Another great Naval Aviation video I had NOT seen!

[Navy Chief]

Enjoy:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...8173215551629#

Update: I just finishing watching it for the second time. My old squadron, VA-15 (and sister squadron VA-87) are in it. Not absolutely sure, but believe some of the movie was filmed onboard the USS America. Some of the scenes were on the Enterprise too. I was on the Indy, with VA-15 after the making of this video.

Navy Chief

[Emil Frand]

I saw the Enterprise, Saratoga, Independence, America and Kennedy in this. And the Nimitz being launched if I remember right puts this around late74 or spring 75.

[Navy Chief]

Here's another one!

http://www.archive.org/details/CarrierFlightDeckSafety

[PRB]

That's good stuff, Pete! Those were the NAVAIR days! Now it's just Hornets!

[TARPSBird]

I saw the Enterprise, Saratoga, Independence, America and Kennedy in this. And the Nimitz being launched if I remember right puts this around late74 or spring 75.

I was thinkin' 1976. VF-14 (USS JFK) is flying F-14's in some scenes and there are no RA-5C Vigilantes on any of the decks (that I can see). Whatever the release date, it's a good flick.

[Emil Frand]

I was on the JFK 73-75 after a yard refit we got f14s and still had Viggies, Nimtz was commissioned sometime in late 74 or early 75, I remember it sitting next to us at pier 12 in Norfolk before it made its first deployment sometime early spring 75, brand spankin new carrier. I was on the waist catapult crew and we went to check out Nimitzs new and latest version of cats.
Could be films used through a few years, Saratoga bits had Phantoms, JFK had F14s and yeah those were the best NAVAIR years especially the cool paint schemes!

[Bjoern]

Don't forget the late model F-4s in some scenes. The F-4S training with the F-14A gave me a hardon.


(I'd say the video is from the late 70s. I tried to do some research about it, but Google just gives me unusuable results. Maybe the USN insiders on here can turn up an exact or at least narrower date via squadrons and carriers shown together with deployment schedules?)

[Emil Frand]

I suppose that be possible but time consuming to figure out which deployments there are, they have both east and west coast carriers and airwings mixed in no order, the F14s with tail letters AB are on the Kennedy, Phantoms with AC are on the Saratoga, theres A7s with AE on the America, think I saw AG which was the Independence, after the Nimitz came out I THINK the Roosevelts airwing went to it. I was out in Oct 75 so after that couldnt tell ya what airwing was on what ship.

[TARPSBird]

In one of the last flight deck scenes there's an RF-8G Crusader photo bird parked by the island as a A-7 taxis out. VFP-63 photo detachments came back aboard the big-deck carriers starting in 1976 (when the RA-5C's started to go away) and stayed aboard until the squadron was disbanded in 1982. If NC or some other A-7 type recognizes the A-7 in the foreground I'd have an idea when that footage was shot. I was in VFP-63 1978-81.

[Emil Frand]

I watched it, right before that they show a VA72 A7 on the Kennedy it might be from another film as it cuts to that scene you posted, I did notice real bombs on the A7 but couldnt see the tail to get an ID.

[wiltzei]

Enjoy:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...8173215551629#

Navy Chief

Thanks for posting this nice overview. The older documentaries are just awesome. The cuts are long enough et cetera.

[casey jones]

I was 11 yrs old on the day the first angle deck carrier was launched, I watched as Mrs Forestal broke the champaign bottle on her bow, I remmenber running down the flight deck on that cold grey windy morining.


Salute To THe US Navy

Casey