For You Retro US NavAir fans: Where Were You in '62?? !!

[expat]

Been having much fun re-creating the scene at KNQX Key West NAS during the October 1962 missile crisis. Although this was a terrifying time in Cold War history with the world coming so near the brink, it may have been overlooked that there was such an impressive variety of absolutely classic aircraft developed during Fabulous 50's on hand. For starters, there were four different front line Navy fighter jets on the ramp at Key West: Skyrays, Demons, Crusaders (both photo and fighter) and the very first Phantoms (VF-101 Det A came down from Oceana). Not only that, because this was such a high alert, no fewer than 30 USAF F-104 Starfighters were also sent down from Homestead AFB.

I have set up a local/custom AI environment, doing the flightplans manually with TTools and ADE. Many of the AI planes are Alphasim ports plus some of Michael Pearsons good work. The KNQX scenery was from MAIW - ported from FS9 - but tweaked to get most, not all, the bugs out. Looks very atmospheric at dusk or dawn with some weather around. Spawn the Oriskany with AI Carriers and fly out for some cat/trap practice and come back in time for beer call. I have also done a similar setup with Cecil NAS and Jacksonville, with AI flying off the fixed scenery AS Big E and also British Navy off the Ark Royal, doing some cross decking ops, mixing Scimitars, Sea Vixens with Demons, Skyhawks and Skyrays as they did for real back then. For those that are old AS Skyray fans and also have the Virtavia A-4, I merged the latter's VC into the former model and it looks good and pretty similar to the panel IRL - even says "Douglas" on the pedals.

A couple of resource recommendation -

Cold War US carrier deployment assignments: http://navysite.de/carriers.htm#34

Cold War USN Air Station assignments (been trying to find this data for years!): http://www.history.navy.mil/a-record/nao-53-68.htm

Finally, having a blast with this radar which actually DOES show moving AI carriers and ships (ars4.zip at avsim). Not only that, you can link your aircraft's nav system and it will fly to the moving ship via the AP! Also shows identified multiple aircraft within 40 miles and you can link the AP and intercept these (Bears, Badgers, etc) or to a friendly KA-3 Whale tanker for in flight refueling - there is an extra gauge to perform the latter and it is fun and challenging. It complements nicely the RFN Tacan developed by Sylvain and the Royal French Navy team.

Happy hunting all!

expat




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[Navy Chief]

NICE!!!!

1962, and the Cuban Missile Crisis was way before my time in the USN, but I definitely spent some time working on Crusaders and Phantoms when I enlisted ten years later in 72.

Only had the good fortune of being at NAS Key West, and that was in late 1980s, with VFA-83, during transition to Hornets (Lawn Darts).

Really great work, Expat!!! Pete

[nw21]

Where was I in 1962? I was at MCAS El Toro with VMF(aw)542. In November of that year we deployed to NAS Atsugi Japan for 12 months.

542 was the last Navy or Marine Squadron to fly the F4D-1 Skyray.

Bill

[FAC257]

My family was living on Patrick AFB (Cocoa Beach) when the crisis happened. I remember everyone was quarantined on base and a lot of extra military aircraft showed up on base, far more than what our usual compliment was.

Our house was only a few blocks off the north end of the runway, and I remember going down there and seeing a lot of tents pitched along the flight line. I figured it was so that the flight crews could be as close as possible to the aircraft, in case of a scramble.

The playground with the monkey bars and swings about three houses north of mine was off limits and had a Lacrosse Anti-Aircraft missile truck sitting in the middle of it. I'll never forget that sight.

Our house backed up to A1A and the beach was just on the other side of the road. I heard that there were machine gun emplacements up and down the beach, but I never personally saw those.

Everyone on base, especially the dad's were noticeably on edge during the event.

Trivia: At that time at the very end of the runway on the south end were the hangers where the U-2s were secreted in and out. Once in a while you could catch one sneaking out of the hanger and they always took off from the far end of the runway, (away from the base housing and highway). As soon as they left the ground they rocked back like missiles and seemed to go almost straight up until almost out of sight. The one thing you could tell was that they were turning to head south (Cuba??).

Before we transferred out to the next AFB, the U-2 was officially unveiled to the public for the first time at Patrick.

FAC

[rpjkw]

I was in 6th grade. My Dad had just retired from the Army. I remember the drill consisting of everyone filing into the hallways, sitting down with backs to the wall and heads between the knees.


