Jump to content

Save "Christine" Project - non profit cooperative project


Recommended Posts

Not so fast Neu. I'd like to see photographic evidence to back that statement. VF-201 and VF-202 received the first production Tomcats following their upgrade to Block 135 standards. They then received the final F-14As to leave the production line, including the final A model constructed.

Cheers,

Dave

Link to post
Share on other sites

In 1976 VF-201 and 202 were flying F-4Ns.

In 1984 VF-201 and 202 were flying F-4Ss

They received their first F-14A, 158634, early in 1987 and flew-off their last F-4S in December of that year. The only anomalies were 159591 and 161152. But with 4813.9 airframe hours, 161152 was soon striken and did not serve long with either squadron. 159591 was wired for TARPS but how long it was assigned I do not know.

Cheers,

Dave

Edited by Sig Saur & Son
Link to post
Share on other sites

Great, thanks Dave! I'm gonna work on other areas will then! Brian promised the Tribute text for Wednesday. I plan to finish up this print on the next weekend completely, so we can launch the support!

Greetings, neu :doh:

Link to post
Share on other sites

So here's a quick update on the project. I added the BOL launcher to the cat, fixed the 11 location on the tail. We fixed the VF-14 and VF-142 insignias, so those are final ones, and not placeholders anymore.

Also I made some modifications on the layout as well:

christine_006.jpg

Now there are 2 sections of text on it, the left one starting with the Anytime, Baby! logo will be the trubite text to be written by Brian P, the right one starting with the OV-10 Association's logo will be hopefully some write about the association and the efforts saving Christine. Currently it's only a placeholder text.

We need to find out if she was in service at VF-201 or not...that's why we have the question mark there.

Keep the comment coming!

Greetings, neu :whistle:

www.deploymentproductions.com

Edited by neu
Link to post
Share on other sites
One thing I might be able to add, neu, is that I believe she may have actually been originally delivered July 16, 1975, not '76. Can anyone else confirm else?

Daniel

I possess copies of the majoirty of inventory cards. yes, you are correct, it was delivered 16 July 1975.

I would still like to see proof that 159600 ever served with VF-201 or 202. If it did, I need to add the updated information to my next Tomcat Book. I cannot find any record of its service with either Texas based squadron here in my extensive records. Still, I'd like to see proof to back up the statement it served with VF-201. I hope the museum keeps the Cat in VF-31 markings and does not plan to paint it in a VF-201 scheme.

After it stops snowing, maybe next week, I plan to visit the USN history center and view the inventory cards again. Can't go this week because our Tomcat is finally due to arrive at the VFW on Friday.

Edited by Sig Saur & Son
Link to post
Share on other sites
Neu,

I hope to have an answer for you on Monday. My Tomcat guru does not work on weekends.

Cheers,

Dave

Gents,

We have a retired Admiral here who helped us get the airplane and he said he flew it here in Fort Worth and that after it left the squadron it went back on activ duty. I can query him if you like.

Jim Hodgson

Link to post
Share on other sites

Jim,

Well, at the end, this litho is to help you, so basically you are the "customers" for us currently. So I'll include that VF-201 logo then. Just please confirm if I have to add it as the first squadron insignia (those are ordered by time)

Greetings, neu :D

www.deploymentproductions.com

Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi there,

Here's the current update of the litho:

christine_007.jpg

I just purchased the rights for a beautiful US Flag image, so I'll replace this placeholder soon! Let me know if you like this design!

Greetings, neu :wub:

Edited by neu
Link to post
Share on other sites
Jim,

Well, at the end, this litho is to help you, so basically you are the "customers" for us currently. So I'll include that VF-201 logo then. Just please confirm if I have to add it as the first squadron insignia (those are ordered by time)

Greetings, neu :worship:

www.deploymentproductions.com

Let's confirm 201 first. We are checking our sources as well. One said no, it didn't serve here, waiting on another and NAVAIR, but I would think yo all have this figured.

We had considered doing a harlequin in VF-31 and VF-201 but if it wasn't there, I don't know. Right now I would be inclined to say it will stay in VF-321 colors (grays), but unltoimately it won't be my choics, only my job.

