Jump to content

Recommended Posts

In this thread I will post some of my personal pics taken when I was in VF-33. Most were taken underway aboard the USS America in 1985 (North Atlantic) or 1986 (Med).

 

To start off, here is the tail of the ill fated Starfighter 213. I believe this was BuNo 161148,  M.A.T.S. has the mishap date correct for this BuNo but lists it as a VF-32 bird - believe that is a typo. We got this jet just prior to departing on our '86 cruise and she was one of three block 110's we had. She was a flier, strong radar, and all around good jet. She was during a PMCF flight where somehow she ended up in an inverted flat spin. Crew got out ok, What sucks is this was the last day of flight ops before we opchoped from the Med and headed home. Not how you want to end a cruise.

 

AB 213 paint notes: Low vis TPS scheme, note the yellow highlights within the lightning bolts. The three block 110 birds (200, 201 and 213) were the only ones with this yellow highlight IIRC.

 

AB 200 - BuNo 161142

AB 201 - BuNo 161151

AB 213 - BuNo 161148

162703_122737834457028_167147_n.jpg

Link to post
Share on other sites
3 hours ago, habu2 said:

I clicked on this thread expecting to see F-104s....  :(

 

Me too actually, but then I thought that this is better than what I expected. Looking forward to seeing more pics.

:thumbsup:

 

Cheers,

Joerg

Link to post
Share on other sites

Hit a bit of a snag posting as I was not aware there was a limit on pics posted directly to the forum. I'm going to have to set up a photobucket account or something similar.

 

UPDATE: That was easy!

Edited by CJ Martin
Updated
Link to post
Share on other sites

Ok, here is BuNo 161142 when she was AB 200. A few things I'd like to point out here. First, the spot painting which is mostly around fasteners and panel edges.57079_122737677790377_4099069_o_zpsnnwri

 

Almost all of this spot painting was done with spray cans, and it seems the paint locker never quite had the right shade of paint on hand. Any paint is better than bare metal out to sea, so this is what you end up with. Also the low vis paint was VERY hard to clean (nearly impossible) which only made things worse. Another thing I wanted to point out is the sealant on the TCS pod. This is good old -8802, a dark gray two part sealant that takes a bit of practice to apply neatly. I've seen some TCS pods where the 8802 looked like it had been put on with a bulldozer. Some guys just didn't want so spend the time to mask it right and do a neat job. It's hard to tell in this pic, but the 8802 seals the camera sides and underneath - you can see some above the anti-collision light. A lot of times the access panels directly behind the camera will also be sealed (verticals only), again it's hard to tell in this pic but I suspect it is because we used to seal that aft seam pretty tightly, like a 1/4" or so. Compare that to the front seam which because of the way the camera fit in is probably closer to 3/4" or more. The "bullet" fairing used when there was no camera installed was also sealed with 8802. TCS was a cool system and pretty easy to maintain. The first thing we would do when in port was find the jets pointing out towards the beach and run up the TCS with a video tape in the VTR. Then down to the ready room to see those topless beaches in glorious black and white! The TID in the backseat was all shades of green and not as high resolution.

Edited by CJ Martin
Spelling is hard
Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 1 year later...

For those disappointed, here's a detailed virtual view of Several Starfighter versions including an Italian 'S' model, 2-seaters and an early 'B' model.

http://vintagetin.net/F-104Starfighter/

 

For the rest, here's an incomplete virtual look at an F-14.  Sorry, no cockpit ... the Navy, in their infinite wisdom, glued (yes, glued) all panels, access ports, as well as the canopy, before I could get interior shots.

http://vintagetin.net/F-14Tomcat/

 

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...