Memorial Build for a Lost Tracker

[11bee]

Wrapped up the outer wings, added the aileron actuators from stretched sprue (I love this stuff, it is so cheap).

As noted previously, I received the resin Vector engines. I'm very happy with them. Here are a few images of a partially built Vector engine next to the kit part (still have to add many items to the resin engine):

The kit's engine nacelles are like everything else, pretty basic and missing some fine detail. I'll be opening up various cooling vents to hopefully show a bit of the Vector engine's from the rear. This is still very much a work in progress:

Unmodified kit part:

Upgraded part (some of the opened cooling vents are not visible in this shot)

 

Edited July 23, 2017 by 11bee

[arkhunter2002]

Lookin' good. Kinda surprised to see you building something non-helo/armor.

Take care,

Austin

[11bee]

Lookin' good. Kinda surprised to see you building something non-helo/armor.

Take care,

Austin

Hey Austin,

Thanks much. I've built aircraft over the years but typically have been armor and helo focused. However, given that this aircraft went down a short distance from where I am typing this post, it's always been on my list of projects.

Regards,

John

[82Whitey51]

John,

Great build you have going there, awesome job chopping the fuselage and getting everything back together so nice!

I'm also intrigued by the subject and accompanying story of the crash. I grew up in Dorchester during the 70s and 80s, an avid "airplane geek" and some of my earliest memories are of attending airshows down at NAS So.Wey, watching the Blues in A-4s and "LY" P-3 Orions that many years later I'd be logging hours in!(P-3 Flight Engineer, VP-26 NAS Brunswick). I had a cousin who lived in Norwell and his street was in the approach to RNY 26, I loved going to his house on weekends because I knew I'd see P-3s or A-4s coming down the street! Watching airliners come over my house in Dorchester was old...

Anyway, I'm surprised I'd never heard of this crash until my buddy on here (Titan8251) showed me your thread. I was 9 years old in '78, so who knows, I must've not been paying attention to the news...though I'm sure I was likley at that airshow the few days after. Sad to hear and even more sad to read the accident report and realize how it could have been avoided...as a former Navy flyer familiar with that area, not only from the ground but in the air as well, I can't believe they passed up all those other airfields to try and make So.Wey.?! Of course, in Naval Aviation, you look to the past and learn from their mistakes.

Nice to see you building a tribute to these guys and great to read up on a little bit of Naval Aviation history from that long forgotten base in MA. Sad that they closed NAS SoWey. Initially when I went into the Navy in '88 my plans where to come back that way and do Reserve time myself out of there. I stayed on Active duty either way and it took me 15 years in before I could finally get orders up to NAS Brunswick...and not a few months into my time there the BRAC announced it s closure! I completed a tour up there and loved it! We shared hangar space with VP-92, still wearing the "LY" tail code and on occassion we'd borrow their aircraft for flights. Flying around New England was great. Whenever we had a "bounce flight" I'd always suggest going down to Otis for touch n' gos and occassionally we'd hit Martha's Vineyard or Nantucket. We'd always transit back up the coast to Brunswick somewhat low (8,000-10,000 ft) and I'd always have the pilots ask Logan if we could do an approach into there so that I could fly over the old neighborhood but they never would let us! You could still see the old hangars and runways over there at NAS SoWey.

As a modeler, one of my interests is building subjects from bases around New England. I just ordered up a new sheet of decals featuring 3 VMA-322 ("QR") A-4s from "Furball". They are all low viz gray schemes, I'm trying to convince the maker to do one of their hi-viz A-4E schemes from the 70s with the "Minute Man" on the side of the fuselage! If not I'll try doing it myself, that and a VP-92 P-3 someday. Currently I'm working on a Grumman AF-2 Guardian that will have NAS So. Wey markings.

Good luck with the remainder of your US-2B build, looking forward to seeing it complete!

Andrew White

Edited January 17, 2013 by 82Whitey51

[82Whitey51]

.

Edited January 17, 2013 by 82Whitey51

[11bee]

John,

Great build you have going there, awesome job chopping the fuselage and getting everything back together so nice!

