1965 US Navy Aircraft Carrier movie. Outstanding!

[Navy Chief]

The following link is to a movie made during the 1965 deployment onboard the USS Independence (CV-62). Although an old movie, I would put it up against any similar movie made to date, and I believe it would still win!

http://vodpod.com/watch/4094075-ready-on-arrival-1966-aircraft-carrier-film

It is 28 minutes long, and well worth watching.

I did two cruises on the Indy, but it was 20 years after this movie was made. Even with that, a lot of the spaces shown in the film were very familiar to me!

Go Navy!

NC

[Bjoern]

So much old flying metal. Awesome!



Kind of make modern carrier air fleets boring. Hornet, Hornet, Hornet, Hawkeye, Hornet, Hornet...

[Roadburner440]

Cool movie. The berthing area's definately look a lot different then they do now.. Not a EA-6B, F-14, or C-2 in sight.. Movie is ancient :icon_lol: They never did say what that odd looking aircraft was near the beginining of the movie (looks like it has F-15 intakes?). Never seen that one before.

[Bjoern]

They never did say what that odd looking aircraft was near the beginining of the movie (looks like it has F-15 intakes?). Never seen that one before.

RA-5 Vigilante.

A nuclear bomber at first, but when the Navy gave up planes with nukes, it got pushed into the recce role.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-5_Vigilante

[Navy Chief]

There was a Naval Aviation News magazine that once had a Vigilante on the back cover photo, and it was incorrectly identified as a Tomcat. The editor got deluged with letters from Viggie squadrons about that one!!!

NC

[Roadburner440]

Thanks for the response NC.. Was going to say out of all the aircraft that one was not part of the EAWS PQS.. They had many retired birds on there but that wasn't on the list. Looks like a pretty cool aircraft.

[Navy Chief]

Thanks for the response NC.. Was going to say out of all the aircraft that one was not part of the EAWS PQS.. They had many retired birds on there but that wasn't on the list. Looks like a pretty cool aircraft.

By the way, one of my tours was as a AME Advancement Exam Writer at Saufley Field, Pensacola. I remember that updating/revising PQS quals was also part of that job.

The Vigilante was an absolutely beautiful aircraft. I loved watching it fly by, and come in for traps. I suited up for a ride once, but a hyd pump went down, and never got another chance. You couldn't see much from the back seat. A very small window.

But the maintenance on the Viggie was immense. Nearing the end of its service, only 3 Vigilantes were assigned to each carrier on deployments, and of that, MAYBE one would be in an up status for sorties.

NC

[Roadburner440]

Yeah. When I was in A-school in Pensacola I visited the aviation museum that was on the base. I take a fancy to flying machines, and when watching the movie that one caught my eye. It is ashame that history forgets a lot of these birds. I wish I would of had an oppertunity to see a lot of these aircraft in person while they were in the service. Ashame you did not get your flight though, and sadly will never have the oppertunity again.

Bet you had fun on your tour as an advancement exam writter (not, but maybe I am wrong). I myself cannot stand paper work and would imagine that to be one of the most boring jobs on earth. Someone has to do it though, and I imagine you had to have a lot of attention to detail to make it to that position. That is a lot of questions to come up with every 6 months that is for sure, and requires quite a bit of knowledge in order to avoid repeats as much as possible. I know out of all 6 exams I have taken since I have been in the Navy have very rarely seen the same question twice.

[Navy Chief]

I enjoyed the job of exam writer. Yes, it was boring at times; especially having to come up with new ways of asking the same question. Not a simple task at times.

The entire process is driven by statistics. Each question is analyzed, along with each answer.

But the working conditions were ideal. Not sure if the offices are even located in the same place, but we worked in old BOQs.

Saufley Field was a nice place to work.

NC

[Roadburner440]

I think (and maybe wrong) the exams are written out of Millington, TN right now.. I know PERS-8 is the one that scrubs the list of selectee's to make sure they are actually eligible. Cause they also convene the Chiefs boards up there as well now. When they had that massive flooding a couple months ago that really threw a wrench into everything as far as fall advancements and such were concearned.

[Navy Chief]

I think (and maybe wrong) the exams are written out of Millington, TN right now.. I know PERS-8 is the one that scrubs the list of selectee's to make sure they are actually eligible. Cause they also convene the Chiefs boards up there as well now. When they had that massive flooding a couple months ago that really threw a wrench into everything as far as fall advancements and such were concearned.

That is so bizarre, considering all the aviation maintenance training used to be at Millington, and unless I am mistaken, it is all now at NAS Pensacola (where I am headed this weekend for a short vacation).

NC

[Willy]

I go to Millington once a month and they still haven't fully recovered from that flood.

[Roadburner440]

All the maitenance training is at NAS Pensacola. I went through AM A-school there in '03 when I came in. When Katrina hit though while I was on my first cruise in '05 they moved the training facilities to Jacksonville, Norfolk, and San Diego while it was being rebuilt. With the advent of NKO (Navy Knowledge Online) and the big push for consolidation a lot of stuff is done in Millington now. I just looked it up on the NKO website and I stand corrected. They are written by the Navy Advancement Center in Pensacola, FL, and graded there. PERS-8 is just responsible for making sure security clearances and stuff are up to date, and that we actually qualify to advance. Sorry for the mis-information. With everything going to NKO (they shut down the Naval Advancement Center website), and BUPERS I thought it all moved to Millington. Hopefully you enjoy your trip to Pensacola. Me and the wife are still debating if we want to take the kids to the P-Cola airshow or not. I am really wanting to go though since it is the end of season.

[TARPSBird]

Ready on Arrival is a great movie. Considering it was a Grumman production, I thought all the air wing aircraft got pretty even-handed coverage, although they did get in a nice plug for their (then) new A-6A Intruder. I forgot all about the tiller bars and boarding ladders used on the A-4's.