Jump to content

Jolly Rogers Tomcat... again


Recommended Posts

When researching the subject of a decal sheet, many times the hardest part is to get the finishing touches, i. e., the crew names, right. The best among the decal manufacturers go to great lengths to try to accomplish this. Sometimes they are successful, sometimes they are not. I respect them immensely.

Other manufactures, however, seem to persist in their errors or shortcomings, even though great efforts have been done to "educate" them. A few minutes ago I saw a reissue that falls squarely into that category. I shall not dwell on it, but for those that care, I leave here a little something.

jolly.jpg

Link to post
Share on other sites

Being an Ensign has nothing to do with it. During WWII, lower ranking JO's starting with Ensigns flew just as much as the LT's and LCDR's. Seeing how Jack was a pilot, the squadron chooses to honor him by getting his name on the canopy rail.

As for Jose's decal referal, I'm baffled to say the least.. :thumbsup:

Edited by VF-103guy
Link to post
Share on other sites
Being an Ensign has nothing to do with it. During WWII, lower ranking JO's starting with Ensigns flew just as much as the LT's and LCDR's. Seeing how Jack was a pilot, the squadron chooses to honor him by getting his name on the canopy rail.

As for Jose's decal referal, I'm baffled to say the least.. :cheers:

Brian

I was not aware that that name had a history with the squadron. At first glance, I simply thought there was a modern-day Ensign named Jack Ernie that was a pilot...something that would not happen now, as you have to be an LT or above to fly. Not all of us are as well-versed in VF-103/Jolly Rogers history as you are. :lol:

Aaron

Link to post
Share on other sites
Brian

I was not aware that that name had a history with the squadron. At first glance, I simply thought there was a modern-day Ensign named Jack Ernie that was a pilot...something that would not happen now, as you have to be an LT or above to fly. Not all of us are as well-versed in VF-103/Jolly Rogers history as you are. :cheers:

Aaron

That's ok..you're fired! :lol:

Link to post
Share on other sites

Sorry, but this "Ensign is too young to fly" stuff is very much wrong. Every Naval Aviator and NFO starts their flying careers as Ensigns. (first of naval officer ranks). True, most are a slightly higher rank by the time they make it to the fleet by virtue of how long the training process takes. It's very common to have nugget aviators/NFO's hit the fleet as LTJG!

It's more a matter of time in the program than rank required.

-brian

Link to post
Share on other sites

Back when they had the NAVCAD program, it wasn't uncommon to see fleet aviators as Ensigns. The NAVCAD's actually got their wings and their commision at the same time.

In my fleet P-3 squadron, we had a PPC (patrol plane commander) who was an Ensign. He went through the RAG in 6 months, then upgraded to PPC in about 17 months (which was above average).

We were required to complete the upgrade process in 24 months, but most guys got it done in about 19 months. So this guy was an ENS PPC - in command of the flight, with a LT 2P (second pilot) and a LTjg 3P.

Chris

Link to post
Share on other sites
On another note - the Insignia Blue in the stars'n'bars seems quite a lot more vibrant than what I usually see..!

Cheers,

Andre

Andre, you could be right there, I thought it was the way the Sunlight was reflecting off the plane but the color does seem on the light side ...

Gregg

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...