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U.S. Navy F-84 Thunderjet
When I first saw this picture I thought it might have been Photoshopped:The designation, F84-CKX, also looked bogus (the dash number is in the wrong place, this was reportedly an F-84B, and the "X"...
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F8U-3 vs F4H-1 Dogfights at Patuxent River?
Often when the subject of the Vought F8U-3 comes up on the internet, someone posts something like "Crusader 3 test pilots would often jump the Navy pilots flying the F4H out of Pax River and get the...
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Angelo Romano's USN Electronic Agressors Parts 1 and 2
Angelo sent me copies of his latest monographs a couple of months ago. They are so impressive and comprehensive that my words failed me when I sat down to review them. Fortunately, there have been more...
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U.S. Navy 1950s Light-Attack Jet Programs
By January 1952, nuclear weapons light enough to be carried by tactical fighters and bombers had been qualified and were being stockpiled.The Mk 7 was an implosion-type device, which meant it was...
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F8U-3 Monograph - Last Chance
A big part of the McDonnell F4H-1 story is the fly off with Vought's F8U-3, the best airplane that the Navy didn't buy, according to George Spangenberg, the Director of BuAer's Evaluation Division at...
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Carrier Landing: Inflight versus Free-flight Engagements
2 August: Well, this is embarrassing. I inadvertently reversed the designations of Inflight and Free-Flight. Thanks to Oscar Meyer for the correction.If you're unfamiliar with the function of the...
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A Brief History of U.S.Navy Jet Speed Brakes
One of the early discoveries of the differences between prop-pulled and jet-propelled airplanes was that the latter benefited a great deal from the availability of speed brakes. When the pilot pulled...
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Smokin' Tigers by Michael Grove and Angelo Romano
Smokin' Tigers is the latest book from noted U.S. naval aviation historian Angelo Romano, coauthored with Michael Grove. It is available in both soft and hard-bound editions. To see more of Angelo's...
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The Definitive Blue Angels’ History - Volume 1
I have been remiss in not publicizing this series before, literally a labor of love by Mat Garretson. Volume One covers the years 1946 to 1955 (Volume Two is in work). It is comprehensive in scope...
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Flight Deck Uniform Colors
The picture above was taken of the flight deck crew aboard Shangri-La probably in 1955. Note the colorful combinations of jerseys and "helmets". These identified the specific duties of each man,...
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Douglas A3D Skywarrrior and B-66 Destroyer Differences
The U.S. Navy's A3D Skywarrior and USAF B-66 Destroyer are very similar airplanes from the same manufacturer, Douglas, initially with very similar missions, medium-range bomber. They look very much...
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Naval Fighters Number 113: Douglas F4D-1/F-6A Skyray by Nicholas M. Williams
This is a long needed update of Naval Fighters 13 by the same author published in 1984. "Greatly expanded" doesn't do it justice. Forget page count or number of illustrations: this soft-cover...
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North American PBJ-1H Carrier Suitability Evaluation
In November 1944, the recently commissioned Shangri-La was used to conduct carrier evaluations of three aircraft, a Grumman F7F-1 Tigercat, North American a P-51 Mustang, and a North American PBJ-1H...
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Barricade and Barriers Example
Every once in a while, someone posts a picture of a barricade engagement on an angle-deck carrier and refers to it as the barrier. Sometimes I comment that it is properly known as the barricade, not...
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A Brief History of USN Helicopter Minesweeping
I had intended to post this here but inadvertently created it in my modeling blog. See http://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2022/12/a-brief-history-of-usn-helicopter.html One comment there so far from...
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Comparing U.S. Navy Swept-Wing Fighter Service Careers
Every once in a while on the internet, with respect to U.S. Navy swept-wing fighters before the introduction of the F8U Crusader and the F4H Phantom II, I read something like "X did not have a very...
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JATO vs. RATO
Every once in a while, someone wonders why rocket-assisted takeoff is called JATO (Jet Assisted Takeoff) instead. According to Captain Robert C. Truax, who was literally the Navy's rocket scientist...
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Naval Fighters Number 116: Boeing F4B and Export Variants by CAPT Richard Dann
There aren't too many meticulously researched, in-depth books about U.S. Navy airplanes that served before World War II. Dana Bell's Painting the Fleet is one. Steve Ginter has published some in his...
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TBD Devastator in Action by Dana Bell
An excellent monograph by an actual historian who does his research in archives (not on line or using books by authors who rely on Wikipedia), high-resolution scans on high-quality paper,...
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Carrier Landings - Canopy open or closed?
Navy pilots landed the early jets on carriers as they always had, with the canopy open. It facilitated rapid egress from the cockpit if they had to ditch.If the engine quit, below about 1,000 feet,...
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Operation Eldorado Canyon
In case you’re wondering why I reviewing a book with a USAF F-111 profile on the cover in a Naval Aviation blog: 1. I’ve spent almost three decades, with limited success, trying to establish that its...
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The Chance Vought F7U-3 Cutlass
Now available to order from:Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Vought-F7U-3-Cutlass-Tommy-Thomason/dp/1800352948Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vought-F7U-3-Cutlass-Tommy-Thomason/dp/1800352948
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Kaman Synchropter History
Hot off the press:81 pages: A detailed and well-illustrated history (if I do say so myself) of Kaman's development of the synchropter and successful marketing of it for U.S. Navy, USMC, and USAF...
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