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easixpedro

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About easixpedro

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  1.    easixpedro reacted to a post in a topic: LSP- Large Scary Project
  2.    easixpedro reacted to a post in a topic: Scratch building a landing ship medium in scale 1/35
  3.    USMC Herc reacted to a post in a topic: 1/32 F-14D VF-213 - Light strip conundrum...
  4.    Marcel111 reacted to a post in a topic: 1/32 F-14D VF-213 - Light strip conundrum...
  5. easixpedro
    Concur with Ben. Glad to have you building NavAir stuff. And not just NavAir, but gray and white—my favorite era. Standing by to answer any questions Tom can’t answer! -Peter
  6.    easixpedro reacted to a post in a topic: A-7A/B Corsair VA-82 USS America LTJG Tom Brown 1968
  7. easixpedro
    I won’t go so far as to call the slime lights consumables, but they’re parts that can go bad, and are removed and replaced quite frequently. Depending on what’s in the supply stock and what lot from what manufacturer, and you get what you get. I’d go with it, and not worry about it. -Peter
  8.    easixpedro reacted to a post in a topic: Completed - Desert Storm Air to Air refuelling: KA-6D&A-7E
  9.    easixpedro reacted to a post in a topic: HH-60G Pavehawk Kitty Hawk 1/35
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  12.    easixpedro reacted to a post in a topic: I found my Dads old Navy Slides (CVA-66 USS America world Cruise 1968)
  13.    JeepsGunsTanks reacted to a post in a topic: I found my Dads old Navy Slides (CVA-66 USS America world Cruise 1968)
  14.    easixpedro reacted to a post in a topic: 1/48th Boeing B-52H Stratofortress
  15.    easixpedro reacted to a post in a topic: 1/32 Tamiya F4U-1a Corsair - Boyington's 17740
  16.    USMC Herc reacted to a post in a topic: I found my Dads old Navy Slides (CVA-66 USS America world Cruise 1968)
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  20. easixpedro
    Not to continue piling on, but I keep getting anecdotes form these guys. James Kennedy was a young pilot on this Det and I’ve known him for years, not knowing this till he piled on with a whole host of details. This particular Whale is now on display on the Lex, painted a strange blue. Shortly after this pic was taken, America returned to Yankee Station for the last month of Rolling Thunder (before Johnson cancelled it on the eve of the 68 election). During their first week on the line, this bird diverted to Da Nang as they were overweight and couldn’t dump fuel. While parked at Da Nang it was hit in a rocket attack. It was patched up and eventually sent to the NIPPI depot in Atsugi. All the BDR patches were painted as purple and yellow flowers! And it had a purple Phoenix on both sides of the nose i.e. from the flight of the Phoenix! Would love to see photos of that! Peter
  21.    JeepsGunsTanks reacted to a post in a topic: I found my Dads old Navy Slides (CVA-66 USS America world Cruise 1968)
  22.    JeepsGunsTanks reacted to a post in a topic: I found my Dads old Navy Slides (CVA-66 USS America world Cruise 1968)
  23. easixpedro
    Had a follow on quote that said it only applied to this Det, and by October of 1968 all the VAH squadrons were combined into VAH-10, as VAQ squadrons were standing up in Alameda vice Whidbey Island where the Heavy squadrons were based. Pretty cool snapshot in time!
  24. easixpedro
    Don’t know why I didn’t think of it, but reached out to a friend in the Skywarrior Association, concerning the Heavy 10 Whale and it’s markings. I Immediately got the following response: “My squadron , my detachment. The three birds at the top are planes this bird saved by tanking them. The figures below are tanking missions. The blood sword is because we are Vikings!” Peter
  25.    JeepsGunsTanks reacted to a post in a topic: I found my Dads old Navy Slides (CVA-66 USS America world Cruise 1968)
  26. easixpedro
    The pic looking forward from the angle is indeed Yokusaka. And the bar is from the bar district just outside the front gates, known as "The Honch." It's still alive and kicking! In fact, if you watch "Bridges at Toko Ri" you'll see Forney and his crewman walk out the front gate--that building is still there and is CNFJ (Commander Naval Forces Japan), and it was the former IJN HQ, which was occupied post war. The bars have obviously changed, but the atmosphere is still the same... Fortunate to never be shore patrol there, but have seen plenty of men and women poured into the shore patrol van to be hauled back to their prospective ships. As for the Crossing the Line Ceremony, I knew it had tamed down when I crossed in the 90s. It still sucked, but not THAT bad. They wouldn't even get away with that level of stuff now...but I digress (and don't want to be Abe Simpson "Old Man Yells at Cloud"). For folks that do FB, I highly suggest looking up the Hampton Roads Naval Museum. They're running a page called the U.S.Navy in the Vietnam War, in conjunction with their new exhibit about Vietnam. Absolutely fascinating pics that are being shared--most aren't the typical PAO photos, but shots like this taken by Sailors during the war. Thanks again for sharing! -Peter
  27. easixpedro
