Recent content by Mike64

Graeme - Nice rundown of some "also ran"s. The FO-1s were definitely used for recon - to support US/RN surface combatants in keeping tabs on German ship action. There was little Navy shipboard recon capability from US or RN Carriers at the time, and the German withdrawal to Sicily / Italy...

Charles - And I thought I was an old timer! The C-130 was flown by Jim Flatley, son of the WWII Flatley. The tests were done by Naval Air Test Center at Patuxent River. They were trying to find a way to bring as many supplies / people as they could to a Carrier in a crunch situation. The...

Charles - I found your answer: The Navy P-38 version was the Lockheed FO-1. As you likely know, the letter "O" was also used for some miscellaneous aircraft - Lockheed Piper Viking "The US Navy acquired four F-5Bs from the AAF in North Africa and redesignated them FO-1...

A nice summary, ccheese. One anecdote: it wasn't the Navy who made a decision, or agreed to, the present common system with the other services. It was directed by the then-new Secretary of Defense (SecDef) Robert S. McNamara. It is reported that he really got P.O.d when the USAF started to...

OOPS! the early design for the Navy Phantom II was of course, the F4H. I am getting too old! Also, you will note the the ultimate name Phantom II, came from the original NAVY name, for followup on the early FH-1, which got overtaken by the Banshee and was really only a prototype program.

A nice summary, ccheese. One anecdote: it wasn't the Navy who made a decision, or agreed to, the present common system with the other services. It was directed by the then-new Secretary of Defense (SecDef) Robert S. McNamara. It is reported that he really got P.O.d when the USAF started to...

Nigel - Try this first: HMS Centaur, Light Fleet Carrier (RO6) use the WEB to refine search for color of deck surface, etc. The era was the emergence of the Angle Deck Carrier, particularly for jets. Also, search regarding UK Carriers during the Korean War

"Cubby" - good question. Every Navy ship has an "Abandon Ship" procedure, and everyone is aware of their assigned muster point. It is practiced, usually along with "General Quarters" drills. From a basic mustering point, specifics of exactly how and where an actual Abandon Ship order would be...

OK, Slick - I see what you mean now. I thought you meant Carriers that had officially been converted and redesignated as aircraft transports, not for flight operations.

AV8 - I misspoke - You need about 280 feet from the ramp to the #1 CDP (cross deck pendant), not 110. I was thinking of the sheave to sheave distance of the arresting gear width. Mike

Slick - the answer is: However many would fit! It depended on type of aircraft, or the mix - obviously. However, these small ships had to make sure they were ballasted properly, or they would be top heavy, and be goosey in roll recovery. Of course, that's true of any ship. Aircraft...

Midway Class, or any angle deck CVA / CV / CVAN / CVN could launch and recover at the same time, but not very easily! On Midway, even after her 2nd "weird" conversion, with only 2 C-13 bow cats, you could do one of two things: 1: Make a "hole" in the landing pattern - have a plane extend...

A good start is at this web page - Enlisted Naval Aviation Pilots (NAP) History

Nice detail! Also, a good view of the mechanical fuze, arming wire and Fahnstock clip, too. I hope they are going to trim the excess forward of the clip a little. With the Mk 80 series low drag bombs, we have come a long way since then -