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Scott O'Grady F-16


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Hi, I'm building a model of F-16C piloted by cpt. Scott O'Grady that was shot down over Bosnia in 1995. My problem is that I can't find any information about loadout on that F-16 when it was hit. Can anyone help me with that information? Thank you

Edited by Slobodan
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I can't help with the loadout - but I did photograph part of the fin during a visit to the Structures Faculty at the Moscow Aviation Institute in 2006..........

day_01_036.jpg

Ken

Did you tell them to tone down the weathering? Looks way over done. I mean the pilot still has to get in and fly it. That looks as if it has been shot down or something :woot.gif: .

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I know one decal manufacturer refused to do his aircraft since he was such a screw-up.

Say What? :gun:/> Not attacking you Scooby-Doo, but please elaborate.

Dude served his country, good enough for me. I read his book several years ago, good story.

:occasion2:/>

Edited by toadwbg
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He met him in person, and asked O'Grady some information about the jet he was flying (such as the tail number) the loadout he was carrying, etc. to make his decals and the associated research materials he adds to his sheets (he's a well-known manufacturer, who is known for accuracy and detail) and Captain O'Grady was less than forth-coming with ANY information what-so-ever. So, as a result of that, the O'Grady shoot down jet did not make it onto any sheet produced by this company.

Aaron

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He met him in person, and asked O'Grady some information about the jet he was flying (such as the tail number) the loadout he was carrying, etc. to make his decals and the associated research materials he adds to his sheets (he's a well-known manufacturer, who is known for accuracy and detail) and Captain O'Grady was less than forth-coming with ANY information what-so-ever. So, as a result of that, the O'Grady shoot down jet did not make it onto any sheet produced by this company.

Aaron

In all fairness to him though, that stuff may have been classified at the time or he may have thought it wasn't his place to say. Unless he was a d!ck about it I think calling him a screw up is a tad OTT.

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I'm probably out of place speaking at all about it to be honest. My information is second-hand, from a long time ago. But, the way it was worded, it made it sound like it was more the fact that O'Grady was just being a jerk about the whole thing, rather than it being any OPSEC kind of thing.

Aaron

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I know one decal manufacturer refused to do his aircraft since he was such a screw-up.

:thumbsup:

Spent some time with a A-10 pilot that said the same thing, he got shot down due to flying outside of the planed route, he was a bit lost (bad navigator) seemed to be a regular problem he had.

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After the shootdown other fighter pilots began referring to O'Grady as "Gump". Partly for the buffoonery that contributed to his shootdown, partly due to the idiocy of running at the rescue helo, gun in hand, and partly due to the administration making a hero out of somebody that was shot down. His actions during the Banja Luka incident also added to the disdain, and then writing a book about it just added fuel to the fire.

Regards,

Murph

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:thumbsup:/>

Spent some time with a A-10 pilot that said the same thing, he got shot down due to flying outside of the planed route, he was a bit lost (bad navigator) seemed to be a regular problem he had.

Wasn't there some issue with his radar warning equip? Not sure if it was faulty or the bad guys used a frequency that his gear couldn't pick up but I thought I read somewhere that he never had any indication that he was being targeted until the missile hit him.

With regard to his loadout that day, I know there have been other threads on this guy. Might find some info there.

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That's what we are getting at though. The lack of information about the load out has to do specifically with the personality of the pilot. He refused to answer any questions about anything regarding the incident, and without "eyewitness accounts" further information has not been forthcoming.

Aaron

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Hi, I'm building a model of F-16C piloted by cpt. Scott O'Grady that was shot down over Bosnia in 1995. My problem is that I can't find any information about loadout on that F-16 when it was hit. Can anyone help me with that information? Thank you

Based on all the comments above, I would try to find pics of another F-16 from O'Grady's squadron (Triple Nickle?), from the same time period, and see what the most common loadouts may have been. Without talking to those who were there, loading up his jet, or finding a pic of his jet the day of the mission, I don't see how else you'd know for sure.

Rob

Edited by galileo1
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Wasn't there some issue with his radar warning equip? Not sure if it was faulty or the bad guys used a frequency that his gear couldn't pick up but I thought I read somewhere that he never had any indication that he was being targeted until the missile hit him.

I saw a documentary once on this, and if I recall, the F-16s were flying predictable routes day after day. (I think we've heard that one before.) S'posedly the Serbs were able to estimate the range/bearing/altitude in advance and fired SA-6s in "standby" mode without guidance, then switched on the tracking radar only in the last few seconds. As that version of the story went, O'Grady had only a couple seconds to realize he had been painted before the SA-6 detonated. I remember thinking that that particular tactic would probably be hard to beat under those conditions, and I also realized that "the other side" has learned a few things about working in a SEAD environment.

Anyway, I only saw that once, and I haven't read O'Grady's book, but that's the version I got.

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After the shootdown other fighter pilots began referring to O'Grady as "Gump". Partly for the buffoonery that contributed to his shootdown, partly due to the idiocy of running at the rescue helo, gun in hand, and partly due to the administration making a hero out of somebody that was shot down. His actions during the Banja Luka incident also added to the disdain, and then writing a book about it just added fuel to the fire.

Regards,

Murph

Maybe he's related to Sully. 😒

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Being that the F-16s were performing a No-Fly Zone mission, I believe it would be safe to assume a similar load as to this photo:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Deliberate_Force#/media/File:F-16_deliberate_force.JPG

Also, going through the Banja Luka mission, the F-16s carried a 2 & 2 mix of AIM-120s and 9Ms, plus an ECM pod and tanks. I'd go with that.

Jeff

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