hellcats



## Capt. Vick (Dec 1, 2009)

Techos forwarded me these pictures. Here is his response when I asked for his permission and more information: (sorry about the size)

"My permission ? Yes of course,the man who gave it to me will be OK anyway. His dad was a mechanical crew chief on the carrier deck "La Fayette". Pics were taken during the 50's , but he did not mentioned if it was during the Indochina war. If you look attentively the first one,the pilot,in the plane ( in the elevator) seems to be dead !"


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## piet (Dec 1, 2009)

merci mon Capitaine
great pics!8)
piet


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## DBII (Dec 1, 2009)

thanks for sharing the photos

DBII


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## diddyriddick (Dec 1, 2009)

Very cool pics, indeed! Thanks!


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## ccheese (Dec 1, 2009)

Great pic's.Cap't. Thanks for sharing...

I reduced them to 750 X 566 for you.

Charles


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## Gnomey (Dec 1, 2009)

Nice pics, thanks for sharing.


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## vikingBerserker (Dec 1, 2009)

"..and that's why they stopped serving Cognac in the French Navy!"

Sorry , that slipped out. Thanks for posting!


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## Bernhart (Dec 1, 2009)

any ideas what the little man emblems under the bombs (first pic) mean?


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## wheelsup_cavu (Dec 1, 2009)

Gracias Capt Vick.


Wheels


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## Capt. Vick (Dec 2, 2009)

Thanks Charles!


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## Thorlifter (Dec 2, 2009)

Boy, the French are kinda rough on their planes!


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## Njaco (Dec 2, 2009)

Bernhart said:


> any ideas what the little man emblems under the bombs (first pic) mean?



Thats how many Hellcats he's bagged!

Great pics! 2d down looks like another crate sliced through it.


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## Naoned (Dec 2, 2009)

Thorlifter said:


> Boy, the French are kinda rough on their planes!




Totaly normal, we have such situation here every WE,it's called "Driving like the French" ( I can do this one, i'm French !!)


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## vikingBerserker (Dec 2, 2009)




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## Matt308 (Dec 3, 2009)

Capt. Vick said:


> If you look attentively the first one,the pilot,in the plane ( in the elevator) seems to be dead !"



What makes you assume the pilot in the first pic is dead? Looking at the minimal damage, looks like someone lowered the elevator inadvertently. Nothing more.


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## Capt. Vick (Dec 4, 2009)

Matt,

I don't think he is dead, my buddy who sent the pictures to me thinks that.

Jim


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## Matt308 (Dec 4, 2009)

Ah. Looks like there was no forward momentum, very minimumal damage to the aileron and the elevator is typically located starboard aft, so would have been out of the "normal" landing and behind the barrier. Looks like a handling accident and the pilot is checking electrical/fuel settings to avoid a possible fire.

And that's my version of unreality based upon a fraction of a second snapshot in the fog of war.


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## Capt. Vick (Dec 4, 2009)

Make sense to me. All boils down to someone F'ed up and heads rolled I assume.


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## ccheese (Dec 4, 2009)

Capt. Vick said:


> Thanks Charles!



No problem. That's why they pay me the BIG bucks..... 

Charles


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## evangilder (Dec 4, 2009)

Matt308 said:


> Ah. Looks like there was no forward momentum, very minimumal damage to the aileron and the elevator is typically located starboard aft, so would have been out of the "normal" landing and behind the barrier. Looks like a handling accident and the pilot is checking electrical/fuel settings to avoid a possible fire.
> 
> And that's my version of unreality based upon a fraction of a second snapshot in the fog of war.



Yes, and if you look closely, it looks like the shoulder straps of his harness are hanging outside of the cockpit. It looks like he was in the process of unbuckling. Not something a dead man would do.


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## GrauGeist (Dec 4, 2009)

A few other possabilities for the pilot's posture...

One, he's checking his shorts, because that looks like it was a real "E" ticket ride and he ended up in far better shape than he should have.

Second, he could be sitting there reflecting on the sh!t that's about to land on him as soon as he goes up and talks to the "boss" as to why a bird got effed up, screwing the ship up in the process.

Third, all of the above...


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## Matt308 (Dec 4, 2009)

More likely the ground handler that lowered the elevator prior to clearing the Hellcat from the platform.


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