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William Rankin F 8
Cold War

USMC F-8 pilot survived a massive storm after parachuting from 47,000 feet

by Till Daisd
written by Till Daisd

Lieutenant Colonel William H. Rankin fell from 47,000 feet into “one of the most violent storms ever recorded on the East Coast,” parachuted over 65 miles in 40 minutes, and came to a stop by colliding with a tree.

A Cold War accident launched Lieutenant Colonel William H. Rankin (Oct. 6, 1920–July 6, 2009), a pilot in the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) and a veteran of both World War II and Korea, to fame. The fire warning light on his instrument panel flashed on July 27, 1959, when the engine of his F-8 Crusader, the renowned carrier-based jet fighter dubbed “the last of the gunfighters,” abruptly stalled.

When Rankin triggered his ejection seat, he was launched through the cockpit canopy of his aircraft. Without a pressure suit, he was flying over 47,000 feet, and he got out of the aircraft at the top of a massive thunderstorm cloud mass. There are very few similarities to his harrowing experience riding the thunder down; it would be difficult to accept it as fiction.

“I was convinced I would not survive; no human could,” Rankin recalls in his book ‘The Man Who Rode the Thunder’. He fell from 47,000 feet into “one of the most violent storms ever recorded on the East Coast,” parachuted over 65 miles in 40 minutes, and came to a stop by colliding with a tree.

He remembered: “I was terrified, but not petrified. It’s a brave distinction of terms.”

According to Huckberry, Rankin suffered frostbite, decompression, vomiting, extreme abdominal swelling (“as though I were in well-advanced pregnancy,” he pointed out), a severed finger, and bruises. Once grounded, he walked to a dirt road and hitchhiked to the hospital. “I was not panicky,” he understated.

A fire warning appeared on the instrument panel of Rankin’s F-8 Crusader as he flew over Norfolk, Virginia. He ejected, nine miles above the earth, out of fear of an explosion. It was hell for the next forty minutes. Rankin released his chute in the middle of a thunderstorm after free-falling in the -50°F air.

Hail the size of baseballs beat him to near unconsciousness. “I thought I had died.” And Rankin nearly did.

An untimely gust of wind forced his chute to entangle his body, and he reentered a free-fall. He recalled, “I had the distinct feeling that I was being sliced in two, as fate rallied against him.”

Then, suddenly, the winds shifted. His chute reopened. Soon, he found himself gliding out of the storm toward a forest. After entangling in a tree, he cut away and arrived on the ground, “lying on my left side. I simply could not believe that I was on the Earth—that I had survived.”

Rankin’s bout with the thunderstorm brought him national attention, especially when he returned, a few weeks later, to active duty. He enjoyed fifty more years of life, dying at 89.

Now, his legend lives on—he’s the only guy to fight and beat a thunderstorm, and he’s earned the right to say (without irony): “I didn’t hear the thunder, I felt it.”

Here’s an excerpt from Rankin’s book here, or buy it on Amazon.

A recap of Rankin’s flight can be found in the video below.

Photo by U.S. Navy

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First VPAF Kill
Cold War

The US Navy F-8 that became North Vietnam’s first confirmed aerial kill

by Till Daisd
written by Till Daisd

Lt Cdr Thomas’ F-8 had been hit in the utility hydraulic system, preventing him from raising the fighter’s wing for a proper shipboard landing. He diverted to Da Nang, blowing down his landing gear with an emergency air system.

During a Rolling Thunder strike on April 3, 1965, US Navy F-8 Crusaders and Vietnamese People’s Air Force (VPAF) MiG-17s engaged in their first known combat. Several bridges that were an essential component of the supply lines to the south were the objectives. Three A-4s from VA-212 and VA-216 would go after the bridges.

Equipped with Zuni rockets, VF-211 F-8Es from USS Hancock struck the Dong Phong Thuong Bridge close to Ham Rong in sections (two planes each, flown by Lt [later Vice Adm] Jerry Unruh and his wingman, Lt Bobby Hulse, and Lt Cdr Spence Thomas and his wingman, Ens Ray Lorang). Unruh and Hulse ran against the flak sites defending the bridge, followed by Thomas and his wingman. As Thomas and his companion climbed back above 10,000 feet, clouds and fog covered their objective.

The 921st Fighter Regiment (FR) from Noi Bai, close to Hanoi, sent six MiG-17s to intercept them. The MiGs mixed with the A-4 formation and sneaked up behind the two Crusaders, either intentionally or by accident. A pair of F-8s, whose pilots were attempting a second run, were targeted by two fighters. The driver of MiG, Pham Ngoc Lan, got off and burst. Piloted by Lieutenant Colonel Thomas, his F-8 prey looked like it exploded. When Lan’s gun camera film was developed, it did appear that the American Crusader had indeed been destroyed. The first aerial kill for the VPAF was credited to Lan.

Amazingly, the Crusader, BuNo 150845, had managed to stay in the air despite suffering substantial damage from the 23mm and 37mm rounds that Lan had taken to its wings and vertical tail. Lt Cdr Thomas punched in his afterburner and raced away from the MiGs. His wingman joined up with Lt Unruh’s unit. The utility hydraulic system of Thomas’ F-8 had also been damaged, preventing him from raising the fighter’s wing for a safe shipboard landing. He diverted to Da Nang, blowing down his landing gear within the emergency air system.