    Again, excellent pics! The ones with the foliage and buildings look exactly like Yokosuka...hasn't changed at all! USS Ron Reagan ties up to the same pier to this day. I pulled the cruise data from the Navy History website: USS AMERICA (CVA-66) Deployment Dates: 10 April 1968 – 16 Dec 1968 Source: Cruise Report for America covering above dates. In-port, Subic Bay 21 May 1968 – 25 May 1968 In-port, Subic Bay 29 Jun 1968 – 5 Jul 1968 In-port, Subic Bay 4 Aug 1968 – 8 Aug 1968 In-port, Hong Kong 10 Aug 1968 – 16 Aug 1968 In-port, Yokosuka, Japan 16 Sep 1968 – 23 Sep 1968 In-port, Subic Bay 31 Oct 1968 – 4 Nov 1968 Before arriving in WestPac they did a port call in Rio. After combat ops, they pulled into Sydney, then Wellington NZ. The port call with the Kiwis is the only one I can see with Sailors in Crackerjacks (dress blues). I think that tracks with your pics--the planes are pretty faded after 7 months at sea. But after wrapping up the line periods, they likely had time and water to wash the a/c. Fresh water was usually secured, as they needed it for steam for both the boilers and catapults. Hence the clean look, but not overly grimy-likely not flying a lot after all that and hitting ports. You can also look at the National Archives, which has America's deck logs. (A quick Google search will lead you too it...I'm fascinated by them, as its usually pretty enlightening as to the antics of Sailors in port!) Finally, as to your dad wearing 2nd class but having 3rd on his hat. Maybe the pic was just after advancing/frocking? He pinned it on, but didn't have the correct insignia so a Shipmate snapped the pic as they teased him in the workcenter...that's my thought anyway. Good stuff, thanks again for sharing! Peter
  28. easixpedro
    Yup, those are ‘saves’ by the tanker. Likely even going feet-dry to save them and drag them back to the America. As for the sword, that’s the markings of Heavy 10 (VAH-10) which went on to become VAQ-129 and the EA-6B FRS. Their patches still have the sword.
  29. easixpedro
    Wrt corrosion, the older carriers had exhaust stacks...stack gas is extremely corrosive. Vn era a/c are no exception, especially with the long line periods they had. I was doing some research and over 50% of the depot level repairs for NavAir in Cubi Point were for corrosion issues! I never knew...! And agree, loving the pics
  30. easixpedro
    Holy smokes, those are great! Love the status board. All the up/down arrows track the status of the airplanes. There’s 1 in the ready room, maintained by the Duty Officer and another in Maintenance (where I think this one is from). The 3 arrows are for the airframe, radar and ecm gear. Basically if a plane is full mission capable or not. You can see the ones needing test flights post maintenance too. And those boards only recently went away, but are still used frequently (especially on dets etc.). I can’t seem to find it, but I had a picture of an SDO on the first Lexington with a chalkboard version of the same thing! Love seeing the seat shop guys with their stenciled shirts. They’re still called AMEs too-one of the few rates that hasn’t changed. I flew off the Kitty Hawk back in the day. She was long in the tooth and ready for retirement after nearly 50 years of service...and we all called her that. Wish they’d turn her into a museum, but that’s a different conversation for a different thread. thanks again for sharing! Peter
  31. easixpedro
    As a HUGE fan of 60s era NavAir, thanks for posting those! America showed up on Yankee Station right after the Kitty Hawk in 68. Her loss rates in the air-to-Air realm shocked a lot of Navy leadership and is one of the catalysts for Topgun. Also, Clyde Lassen from HC-7 was awarded the MOH for rescuing VF-33 aircrew that those seats saved! Amazing stories all the way around...thanks again for sharing. Peter
  32. easixpedro
    Without knowing which carrier he wants to depict, I can’t help much further. I’ll leave you with a link to how I built a launch scene for a 1/48 carrier deck. Same principle applies...padeyes from shapeways and Suede paint from the local Home Depot. Of course my photos are garbage thanks to a certain hosting site that I won’t name. Post 77 shows how I did it... http://www.zone-five.net/showthread.php?t=29067 Hth Peter
  33. easixpedro
    Word of caution. They vary between the various classes. Even the padeyes are different from the 27C class to Midway to Nimitz. There are some pretty nice 3D printed ones available on shapeways.
  34. easixpedro
    Actually, anyone can be a PC. I say that because in a NavAir squadron, all the junior Sailors are sent to the line division for 6 months to a year, prior to joining their workcenter and working in their assigned rate. So you'll see any flavor of Airman or even Seaman ratings. I remember a young Filipina YNSN that did an entire cruise in the line shack before going to the admin dept. She was all of 5' and humping chains with the best of em! If you're trying to decipher something, especially an older rate, pm me and I can decipher it. Many rates have come and gone over the years HTH Peter
  35. easixpedro
    When I was working on Bloody Sixteen, there was a CSAR event during the summer of 67. Talked to the 3 remaining survivors that participated. Each have differing versions of the exact same event, and would swear on a bible that the others are full of it. The fog of war doesn’t even begin to cover it. Add 50 years to it and it gets complicated quick. Same applies here. I wonder if Naval Aviation News has some period articles concerning the cross decking. Maybe worth checking out. Peter
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