Biggs AFB was still active and I remember increased activity with B-36s and B-52s, mostly -52s, as they took-off and landed. Lots of NOISE! To me, it was all great fun. I don't remember any of my schoolmates being the least bit worried about a war. Quite a change from so many adults today that claim they were scared to death (I don't buy that).

Bob

[rsgunner]

I was at NAS Key West during the height of the Cuban Missile crisis taking a physical for the Naval Academy.

The entire Keys was an armed camp. There were numerous check points we had to get through. Lots of Hawk SAM sites.

My high school in S Florida had a train track right behind it. I remember the freight trains heading south full of military equipment.

There were a lot of LCPs heading south on the ICW also.

In the middle of the physical all the sirens started going off. It turned out to be a drill but it sure got my attention.

It was a scary time.

Russ

[gaucho_59]

I was at NAS Key West during the height of the Cuban Missile crisis taking a physical for the Naval Academy.

The entire Keys was an armed camp. There were numerous check points we had to get through. Lots of Hawk SAM sites.

My high school in S Florida had a train track right behind it. I remember the freight trains heading south full of military equipment.

There were a lot of LCPs heading south on the ICW also.

In the middle of the physical all the sirens started going off. It turned out to be a drill but it sure got my attention.

It was a scary time.

Russ

I was draftee... a medic with the 2 AC... in the Czechoslovakian border... from Bamberg... right after the Berlin Wall went up....
Little did I know... I was going to get out in Europe and enjoy life... but I met my first wife... an Army nurse... who
married me and when I got discharged... help me finish college... and get back into Medicine...
Remember what I told the re-enlistment counselor... "I won't come back in the Army if they make me a general"...
When I went to LA for my commissioning as a student (2 LT)... that bloke was right there... And he joked.... Hey, Sir..
they made a second Louie and you come back... (the guy remembered our final counseling session... lol)
Ended up doing anesthesia in Viet Nam... and spending the next 20 years of so in the Army.... Just like
the eminent philosopher Prof. Gump... "life is like a box of candies.. you never know what you gonna get..."
That's where I was... yessir... (and really are thankful for my blessings... finally ended up living as a retiree in Europe after 1985...
and going there at the end of May... still have a house in Italy.... wow... what a ride this has been...)

[jmbiii]

October 1962 - I had just reported to HS-3 at NORVA a month earlier and had been assigned as second crewman for the skipper's crew. The squadron's cruise boxes and personnel were loaded onto a couple of C-130's and flown to South Weymouth NAS and then trucked to Boston to be loaded onto the USS Wasp, CVS-18. Our regular ship, the USS Intrepid, CVS-11 was in the yards at the time.
The Wasp sailed from Boston and HS-3 and the rest of the air group aircraft flew out to meet her off the Va Capes. Spent the next four or five weeks flying off the coast of Cuba inspecting the ships returning the missiles to the Soviet Union. As a young kid at the time, I didn't realize the severity of the situation. Besides we didn't have the all out news coverage we have today. About all I really remember about my first cruise is the 24/7 flight ops and the short port call at Gitmo and the EM Club. We got back to Norfolk just before Thanksgiving.

[Daveroo]

i spent half of 1962 in moms tummy...the other half messin up my diapers.....

[expat]

Well, I was only four in '62 but becoming very aviation aware, as that same year my dad arranged my first plane ride in a Piper Apache (out of KHPN) which, probably as much from the excitement as air sickness, I promptly decorated its interior with my lunch. The owner/pilot was none too pleased! Shortly after that - as my dad was an aviation nut (he was a LTJG in WWII but never flew) - I became all absorbed with models of this period, including Crusaders, Skyrays, Century Series Fighters, etc.

Great to get these very lucid, first-hand accounts of this crucial period, particularly from those in or near the military at the time.

[sbp]

Jan, 1962. On board the USNS Core with 21 of our unit's aircraft on the flight and hanger decks passing under the Golden Gate Bridge west bound for classified destination. 3 weeks and 3 days later found ourselves in Nha Trang, Vietnam living in 16 man tents with our unit personnel flying support missions for the RVN troops until rotation back to the States in Dec, 1962.

Remember being very worried about my family back in the States during the Cuban missile crisis.......

SBP
US Army
USAF, Retired

[modelr]

1962, 8th grade in San Diego, Ca. Remember watching the news accounts, as my new stepfather was fresh out of the Navy and very concerned he could be called back up. We also followed it closely in history class in school. I was building all the plastic models of the newest fighters of the period, as well as the newest model cars of the time. We noticed the air traffic in the air corridor for Miramar NAS, which was just north of us, was much busier than usual.