The print is looking very impressive and we apprecaite all that yu have all done to bring this along.

When we first started looking into recovering Christine we knew we woul dhave to have a lot of financiial support since we couldn't afford the $45,000.00. Through AVWEB the F-14 Association, our web site and lots of emails, we generated lots of support form people all over the world. We have had donations from $1.00 to $1,000.00 with the average being about $25.00. Never did reach the $45,000.00 goal, but we whitteled the cost down a lot too. The point is, the recovery efforts has gotten support form a lot of people all over the world and has been a true team effort.

You are all now on that team andd we sincerely apprecaite all you efforts. What you are all doing is helping us with the aspect of displaying a museum item know as interpretation, or explaining what the otem is. Thsi print will fill the bill to a T.

Thanks,

Jim Hodgson

Link to post
Share on other sites

Jim

Thanks for the nice words! We're all happy to help you here, as you see lot of well known persons of the Tomcat community is watching this action already!

We were spending lots of time to confirm if she was serving at 201, here's the conclusion what we have, and the decision I made. I know "Sig Saur & Son" a.k.a. David F. Brown, Mr Tomcat, etc and I know he spends all his time with research, I used to work with him on our projects, and he was always a reliable source. I trust his word 100%. If he's not sure on something he's not trying to guess, rather he says he doesn't know yet or "no joy" :). He came up with the results now, and it seems the closest match he found ind 159608 as 159604 at VF-201 in 91/92. Actually 159608 looks pretty similar from even a small distance, not to mention if you write it with hand to a chart for example. This info was confirmed independently from an other source as well, plus in addition I asked my contact at VF-201 to look after it too, and he brought me the same BuNo list like Dave, no 159600 there.

On the other side, it's clear to everybody that Tomcats played important role in Fort Worth's life by serving at those squadrons, and we should indicate it.

So as you can see, I added all the squadrons she was serving at, also I added the VF-201 and 202 a bit spaced to the row. It makes sure, that everybody will be happy. I know some of our customers wont buy this, if it's not accurate, also it's important to us to always deliver the right stuff to the customers. Also I don't want to strike through your plans either. So this is the solution which will generate the most support for you.

Also it's been confirmed that she was delivered in 1975 not 76, so I'll fix this as well, including in the write-up you have sent me, to avoid confusion of the two different years on the same litho. Well, at least it's one more year ;)

I hope it makes everyone happy! Brian P is going to send me the Tomcat Tribute write-up soon, so I'll finish the litho, and send it to printing next week!

Greetings, neu :banana:

www.deploymentproductions.com

Link to post
Share on other sites

Jim-

I have to admit, I was a little bitter about Chrsitine going to the Bronco Association initially because our museum (US Space and Rocket Center) was going to retain this a/c for display. We had worked for several months not only to drudge up the funds to have it delivered, but also to get permission to get it, even going through Washington because P'cola gave us the cold shoulder. So it was very frustrating on our end when we got the news that we weren't getting the F-14D.

But, now I am proud to say Christine deserves to be a part of the Bronco Assocation because of the tremendous effort from your organization that has gone into the preservation of this a/c. I wish you the best in this venture, and if there's anything I can do to help out, please let me know.

V/R-

Edited by VF-103guy
Link to post
Share on other sites
Jim-

I have to admit, I was a little bitter about Chrsitine going to the Bronco Association initially because our museum (US Space and Rocket Center) was going to retain this a/c for display. We had worked for several months not only to drudge up the funds to have it delivered, but also to get permission to get it, even going through Washington because P'cola gave us the cold shoulder. So it was very frustrating on our end when we got the news that we weren't getting the F-14D.

But, now I am proud to say Christine deserves to be a part of the Bronco Assocation because of the tremendous effort from your organization that has gone into the preservation of this a/c. I wish you the best in this venture, and if there's anything I can do to help out, please let me know.

V/R-

Hi Brian,

Thanks for the kind words. P'cola has been pretty goo with us, but we had to prove ourselves. If you woul dlike, BC me and we can talk. Might be able to help you with relations there.

Regards,

Jim

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...