• There seems to be an uptick in Political comments in recent months. Those of us who are long time members of the site know that Political and Religious content has been banned for years. Nothing has changed. Please leave all political and religious comments out of the forums.

    If you recently joined the forums you were not presented with this restriction in the terms of service. This was due to a conversion error when we went from vBulletin to Xenforo. We have updated our terms of service to reflect these corrections.

    Please note any post refering to a politician will be considered political even if it is intended to be humor. Our experience is these topics have a way of dividing the forums and causing deep resentment among members. It is a poison to the community. We appreciate compliance with the rules.

    The Staff of SOH

  • Server side Maintenance is done. We still have an update to the forum software to run but that one will have to wait for a better time.

A Day in the Life of an Air Boss on World's Largest US Aircraft Carrier

gray eagle

gray eagle

SOH-CM-2025
This ones for you Mike71



DId your air boss job get you to O-6? I guess when you got to AIr Boss job you had been maybe a Squadron or Carrier CO.

I go back to the early 60's Essex carriers (Hancock and Bonnie Dick) with only two cats in during 'Nam in Tonkin Gulf as a BB stacker for VF-24. I can remember being on the arm crew F8-C and how the AD-1 Spad props would blow wood splinters on my red flight deck jersey as they launched. We only had two cats; no waist cat. I don't how an air boss job would be on the Essex types but most likely just as challenging. How the air boss would bark flight quarters (x2) and tell us on the flight deck to get into proper flight deck gear, check chocks, chains. One of my ordnance gang would then mutter "Check your buddies pockets for FOD! :)
 
Last edited:
I made O-6 based on previous assignments; I got "frocked" just after I was mustered aboard as the "min-boss" so I was then 3rd senior officer on the ship. It did not bother me that I was senior to the Air Boss until I got qualified, but the CO did ask me if it would be a problem, I'm not that petty.
 
Hancock was my last cruise in '70-71 WestPac to Nam! VAQ-129, the last Whale deployment for that squadron. We went with 2 aircraft and after the first week on Yankee Station, the duty aircraft had a problem reeling in the hose, so they fired the guillotine, which cut the basket section off but the clamp that was suppose to seal the end reeling back in failed and the flapping hose sprayed the bomb-bay with fuel. A spark, when landing, caused an explosion, and blew one bomb-bay door off and incinerated a lot of component wiring. We finished the cruise with one aircraft.

scan_20240831-055704_1.jpg
 
Last edited:
Quite a story; it amazed me that Whales operated off 27 Charlies, but they did for sure.

I checked out in the A-3 as a test pilot at Pax River just so I could fly it. We had an RA-3B and 3 KA-3Bs we used for the F-18 test program to keep the F-18 and f-4 chase planes from having to go thru the refueling pits all the time - they burned fuel like crazy, of course..

I tanked KA-3s off KC-135Es from the MD and DEL ANG at times to keep max fuel in the air -quite an experience plugging into a short hose hooked to a fixed boom.
 
Never knew about the RA-3b! Just found this beauty!

A camouflaged U.S. Navy Douglas RA-3B Skywarrior aircraft of reconnaissance squadron VAP-61 World Recorders (BuNo 144846) at Naval Air Station (NAS) Agana, Guam. Standing beside it are PH1c R. Laurie, LTJG D. Schwikert and LCDR Chas. D. Litford. On the ground in front of them are twelve cameras. VAP-61 was performed reconnaissance missions over Vietnam until it was disestablished on 1 July 1971.
144846 became an ERA-3B in 1982. It was later sold to Hughes Aircraft, inherited by Raytheon, (civil registration N547HA) and finally scrapped in 1999.

1200px-RA-3B_VAP-61_camouflaged.jpg
 
CVW-21 was embarked on USS Bon Homme Richard for 66/67 Westpac cruise. During a morning launch of one of VAH-4 Det. L (KA-3B) on Yankee station and as the cat started to launch, the nose gear collapsed pulling the bird with it's nose on the deck. My AO shop was near by and I felt the compartment shudder as the whale was launching, I did not know at the time what happened but soon found out. No survivors. I heard it was first ride for one of the souls onboard. We use to get our mail and parts delivered via "Whale". That bird could fold like an accordion; it had hinges just about every where wings/tail etc. I don't think it would fit in hanger bay.
 
Last edited:
Sorry, Butch, for stealing your topic/Thread...one last pic of Hancock (Not Will Smith).
This was taken on our way from Sandy Eggo to Hawaii and then on to Yankee Station. Night Landing practice for the F-8s. The last one kinda smacked the round-down. :cry:
Goodbye Meatball.
scan_20240831-150621_1 (1).jpg
 
MrZippy said:
Sorry, Butch, for stealing your topic/Thread...one last pic of Hancock (Not Will Smith).
This was taken on our way from Sandy Eggo to Hawaii and then on to Yankee Station. Night Landing practice for the F-8s. The last one kinda smacked the round-down. :cry:
Goodbye Meatball.
View attachment 155363
Click to expand...
Wow! Hope the pilot got out Okay, I think instead of calling the ball, he ate it!
 
MrZippy said:
Never knew about the RA-3b! Just found this beauty!

A camouflaged U.S. Navy Douglas RA-3B Skywarrior aircraft of reconnaissance squadron VAP-61 World Recorders (BuNo 144846) at Naval Air Station (NAS) Agana, Guam. Standing beside it are PH1c R. Laurie, LTJG D. Schwikert and LCDR Chas. D. Litford. On the ground in front of them are twelve cameras. VAP-61 was performed reconnaissance missions over Vietnam until it was disestablished on 1 July 1971.
144846 became an ERA-3B in 1982. It was later sold to Hughes Aircraft, inherited by Raytheon, (civil registration N547HA) and finally scrapped in 1999.

View attachment 155360
Click to expand...
Capture.jpg
 
The A-3B series had 60 mission specific pressurized hulls; they were built that way. The upper escape hatch was a plug type, not the earlier sliding type. The cockpit framing is noticeably different if you look closely.

The "version" birds were built as RA-3Bs, EA-3Bs and TA-3Bs. At Pax we used the RA-3 for loggie runs, taking folks up to DC for Pentagon meetings etc. I also admit to making annual lobster runs up to NAS Brunswick in support of the annual Pax River picnic. A few emergency leave cases as well.

I enjoyed flying with the enlsted men we had as aircrew -they were VQ / VAP / VAQ folks and flew in the right seat or rear seat. We had ADJs, AEs and AMHs with plenty of A-3 experience..

Unfortunately we lost a KA-3B flown by an Air Force Major on exchange duty and an AEC crewman when a flap torque tube failed coming through the 90. The Major was an airplane nut like I was, and just liked flying it for the experience. He actually owned and maintained an early model Bonanza.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top