Grumman, the people that made the planes 12 SEPT 2010

[mustangdriver]

Nice. We stayed a really nice Holliday Inn Express not far from the base. Really nice place for like $70 a night.

[armyjunk2]

These are the airplanes I saw at Elgin, something not quite real about them after seeing the Navy planes it might be the canopy's, but I glad they have them



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Last edited by armyjunk2 on Sat Sep 13, 2008 9:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Gotta share a quick story on the subject of photo 127 on page 38 (Lockheed SP-2H Neptune): I was in high school; we lived at Sangley Point, Philippines, on the base in a nicely-fixed up Quonset hut used for family quarters. Ours was the house at the end of the street closest to the runway. So -- huge yard with dozens of banana trees, chain link fence just six feet high and a gap in the fence where the street that we lived on continued onto a perimeter road and the actual taxiway, then runway. There was nothing to prevent us from walking onto the taxiway or runway but warning signs and common sense.

We had a dog -- maybe 60 lbs mixed breed -- and we did not have a (fully) fenced yard, so he goes out to the yard to do his business with an escort. The dog and I were out in the yard when an SP-2H taxied by. We were close to the taxiway -- the wing tip was maybe 50 feet from the fence. The dog decided to drive away the noisy intruder and started running -- found the gap in the fence and was going for it. I'm sure the crew was freaking out. Look at how much clearance there is from the spinning prop to the ground! Look at how low the jet intake is! (The jets were running.) The dog actually ended up under the Neptune, barking like crazy. I kept calling him but didn't dare approach myself. I expected to witness creamed dog at any time!

I can't remember whether the P-2 stopped or not, but after a minute or so the dog figured he'd won and came trotting home. I half expected security to come confiscate the dog or something, but that was the end of it -- and he never did it again that I knew of. Never chased cars, either -- just one airplane.

I graduated from high school in '65 at Sangley Point. The Marines had just gone into Vietnam and the Navy was doing all sorts of patrolling off the Viet coast. As the closest Navy air facility to Vietnam, Sangley was home to all three types of patrol aircraft used by the Navy in the early 1960s: P-2 and P-5 plus the P-3 that was replacing them. Not too much later, Cam Ranh Bay was developed and Sangley went back to semi-sleepy.

I also need to add my thanks to AJ1 for posting all these incredible photos. With my very slow dialup it takes me a couple of hours to view a single page, but it is worth it! Wonderful stuff!

[hawkeye52]

Great job, AJ2 !! I share your feelings about the Eglin exhibit: the painted-over canopies give the displayed aircraft the appearance of an embalmed corpse. Also, very few have unit markings and those that do, with few exceptions, are not very exciting. Overall, too many plain Janes.

Thanks for taking the trouble to share them.

- H52

[armyjunk2]

HURLBURT FIELD, fla


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[armyjunk2]

Llarry We tried to get to Sangley Point in February, but the gate guard wouldn't let us onboard. It seems like there is always some sort of security alert going on in the Philippines....

[Michel C-GNCJ]

Again...

Lovely pics ! Thanks for posting them.

[armyjunk2]

Well, we are back to Hellcats. Last week was spent cutting trees in the aftermath of IKE, what a mess..... Has anyone tried to make a print off any of these photos? I just wonder if that works...

HELLCATS

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[Mark Nankivil]

As always, great stuff you're posting. I am going to be one bummed guy when you run out of these treasures....

Thanks again! Mark

[NC_Rotorhead]

There will be TWO bummed guys................."when that happens"!

Regards
Steve

[armyjunk2]

thank you all........

[armyjunk2]

delete

Last edited by armyjunk2 on Wed Sep 24, 2008 9:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Django]

Love the shots of the Hellcats getting painted. The crash (2266) is a fantastic shot. And last but not least, 2263 (nose art) just made my day!!

[kenlyco]

Great shots thanks again, hard to believe that a few miles across the
sound they were doing the same thing just a different bird..

[armyjunk2]

F5F SKYROCKETS
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