squadron question, please help

Does anyone out there have any information at all about VF-85? I can find virtually no information anywhere else on the internet.

Any help with any of this is greatly appreciated and I thank you in advance for any responses.

Stearman444 said:

My Grandfather was in the USNR during WWII. I have one of his log books here so I know that he was a member of VF-85 aboard the Shangri-La (CV-38) flying F6F-3 Hellcats. He later joined up with a night fighter outfit which the log book identifies as VFN-85 at which time he began flying F6F-5N's. After the war he flew R4D's, and then began flying DC-3's for Lake Central Airlines where he was the Chief Pilot in Louisville, KY and Cincinnati. In fact he was distinguished for flying Lake Central Airlines 2,000,000th operation. He retired as Captain from USAir in 1982 after years of flying Boeing 727's. Anyway, I am a college student and a pilot myself. I find my Grandfather's life to be very interesting. From beginning in Stearman's during primary training, to Hellcat's in the Pacific, to DC-3's for the early airlines, to the jet engines of the 727, I find it fascinating.

So my question is, does anyone out there have any information at all about VF-85 or VFN-85? I can find virtually no information anywhere else on the internet and im terribly interested in learning more about it. I found some squadron patches of his marked "Sky Pirates". Was VF-85 known as the Sky Pirates?

Also, after he died 4 years ago, many of his old things were sent to my father so I have had the chance to see a lot of artifacts. It seems that he was a member of the fraternity the "Quiet Birdmen". This is another topic that I can find very little information on. If anyone has any, please share.

Any help with any of this is greatly appreciated and I thank you in advance for any responses.

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I'm sorry, I don't have anything to help you out. What aircraft do you fly? Are you interested in pursuing military aviation at all?

mkloby said:

I'm sorry, I don't have anything to help you out. What aircraft do you fly? Are you interested in pursuing military aviation at all?

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Well thank you anyway mkloby

Hi Stearman;

He have a resident USN expert on here, hopefully he'll pop in soon and provide you with some information.

BTW have you seen this site? - VBF-85.COM January 1945 until September 1945

Good luck on the flying - I'm a CFII and I also hold an A&P and IA. I completing a J3 project for a client and hope to have it in the air within the next few months.

Welcome to the forum!

FLYBOYJ said:

Hi Stearman;

He have a resident USN expert on here, hopefully he'll pop in soon and provide you with some information.

BTW have you seen this site? - VBF-85.COM January 1945 until September 1945

Good luck on the flying - I'm a CFII and I also hold an A&P and IA. I completing a J3 project for a client and hope to have it in the air within the next few months.

Welcome to the forum!

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Thank you very much FLYBOY. I look forward to the USN expert's reply. I had not seen that website before you just posted it and it is very interesting, so thank you for that. Good luck with your CFII and it would be wonderful to get another great airplane such as the J3 up and running. I absolutely love that airplane. With you being a CFII and my instrument check ride coming up soon, any good advice?

Stearman444 said:

Thank you very much FLYBOY. I look forward to the USN expert's reply. I had not seen that website before you just posted it and it is very interesting, so thank you for that. Good luck with your CFII and it would be wonderful to get another great airplane such as the J3 up and running. I absolutely love that airplane. With you being a CFII and my instrument check ride coming up soon, any good advice?

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Hi Stearman;

Glad to help - hopefully other members will have more information for you. As for your instrument checkride...

Fly stabilized - Trim, trim, trim. The more stabilized you are the easier it will be to perform requested maneuvers, let alone the approaches.

Know your airplane - recognize the behavior of your gyro instruments, if your turn and bank or AH lisps slightly, or how quickly your heading indicator precesses.

Flight Sim - Practice approaches on your PC - it worked wonders for me. Hit every approach in your local area and be prepared to tackle the "odd ball" approach - the examiner may throw one at you that you haven't practiced and want to see if you could execute it cold.

Brief the approach out loud - at worse chance the examiner will tell you to shut up but at least you'll show him you're briefing the approach.

Approach plates - highlight the important stuff - MDAs, Missed Approach Altitudes, etc.

Technically you cannot have the examiner participate in cockpit management so if you have approach plates and charts cluttering up your clipboard and you know you're not going to use them any more, get them out of your way. I chuck mine behind me and retrieve them later.

Practice approaches at a set speed, flap angle and rate of decent - I fly a 172 and when I shoot approaches I know about 480 FPM decent at 90 knots will keep me on glide slope with 0 flaps.

Review all the approaches in your area and make a mental note of your favorite ones - if the examiner asks you to pick what approaches and where, you're already prepared.

If possible - when talking to approach for IFR vectoring, tell them you're on a checkride, you might get a little more help!

That's all I could think of for now - good luck and let us know how it works out.

Thank you FLYBOY for the advice.

I believe the "Quiet Birdman" is a glider pilots association,try that one,good luck!

Thanks.