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VF-111 Sundowners


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:)OK, I have been biting at the bit to get involved in the Desert Storm GB. I just got back from the LHS where I found a couple of great kits including a Hasagawa SunDowner Tomcat in 1/72 scale with very awesome cartograf decals.

Question: Did the SunDowner Tomcats have the red & white sunburst or where they toned down to gray for Desert Storm?

Edited by rm20886
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  • 1 year later...

In a memo sent to Omar, I have two Battle Efficiency Awards from 74-78 era that proclaim VF-111 as the Sundowners. I also have a lot of NAS Miramar base newspaper clippings proclaiming them as the Sundowners. But either way, they were the BEST fighter squadron the Navy had during that period of time. I am very proud of the fact that I was a part of it all :)

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  • 5 weeks later...

:)OK, I have been biting at the bit to get involved in the Desert Storm GB. I just got back from the LHS where I found a couple of great kits including a Hasagawa SunDowner Tomcat in 1/72 scale with very awesome cartograf decals.

Question: Did the SunDowner Tomcats have the red & white sunburst or where they toned down to gray for Desert Storm?

I know that during the beginning of the transition we (I, being one of the very few on Crud Crew) had it painted in the world famous red and white color scheme. As Tom Cruise once illustriously put it we were "The Best of the Best"...that is the seventies era Sundowners.

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:)OK, I have been biting at the bit to get involved in the Desert Storm GB. I just got back from the LHS where I found a couple of great kits including a Hasagawa SunDowner Tomcat in 1/72 scale with very awesome cartograf decals.

Question: Did the SunDowner Tomcats have the red & white sunburst or where they toned down to gray for Desert Storm?

VF-111 didn't participate Desert Storm but they participated in Operation Southern Watch during the 1992/93 cruise , the line birds in 1991 were toned down (TPS) but the CAG bird was in full color, the NL-200 162594 was in overall gull gray and in a full color scheme (1991) the next CAG bird 161622 had TPS and was toned down :

ToneddownNL-200Jan1993.jpg

HTH , Henk

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Is anybody know about this F-15 kill mark on this NL201 in 1983. Any info and photo please.

VF-111 NL-201 160660 1983

F14A_VF111_NL201_160660_001.jpg

Dr. Grumman , during the SunDowners 1983 World cruise , they did some ACM with the Kadena Eagles and the SunDowners apparently got some F-15 kills , hence the F-15 silhouette on NL-201 , I have also seen a F-15 silhouette on NL-202 , I will check if I have photo's of SunDowner F-14's with the F-15 kills.

HTH , Henk "OMAR"

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Henk,

I was wondering if you could help me with a research question. During a trip to NAS North Island in March 1990, I snapped pics of a couple VF-111 F-14s on the ramp there. I'd like to build a model of those aircraft but 10 PCS moves in 19 years have decimated my photo collection. If I remember, the markings were low-vis, sunburst on the rudder like NL201 on FCM sheet 48-036. Time frame should be about 10 Mar 1990. Unfortunately the records I've seen indicate that VF-111 departed on a WESTPAC cruise in Feb 1990. If anyone out there could help me out with markings, MODEX, BuNos, I'd sure appreciate it. Thanks in advance.

FCM 48036

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Hey Reddog,

I believe NAS NI was an F-14 Rework Depot so the jets you seen and photographed at the time may have been left there just for that and they were replaced in VF-111 for their 1990 cruise ...

Of course, this is all just speculation on my part ...

I'm just south of you in Salem, MO ... :wave:

Gregg

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Greg,

Aircraft swapped out for depot-level maintenance sure makes the most sense. They'd still be wearing Sundowner paint even though they weren't assigned anymore. But unfortunately that still leaves me without a clue to their MODEX and BuNos. I may just have to go to gonavy.jp and pick a jet at random from the previous cruise and settle for a representative instead of the exact ones. Thanks for the help, Greg. Go Cards!

Doug

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Greg,

Aircraft swapped out for depot-level maintenance sure makes the most sense. They'd still be wearing Sundowner paint even though they weren't assigned anymore. But unfortunately that still leaves me without a clue to their MODEX and BuNos. I may just have to go to gonavy.jp and pick a jet at random from the previous cruise and settle for a representative instead of the exact ones. Thanks for the help, Greg. Go Cards!

Doug

Hi Doug ,

I read your entry yesterday , but I didn't had much time to respond ! SORRY !! I concur with Gregg about the depot level maintenance , In 1990 alone they had 6 aircraft transfers.......

I have one slide of a VF-111 Tomcat ( 161443 NL-213 ) at NAD North Island taken by Scott van Aken , the slide is dated 25 Jun 1990.

161443F-14ANL-213VF-111NorthIsand25Jun1990.jpg

Doug if you need BuNo's from VF-111's Tomcats from 1990 , I have ten BuNo' from just when VF-111 came back from the cruise ( July 1990 ) please let me know !

HTH , Henk "OMAR"

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Henk,

That's exactly what I was looking for. You confirmed the paint/markings I thought I remembered and gave me a MODEX and bureau number. I've been trying to find that information for years. Thanks.

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