Odds 'n Ends
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Interesting Material sent to the vfp62.com webmaster

Webmasters message: This page collects some of the interesting, but not VFP-62 related, material received by the webmaster

• An exceptional WW II story of a bizarre B-17 Piggy Back Accident and the survival and death of a WW II hero. - Contributed by Adam Miklovis



• [EXTERNAL LINK - HIGH SPEED INTERNET RECOMMENDED]: Excellent Video of WWII Carrier Landings "Point of interest. about 3 minutes 20 seconds into the clip, you will see an F6F Hellcat, it's hydraulics shot away during a strafing run, pancake on the carrier deck and slew into the island. A deckhand was crushed between the aircraft and the superstructure and killed. The number on the plane is 30.
  
  The lanky pilot sitting dazed in the cockpit is a gentleman named Andy Cowan. He is hale and hearty at 87 and lives just north of Salinas , Ca. To this day he cannot recall this accident without a tear coming to his eye.
  
  Andy is a marvel. He has absolute total recall of those bygone days. He is regularly invited back to the Naval War College to give a power point demonstration to the young fight er jocks of today's Navy. They hang on his every word. A living link to the past... to the days when you got up close and personal to kill the enemy. No over-the-horizon missile kills...
  
  Andy was the longest serving Navy fighter pilot in WWII. He was on his shakedown cruise off Gitmo on December 7th, 1941. The carrier Ranger made flank speed to Norfolk and the pilots were transshipped to San Francisco by train, then sped to Hawaii by ship. He saw Pearl not long after the sneak attack, and again is unable to speak of it... a horrible disaster. He immediately went aboard the Lexington and in the course of the war had 4 carriers shot out from under him as he fought in every major Pacific battle... Coral Sea , Midway, Battle of Santa Cruz, Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima ... you name it. Credited with 4.5 kills. Flew with Butch O'Hare, Cmdr Thatch (inventor of the 'Thatch Weave'), flew with high scoring ace David McCampbell... served under Admirals Nimitiz, Bull Halsey...
  
  He has studied the Japanese side of the Pacific War and is a recognized expert on their side of it. He can reel off the names of all their capital ships and admirals and battles from memory.
  
  Remarkable man... and still alive to tell the tale..." - Contributed by Walt Quist
  
  
• VS-31 night crash on USS Wasp:Flight Deck Crash and Survival -Contributed by Marion Swinford
  
  

• Severly damaged by flak; wounded crew member:Flying Fortress Combat Tale -A great story; well told. -Submitted by Walt Quist



• Joint Navy/Air Force: North Vietnam SAM Hunter-Killer Mission -to knock out SAM sites near Hanoi on October 31, 1965. . -Submitted by Walt Quist



• Rough Seas on the 90,000 ton USS Kitty Hawk- [WARNING!! Large video file (5+ MB): High Speed Internet Recommended.]
  
  
  Click "Start Button" after download.
  
  The aircraft seen in the attached video is a helo from a deployed helicopter squadron (HS-14) based at the U..S. Naval Air Facility in Atsugi , Japan .... The carrier is the USS Kitty Hawk, based in Yokosuka , Japan . The 'Hawk' was underway for CQ (Airwing Carrier Qualifications) in the Sea of Japan during the week of March 22, 2008. The chopper seen on the ship's bow, tied down at helo Spot 2, is a Sikorsky SH-60F from HS-14.
  
  The pilot had just landed on deck, and his helo was tied down on Spot 2 because the seas were too rough to move it to a safer place. Fortunately, it only suffered some minor damage (blade crutch support socket) and a lot of salt water intrusion from the sea. While viewing the video, please remember that the carrier's flight deck is approximately 60' above the ship's normal water line.
  
  Contributed by John LaGrant

• Unbelievable 1940's pictures: Hiding the Lockheed Plant in WW II -contributed by Adam Miklovis

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