I'm also intrigued by the subject and accompanying story of the crash. I grew up in Dorchester during the 70s and 80s, an avid "airplane geek" and some of my earliest memories are of attending airshows down at NAS So.Wey, watching the Blues in A-4s and "LY" P-3 Orions that many years later I'd be logging hours in!(P-3 Flight Engineer, VP-26 NAS Brunswick). I had a cousin who lived in Norwell and his street was in the approach to RNY 26, I loved going to his house on weekends because I knew I'd see P-3s or A-4s coming down the street! Watching airliners come over my house in Dorchester was old...

Anyway, I'm surprised I'd never heard of this crash until my buddy on here (Titan8251) showed me your thread. I was 9 years old in '78, so who knows, I must've not been paying attention to the news...though I'm sure I was likley at that airshow the few days after. Sad to hear and even more sad to read the accident report and realize how it could have been avoided...as a former Navy flyer familiar with that area, not only from the ground but in the air as well, I can't believe they passed up all those other airfields to try and make So.Wey.?! Of course, in Naval Aviation, you look to the past and learn from their mistakes.

Nice to see you building a tribute to these guys and great to read up on a little bit of Naval Aviation history from that long forgotten base in MA. Sad that they closed NAS SoWey. Initially when I went into the Navy in '88 my plans where to come back that way and do Reserve time myself out of there. I stayed on Active duty either way and it took me 15 years in before I could finally get orders up to NAS Brunswick...and not a few months into my time there the BRAC announced it s closure! I completed a tour up there and loved it! We shared hangar space with VP-92, still wearing the "LY" tail code and on occassion we'd borrow their aircraft for flights. Flying around New England was great. Whenever we had a "bounce flight" I'd always suggest going down to Otis for touch n' gos and occassionally we'd hit Martha's Vineyard or Nantucket. We'd always transit back up the coast to Brunswick somewhat low (8,000-10,000 ft) and I'd always have the pilots ask Logan if we could do an approach into there so that I could fly over the old neighborhood but they never would let us! You could still see the old hangars and runways over there at NAS SoWey.

As a modeler, one of my interests is building subjects from bases around New England. I just ordered up a new sheet of decals featuring 3 VMA-322 ("QR") A-4s from "Furball". They are all low viz gray schemes, I'm trying to convince the maker to do one of their hi-viz A-4E schemes from the 70s with the "Minute Man" on the side of the fuselage! If not I'll try doing it myself, that and a VP-92 P-3 someday. Currently I'm working on a Grumman AF-2 Guardian that will have NAS So. Wey markings.

Good luck with the remainder of your US-2B build, looking forward to seeing it complete!

Andrew White

Hi Andrew,

Thanks for the compliments. Good hearing from a Dorchester "townie" (I grew up in Scituate, lot of families from Southie and Dorchester were moving into town back then).

I miss those days, it was nice seeing some military aircraft flying around and hitting the annual air show. I've driven around the base a few times recently and it's sad to see all the building either rotting away or being torn down.

The whole story of this incident is pretty sad, I filed a separate FOIA request for some pictures that the earlier incident report mentioned. Got a couple that were taken by the SH-3 that was escorting 176 on it's return flight. They are pretty crappy but one stands out.

It shows 176 about 1/2 mile from it's final impact point. Ahead of the aircraft, you can clearly see the ballfield complex that they avoided and adjacent woods where they put it into. The aircraft was probably only at 1,000' or less and you can see a long trail of smoke coming from it's last functioning engine. That was also part of the accident chain (along with the pilot's opting to return to base instead of diverting to 5-6 closer fields). The helo crew told them they were trailing smoke but never specified which engine. The report assumes that the Tracker crew figured it was from the engine that had already failed, not their operational starboard engine. If they had understood that their operational engine was also smoking, they might have opted to land sooner.

In this picture, the worst part is that you can also see the NAS in the distance. They really were so close to making it back.

It's also pretty sad how accidents like this are so quickly forgotten. No markers, no references online, pretty much nothing unless you dig deep for it. Back in the late 80's a National Guard UH-1 went down on the cape, ran out of fuel trying to land at Otis in dense fog. 8 soldiers died. I tried to find info online about this accident, same thing. Nothing. It's fitting that folks remember the servicemen who die in combat but it seems that for the men who died during peacetime accidents like this, they are just an afterthought.

