This is a texture for Milton Shupe's Grumman C1A Trader (COD) stationed onboard USS AMERICA CVA-66 during her 1968 and 1970 Vietnam Cruises while I was aboard. I created this by hand from the pictures in my two Cruise Books of those two cruises. USS AMERICA served our country honorable from 1965 to May 2005 where she was scuttled in the Atlantic Ocean. Although there were very subtle differences in the actual textures which even though I spent 42 months aboard did not notice until so carefully studying the pictures to create this texture, this is accurate enough "for government work" LOL to represent either period of time. I did not find when America converted her COD to C2's or any pictures of them painted like this after the C1A was retired or its disposition. Each year, the current "Miss America" came aboard and re-dedicated the C1A, her namesake.
According to an "eye-witness RAF pilot" on a website I found one reference that when America was on a Med cruise in 1974 America still had a C1A embarked, but no longer had this painted on the outboard nacelles.:salute: Enjoy. Except for USS Lexington I do not know of any other specially painted COD aircraft. The C1A was a detachment from VRC-40. Uniquely she did not have any tail code but the American Flag. You will need the SOH-C1A complete aircraft here.
I am doing research for a possible virtual VRC-40 with me in C2A Greyhounds and in doing so I found out on the real VRC-40 site that they converted from C1A's to C2's in 1986. So I would guess that from 1974 (above) until 1986 she no longer had "Miss America" but regular VRC-40 livery.
Submitted by tgycgijoes
According to an "eye-witness RAF pilot" on a website I found one reference that when America was on a Med cruise in 1974 America still had a C1A embarked, but no longer had this painted on the outboard nacelles.:salute: Enjoy. Except for USS Lexington I do not know of any other specially painted COD aircraft. The C1A was a detachment from VRC-40. Uniquely she did not have any tail code but the American Flag. You will need the SOH-C1A complete aircraft here.
I am doing research for a possible virtual VRC-40 with me in C2A Greyhounds and in doing so I found out on the real VRC-40 site that they converted from C1A's to C2's in 1986. So I would guess that from 1974 (above) until 1986 she no longer had "Miss America" but regular VRC-40 livery.
Submitted by tgycgijoes
