Peter Fey

Frankly any gray and white jet from the Tonkin Gulf is the majority of what I build. Similar to you and Connie, I was on Kitty Hawk so am particularly fascinated by her involvement.

I would say “Hope you enjoy it,” but it’s thoroughly depressing. Those dudes went through so much. I can’t even begin to fathom. Go buy Mike “Mule” Mulane’s “Dead Men Flying.” It’s up there with All quite on the Western Front and Forgotten Soldier for the amount of raw emotion. The best book about the air war I’ve ever read. I’m hoping these sheets come out soon as I’ve got several a/c I want to build.

That’d be me. Haven’t been on here in ages, mostly hang out on LSP.

Think Bullseye is planning several sets of CAG-16 decals. Don’t know his release date though.

How about an Iron Hand loadout? There's some great shots of VA-85 doing Iron Hand off the Kitty Hawk during 1967. 4x AGM-45 Shrikes on the wing stations and 6x Mk-82 on the centerline.

Shameless plug for "Bloody Sixteen." Other than that, I'd suggest "Alpha Strike" by Jeffery Levinson. Barrett Tillman and Steve Coonts just published "Dragon's Jaw." It looks at all the failed attempts to take down the Thanh Hoa bridge during the course of the entire war. "Fighter Pilot" by Christina Olds and Ed Rasimus. "When Thunder Rolled" by Ed Rasimus. And if you can find it, without paying an arm and a leg, "MiG Killers of Yankee Station" by Michael O'Connor.

Hammer, FWIW the cockpit you currently have isn't for these markings. You could use any of the kit ones shown in your first post and be OK. Peter

Chuck, Love your builds and thought I'd chime in. I think you've discovered why black and white photos are so hard to decipher. Depending on who made the film, some colors don't show even close to correct. That first photo, the first white strip extends up towards the bar in the star and bar. Same with the aft white stripe. I think it may have been a holdover from when the aircraft had complete stripes--when crews removed them, they left the parts that would have required more work/repainting (meaning the squadron codes). The color photo shows that--you can just barely make out the wh

Training Support Wing. What became of CVWR-20, the reserve CVW. TSW has VAQ-209, VFC-12 & 13, VFA-204 and the recently decommed VAW squadron. The reserves have been feeling the budget pinch as of late.

Well, it mostly had to do with the fact that a/c development at the time progressed at a faster rate than today. A-1 was developed at the end of WWII. A-4 came on line as a light attack a/c. Then the A-6 as a medium attack a/c. Then the A-7 as a replacement for the A-4. Depended a lot on the CVW makeup/flight deck they operated from. And OBTW, let's not forget the A-3 and A-5... Both Heavy attack. 'Different' missions between light/medium/heavy attack communities. Heavy attack eventually moved into EW and Photo Recce Birds. Medium attack soldiered on until the airframe went away in t

Unfortunately, it's pretty common. At least with every one I've built. My usual fix is to center it so you have a bit of a ledge/step on either side, but it's centered. Once you've got it glued, then you can gently scrape w/ an Xacto blade till there's no joint. It's a tough one, but the best I've been able to do, because I've tried what you suggest, and yes, the canopy will separate with time. If you're leaving the canopy open, you're in luck, as that usually fits quite well, leaving you with another horrid gap between windscreen/canopy... HTH -Peter

The story of Lady Jessie is a sad one. She was the first woman to own a Casino in Nevada and Dick Perry who worked for her became a very good friend. As his squadron (VA-164) went to Vietnam, she began to send thousands of care packages, not only to him, but the whole crew. To show his appreciation, he had her name painted on his a/c. He was lost in August 1967 and the squadron then began to mark up the CO's bird. Jessie Beck is well known in Nevada--there's even schools named for her. The Riverside is no longer a casino, but the building is there, w/ upscale loft apartments and a very n

In Nevada, you have Aviation Nation in Las Vegas. In Reno, I highly suggest the National Championship Air Races aka the Reno Air Races. Some great displays and some downright amazing flying. It's held every September, which is a beautiful time of year in the high desert/Sierras. In Aug/September, Reno has some great events as well--BBQ festivals, Hot August Nights, Balloon Races. Before I moved from there, they were still planning on having the races after the tragedy there last year. HTH Peter

OK, I guess the best question, is what are you trying to replicate here? Those are Flaperons. They're rarely up on deck. They kill the lift airborne (Think similar to ailerons). The only time they're open on deck is landing rollout on land, or during preflight checks, w/ the engines going and the crew in the plane (and then only for a few seconds at a pop.) They're not open w/o power either. Hope it helps -Peter

Love your progress so far. As an FYI, the glareshield in the front cockpit doesn't have any brown. I'd paint it dark gray w/ some black around the edges/wash and add some light gray highlights. It's just a nasty piece of black vinyl. It's usually worn through and is showing the threads... Otherwise, your cockpits look great--love the DDI's in the back seat. -Peter