Thanks for your service, sorry you couldn't get a slot at Weymouth (or stay longer at Brunswick). I had a contractor I worked with that was a reservists with VP-92, assigned as a sensor operator. He loved the job. They would go on short TDY's to Bermuda (my favorite place on the planet) 5-6 times a year. I remember thinking about what a cool gig that was but before I could look into it, an Army recruiter got to me first and sold me on the infantry. :(/>

[aweber stoofan]

Your Tracker is really coming to life ! It really looks good ! I need to get back on mine to and finish things up ! Great job !

[rpalmer800]

Wow, this is very cool. I am only 15, i live in Rockland and love aviation. I was just sitting in my living room and saw on the news about the Abington Fire tonight, and saw it was multiple alarm, so i decided to check out the RFD Website, and believe it or not, they have pictures from the accident scene! (I think this is it) (http://rocklandfirefighters.org/?zone=/unionactive/view_pics.cfm&galleryID=13218&gallery=Jet%20Crash%2012-6-69&showarchive=101) But then i did some research and ended up here. This is extremely interesting. I have played baseball all my life at spring street and live just 2 minutes away. Anyways, i will definatley be following this topic.

[11bee]

Wow, this is very cool. I am only 15, i live in Rockland and love aviation. I was just sitting in my living room and saw on the news about the Abington Fire tonight, and saw it was multiple alarm, so i decided to check out the RFD Website, and believe it or not, they have pictures from the accident scene! (I think this is it) (http://rocklandfirefighters.org/?zone=/unionactive/view_pics.cfm&galleryID=13218&gallery=Jet%20Crash%2012-6-69&showarchive=101) But then i did some research and ended up here. This is extremely interesting. I have played baseball all my life at spring street and live just 2 minutes away. Anyways, i will definatley be following this topic.

Glad you enjoy the thread and thanks very much to the link to those pictures. Very interesting shots, "Navy double-fatal jet crash, dated 1969). Those are not from the Tracker crash over on Spring St but I'm pretty interested in them. Never knew there was a second fatal Naval crash in Rockland. Not even sure what type of jet was involved in that one, can't tell from the pics. I'll have to do some research.

Who knows, those pictures might be the start of my next project :)

Regards,

John

[Tailspin Turtle]

Glad you enjoy the thread and thanks very much to the link to those pictures. Very interesting shots, "Navy double-fatal jet crash, dated 1969). Those are not from the Tracker crash over on Spring St but I'm pretty interested in them. Never knew there was a second fatal Naval crash in Rockland. Not even sure what type of jet was involved in that one, can't tell from the pics. I'll have to do some research.

Who knows, those pictures might be the start of my next project :)/>

Regards,

John

T-33

[11bee]

Here is one of the pictures I received from that last FOIA request. As noted, the quality is poor. They send me a single PDF with 10 pictures or so. I took a quick shot at pulling this one and editing it. Not what I have hoped for, I'll retry later. The picture was taken by the SH-3 helo crew, as they escorted 176, above and behind it.

Regardless, if you squint hard enough, you can see 176 at the bottom left of the picture. It's just in line with the roadway running from left to right, at low altitude. You may also be able to make out the trail of smoke from it's one remaining engine, which at this point may have just failed as well. Immediately ahead is the ball-field complex and the woods beyond where the US-2 crashed. A large apartment complex is that whitish blob immediately beyond the woods and at the top of the picture in the mist is NAS South Weymouth. You can just make out the pattern of the runways off in the distance.

The picture was labeled by the Navy "US-2B 133176, Approximately 1/2 mile to impact". It's the last picture of 176, taken probably 15 seconds before it's crash.

Edited July 23, 2017 by 11bee

[82Whitey51]

Wow, quite the sad picture, they were so close.

As Tommy Thompson says, the pictures from the other crash is a T-33 trainer, you can see "T-33" just above the Bureu numbers.

