Normally, in those days, we picked up the 2 Whales assigned to the airwing near Guam. Since I was living in a 8 man stateroom with only five assigned (ah-the high life!), we got one of the A-3 pilots as a roomie. This det had only two pilots assigned and they normally flew a day hop and a night hop.

Well, for the sake of brevity, one of the pilots fell quickly into the non-bluewater category ASAP and soon migrated (deteriorated?) into the day only category, which is an unenvied, unique & non-hacking position to be in. Meanwhile, the other guy, my roomie, flew the whole line period in the IO (Gonzo) AT NIGHT, seemed like every night, in the Whale….

After debrief, he would come to the stateroom, sit in the big comfy chair we had set up for him, and light up the first of about 8-10 Camels. Of course, we also provided a little Kentucky (his homestate) libation. He slept during the day.

HE was the airwing hero.

B2

So here was the USAF assigning your average KC-135 tanker pilot to fly one of its most expensive aircraft out of a base known for some of the poorest flying WX around.

I hope this link works – it’s about Whales operating out of Shemya, with Army guys manning the recon compartment no less. http://community-2.webtv.net/@HH!93!42!D0AB2268A640/Det1Shemya/TalesofTheWhale/

I have to admit I was a bit surprised to learn that the loss of the Nimitz Whale is well known to this group. BTW, is it true that the only comfort facility on the EA-3s was a relief tube?
And here I thought it was tough on an 18+ hour Rivet Joint mission and the “fully functioning”
flushable head packed it in. Not good with a 30+ crew though.

The mishap is instructive in how small decisions in various places can add up to big trouoble quickly. There was plenty of blame to go around, on Nimitz, in CVW-8 and the Strike Group Staff…..

I have flight time in CV based Whales and the heavier, shore based EKA-3B flown by VAQ-33. Like SJS, I went flying in a whale one afternoon for what was supposed to be a pinkie night trap with a guy who was getting re-night qualed. (I sat in the seat behind the pilot that faced backwards….). 5 passes and 2 trips to the tanker later, we finally got aboard.

It was an unfortunate manifestation of an internecine battle fought long ago.

Many carrier COs really hated the A-3s (and A-5s) aboard. B2 could probably expand on this, but those were fleet seats that became quite unpopular by the 1970s.

This translated down to the deckplate level as well. Check out this little vignette from a member of RVAH-1 who was them aboard the Enterprise in 1968:
http://aeroweb.brooklyn.cuny.edu/specs/northam/ra-5c.htm

“My heart broke on 5 May 1968 when I heard from the Air Boss that Lt’s. Norrington and Tangeman were shot down over RVN. ***It made me angry when I overheard some yellowshirts cheering that they now had one less Vigi to move around the ship.*** Many years later, during a visit to the Vietnam Memorial Wall, I was thrilled to NOT find their names on it….”

I think it is notable that the skipper of that carrier was the most vocal opponent the A-5. Not just the airplane (which had its share of faults), but the entire concept. Called it, “a dog” when he was CAG. No wonder those yellow shirts had the kind of attitude they did.

Later, as NavAir, he fathered the Hornet. All those Hornets in the above post is mute testimony as to whose vision has become ascendant in Naval Aviation…And I will opine it is a vision that has swung Naval Aviation too far in one direction.

Apologies to Capt. Lex – Whales and recon ops
get me going…

I just can’t can’t stand bad decisions covered by spin, is all.

B2