I guess you could say I was attached in a way because my dad flew off the Hancock during this time. His jacket has that emblem on the back of it. Until recently I thought when he said he was among the first Pilots to take off with steam catapults that he was talking about World War II. But recently I discovered that the Randolph was the first carrier to use steam catapults. Maybe they use some different kind of catapult in late World War. But you can see in the footage here is of the Catapult test sleds. You also see that in some of the footage here the Skyraider being launched by the catapult off a different carrier and it's wheels are in the air before they hit in the end of the deck. There's footage from the Randolph that shows F9F cougars being catapult launched and tipping down towards the sea as they gained airspeed followed by an unassisted Skyraiders rumbling down the deck with its wheels in the air before it gets to the end. LOL maybe you could let let a Skyraider Lumber down the deck while the Catapult is getting up steam again for the next cougar launch.
So I was a three year old in 1953 and we lived in San Diego because he flew back and forth from the Handcock to Miramar. Too bad this videos not getting more attention it's very cool. I have his flight log books so I can see his Landings and takeoffs on the Hancock. I guess I didn't mention he was a Skyraider pilot then. He also flew the S2F but I'd have to look closer at the log book to see if he did carrier Landings on the Randolph or later on the Hancock in the S2F. I think most of his s2f time came 1956 through 58 when he was a flight instructor and we lived in Kingsville Tx And he flew out of NAS Kingsville. Although I know from his log books that most of his time during those years was in a T-28.
I know for a time he was in the Hell's Angel Squadron VA 54 (Angeli Inferni) and he has that very cool patch on the sleeve of the jacket and the other sleeve has the patch for the Randolph Mediterranean Cruise of 1955 but I have yet to find that Squadron number in the film footage from the Hancock or the Randolph. I keep seeing video of AD--5s both here and on the Randolph. I'm about to sell his AD-6 flight handbook That's dated October 1953. The cool thing about that handbook is it's got " restricted" blacked out and has a blue stamp that says "confidential". I haven't seen that on other Skyraider handbooks.
By the way when I was 5 in 1955 before he went off on the Randolph Cruise we were on base for what I recall they called inspections where he'd be in his dress whites. He walked me by the hand down the flight line and walked me up to an ad-5 and asked me if I wanted to go for a ride. (the Skyraider had different cockpit configurations and one of them is a two seater, side by side) I said I did, and he put me in the thing strapped me up put the helmet and microphone on me hooked me so we could talk through the helmets, then he called a guy over with a Fire Bottle (which means he planned this) and started the engine. I didn't freak out or anything but he says after a few minutes Of that big engine bouncing me around at idle has he warmed it up I asked him over the headset of maybe we could go for a ride another time. She had to have been counting on cuz I don't believe for a minute that on a base inspection day with the base crawling with brass he would he be taking a five-year-old up in a Skyraider LOL.
So I was a three year old in 1953 and we lived in San Diego because he flew back and forth from the Handcock to Miramar. Too bad this videos not getting more attention it's very cool. I have his flight log books so I can see his Landings and takeoffs on the Hancock. I guess I didn't mention he was a Skyraider pilot then. He also flew the S2F but I'd have to look closer at the log book to see if he did carrier Landings on the Randolph or later on the Hancock in the S2F. I think most of his s2f time came 1956 through 58 when he was a flight instructor and we lived in Kingsville Tx And he flew out of NAS Kingsville. Although I know from his log books that most of his time during those years was in a T-28.
I know for a time he was in the Hell's Angel Squadron VA 54 (Angeli Inferni) and he has that very cool patch on the sleeve of the jacket and the other sleeve has the patch for the Randolph Mediterranean Cruise of 1955 but I have yet to find that Squadron number in the film footage from the Hancock or the Randolph. I keep seeing video of AD--5s both here and on the Randolph. I'm about to sell his AD-6 flight handbook That's dated October 1953. The cool thing about that handbook is it's got " restricted" blacked out and has a blue stamp that says "confidential". I haven't seen that on other Skyraider handbooks.
By the way when I was 5 in 1955 before he went off on the Randolph Cruise we were on base for what I recall they called inspections where he'd be in his dress whites. He walked me by the hand down the flight line and walked me up to an ad-5 and asked me if I wanted to go for a ride. (the Skyraider had different cockpit configurations and one of them is a two seater, side by side) I said I did, and he put me in the thing strapped me up put the helmet and microphone on me hooked me so we could talk through the helmets, then he called a guy over with a Fire Bottle (which means he planned this) and started the engine. I didn't freak out or anything but he says after a few minutes Of that big engine bouncing me around at idle has he warmed it up I asked him over the headset of maybe we could go for a ride another time. She had to have been counting on cuz I don't believe for a minute that on a base inspection day with the base crawling with brass he would he be taking a five-year-old up in a Skyraider LOL.
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