On the topic of crashes at or around NAS So. Weymouth, I mentioned previously of attending several airshows there growing up. At one of them a biplane, with I believe a wingwalker, crashed during one of the shows. My dad had some old 8mm film of it going below the rooftops of cars and campers and then a plume of smoke coming up...I remember having all the neighborhood kids over the house the day we got the reel of film back from the photomart and all of us watching it! At the end of the show the Blue Angels flew a missing man formation for the people killed...yeah, the show went on!

I'll do a little digging to see if I can find anything on it.

* OK, here's what I found. Sept 8 1974...the pilot was a female stunt pilot...maybe that is why in my memory there was a wingwalker involved?

http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/N86589.html

Edited January 22, 2013 by 82Whitey51

[Big Johnny]

I have been following your build since you started. I found it by looking for information on the S-2 Tracker "STOOF" crash on August 24, 1978. I was going to the Rockland McDonalds right after it happened. There was still smoke coming up. Navy crash trucks were going throught the streets as well as a ton of other navy vehicles. I saw them taking the wreckage of the plane out of the crash site that weekend. As luck would have it I was going by with a friend of mine. They had it on a flatbed trailer and it was just coming down the dirt road that led to the ballfield. You are doing a great job on your model. I could never finish one. Grew up less than 1 mile from the base in South Weymouth. Watched the planes up there all the time. They were still flying blimps when I was a kid!

Edited January 24, 2013 by Big Johnny

[Big Johnny]

Wow, quite the sad picture, they were so close.

As Tommy Thompson says, the pictures from the other crash is a T-33 trainer, you can see "T-33" just above the Bureu numbers.

On the topic of crashes at or around NAS So. Weymouth, I mentioned previously of attending several airshows there growing up. At one of them a biplane, with I believe a wingwalker, crashed during one of the shows. My dad had some old 8mm film of it going below the rooftops of cars and campers and then a plume of smoke coming up...I remember having all the neighborhood kids over the house the day we got the reel of film back from the photomart and all of us watching it! At the end of the show the Blue Angels flew a missing man formation for the people killed...yeah, the show went on!

I'll do a little digging to see if I can find anything on it.

* OK, here's what I found. Sept 8 1974...the pilot was a female stunt pilot...maybe that is why in my memory there was a wingwalker involved?

http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/N86589.html

I witnessed the crash of Sept. 8, 1974. It was horrible. It happened right in front of me! There was no wing walking involved. She was doing loops while her husband was doing the description of her routine over the P.A. He said she was going to do 3 loops, and he was counting them, 1, 2, 3, and she did a 4th right into the ground. He seemed confused when she started on the fourth loop. The plane just piled up into a blob. I remember the fire trucks going over to it and just sitting there doing nothing for what seemed like a minute. Then it just burst into a ball of flames. That's when they foamed it. Very sad!

The wing walker you might be thinking about crashed up in New Hampshire. It was a father daughter team. The father flew the plane and the daughter did the walking. It was an orange and white Stearman Biplane. They performed at the South Weymouth NAS the week before they crashed. They both died in that crash.

Edited January 24, 2013 by Big Johnny

[11bee]

I have been following your build since you started. I found it by looking for information on the S-2 Tracker "STOOF" crash on August 24, 1978. I was going to the Rockland McDonalds right after it happened. There was still smoke coming up. Navy crash trucks were going throught the streets as well as a ton of other navy vehicles. I saw them taking the wreckage of the plane out of the crash site that weekend. As luck would have it I was going by with a friend of mine. They had it on a flatbed trailer and it was just coming down the dirt road that led to the ballfield. You are doing a great job on your model. I could never finish one. Grew up less than 1 mile from the base in South Weymouth. Watched the planes up there all the time. They were still flying blimps when I was a kid!

Thanks Johnny. According to the crash report, they buried the remains of 176 somewhere on the air station property.

Miss seeing the Navy aircraft flying around. The skies nowadays are only filled with jets flying into Logan. With the 101st shut down, the only military aircraft flying in this area are Army and Coast Guard H-60 helos. Just not the same.....

[11bee]

I'm a bit stalled trying to build up those resin engines. Each one has approx 50 parts. In retrospect, I'm not sure it is worth it but they really do look nice compared to the kit parts. if I had to do it over, I'd probably just add some detail to the kit parts.

Regardless, does anyone know what color the inside of the cowling was? Bare metal or green primer?

Hopefully I'll get the ambition to keep plugging away on this project.

TIA,

John

[erikztm]

I have a few pictures in which I see green primer, but it's probably wise to double check. BTW, it will be totally invisible unless you're opening up some panels.

[11bee]

The resin engines are complete. Approx 40 pieces per engine. A major amount of time. The most tedious part was adding a total of 36 push rods from stretched sprue. The engines fit in the cowlings but you will have to sand down the tops of each cylinder a bit. No big deal since that detail would not be noticeable anyway.

In retrospect, I do have to admit that these were a bit of overkill. Absolutely fantastic detail and look much better than the kit parts but what a PITA assembling them. With the cooling flaps open, the only detail you will see behind the engines are the rear of a few cylinders.

Anyway, they are snug in their cowlings, allowing me to move on to the next step. My modeling time is limited so progress will be slow.

 

Edited July 23, 2017 by 11bee

[erikztm]

They do look great, those engines. Have you considered opening up a complete side panel to show off all that hard work?

[aweber stoofan]

I'm a bit stalled trying to build up those resin engines. Each one has approx 50 parts. In retrospect, I'm not sure it is worth it but they really do look nice compared to the kit parts. if I had to do it over, I'd probably just add some detail to the kit parts.

Regardless, does anyone know what color the inside of the cowling was? Bare metal or green primer?

Hopefully I'll get the ambition to keep plugging away on this project.

TIA,

John

[/quote

The ones we got out of the "bone yard" were white inside. I believe I have seen green primer though. I know it would not be bare metal.

[11bee]

The ones we got out of the "bone yard" were white inside. I believe I have seen green primer though. I know it would not be bare metal.

Green it is! With regard to leaving a panel open to show off the resin engine, I thought about it. However, I'm getting a bit burned out on this project (the engines did me in) so I don't want to increase the work load. Opening the panel would be easy but you would still need to do a significant amount of scatchbuilding for it to look presentable.

On a related note, I'm loving the fact that Kinetic has now released an early version Tracker. Starting this project with the early version would have have saved me dozens of hours modifying the late version fuselage.

Typical..... :)/>

Edited March 18, 2013 by 11bee

[82Whitey51]

Looking forward to seeing this one done. I had a feeling Kinetic would release a short fuselage version...I've been wanting to do a Canadian one for a while.

I've been bit by that bug in the past...work on a conversion or something obcure only to have it hit the shelves not long after completion. That's why I'm holding out on building a 1/48 vac form P-3 Orion!

[erikztm]

Opening the panel would be easy but you would still need to do a significant amount of scatchbuilding for it to look presentable.

It's your model, but if I were you I'd still take some thin but sturdy aluminium foil or something and do at least one open cowling. Some stringers, a few drilled holes to represent screws and a few bundles of wires go a long way into making it look suitably busy. I know I wouldn't be able to stand it to know that these engines were in there and still look like they could have just been nicely spruced up kit engines. Having said that, I also suffer from get-there-itis when I wrestle with a model for too long. I have only recently discovered that it pays not to get impatient towards the end stages where you can either make or break a model.

[wardog]

John,

This is the first time I've been able to actually sit down and read this thread for more than just a few seconds. First of all congratulations for taking it upon yourself to pay tribute to the aircrew lost in this accident. Being a former Airdale, I truly appreciate your efforts in remembering what seems to be the forgotten. I also enjoyed the accident report you've included as it really helps to brings the whole story together. Although I hate to admit it, I have an affinity towards aviation accident investigations and the resulting description of chain of events that led to the accident. This said, I was immediately hooked on your post once I began to read it.

Your model is also an outstanding piece of work. Good luck with your project.

[jpk]

When I was a kid my dad was stationed at So Weymouth. This was late 50's early 60's. I remember the blimp hangar and spending nights there with my dad when he had duty. I got to play in the S-2 and P-2 trainers that were mounted on a side building on the blimp hangar. They had been in accidents and they saved the fuselages and mounted them on the little side building they were connected to some sort of mapping device inside a room in the hanger. I also got to mess around in a multi engine transport trainer and a few others. It was a blast.