The VPAF’s first confirmed kill had landed safely ashore. The jet was repaired and returned to flight status, accumulating 4,037 hours before being struck administratively and stored at Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson, Arizona. Thus, the VPAF claim of the first F-8 kill was wrong.

Strange But True: The US Navy F-8 that became North Vietnam’s first confirmed aerial kill landed safely ashore.

Pham Ngoc Lan, who was erroneously credited with the Crusader’s demise, gave a detailed description of the engagement in Peter Mersky’s book F-8 Crusader Vs MiG-17:

“My flight consisted of Phan Van Tuc (my wingman), Ho Van Quy, and Tran Ming Phuong, while the second flight was made up of Tran Hanh and Pham Giay.

“The weather was foggy over Noi Bai airbase on April 3, with visibility of between four and five kilometers and 6/10ths cloud, with a base of 300m. Over the anticipated battle area, the volume of cloud was 5-6/10ths, with the cloud base up to 700m and visibility of up to ten kilometers. At 0700 hrs the radar operators reported a group of intruding fighters in North Vietnamese airspace, and they left after carrying out their reconnaissance duties. The North Vietnamese command felt that a large formation would subsequently attack the bridge at Ham Rong following this earlier flight. Col Gen Phung The Tai [commander of the VPAF] once again briefed the pilots on their objectives and ordered a stage-one alert. As anticipated, at 0940 hrs US planes attacked the bridges at Tao, Do Len, and Ham Rong.

“At 0947 hrs, the second flight was launched from Noi Bai. As the leader of the first attack flight, I took off at 0948 hrs and followed a heading of 210 degrees towards the province of Thanh Hoa. Our flight was closed to within 45km of the intruders at 1008 hrs, while the second flight was still flying over Ninh Binh Province. I informed air control at 1009 hrs that we had made visual contact with the intruders, and they responded with an order to drop our external fuel tanks and engage the enemy.

Strange But True: The US Navy F-8 that became North Vietnam’s first confirmed aerial kill landed safely ashore.
Phan Ngoc Lan gets an enthusiastic welcome from his groundcrew after returning from a successful mission – possibly the flight of Apr. 3, 1965.

“The bridge at Ham Rong was attacked in pairs by the American fighter-bombers, who weren’t this time still unaware of our fighters. My wingman and I quickly latched onto the tails of the two American fighters, and when in the range I opened fire with my cannons. The F-8 Crusader in front of me exploded in a ball of fire and crashed. I was later credited with the first American fighter bomber to be shot down by a North Vietnamese fighter pilot.

“At the same time, the aircraft of Ho Van Quy and Tran Minh Phuong was also pursuing another pair of intruders, with the latter pilot flying as wingman. Ho Van Quy opened fire, but the Americans were out of range and both jets managed tonescape. However, the battle between the MiG-17s and the F-8 Crusaders was still far from over in the area of Ham Rong. At 1015 hrs my wingman, Phan Van Tuc, reported on the radio that he had spotted an American fighter to his right, and I immediately replied with an order to attack, as I in turn became his wingman. He succeeded in closing in on the Americans and opened fire with his cannons, eventually causing the F-8 to crash.

“At 1017 hrs Phan Van Tuc, Ho Van Quy, and Tran Minh Phuong received an order to land, and they duly returned home. In the meantime, I was running out of fuel in the vicinity of our airfield, and ground control gave me the order to eject. However, I thought that there was still a chance to save the aircraft, which was of considerable value to the VPAF and still had many more battles left in it! I looked for a suitable landing ground and spotted a long sandy strip on the bank of the Duong River, on which I made a successful landing.”

His MiG was later returned to service.

Strange But True: The US Navy F-8 that became North Vietnam’s first confirmed aerial kill landed safely ashore.

F-8 Crusader Vs MiG-17 is published by Osprey Publishing and is available to order here.

Photo by U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force

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F-8EFN-1
Cold War

The French Aéronavale retired the legendary crusader in proper style, according to a US Navy F-8 pilot

by Till Daisd
written by Till Daisd

French Aéronavale F-8 Crusader

One term for the Vought F-8 Crusader was “fighter pilot’s fighter.” Although flying the jet was difficult, particularly during carrier landings, Crusader pilots had a great affection for it. The F-8 service in the US Navy fighter squadron came to an end in 1976, but the RF-8, or photo-reconnaissance derivative, continued to operate until 1987.

According to Larry Durbin, who spent 7 years as a US Navy fighter pilot and then 33 years with United Airlines, “The French also flew the Crusader, but they do things differently, and in the case of retiring the legendary fighter, I think they did it better”.

US Navy F-8 Pilot Says the French Aéronavale Retired the Legendary Crusader in Proper Style
During combined operations with the US Navy, an Aéronavale F-8E(FN) lands on the USS Eisenhower in 1983. The French fighter is painted light gray and carries a Matra “Magic” missile. (US Navy photo)

The F-8E(FN)

“The French Crusader story begins in the early 1960s, when, seeking a fighter for the new carriers Clemenceau and Foch (commissioned 1961 and 1963, respectively), the Aéronavale (French Naval Aviation) selected a slightly modified version of the F-8E that is often designated F-8E(FN). The aircraft commenced operations in 1964. Known by French pilots as “Le Crouze,” they participated in routine deployments and combat operations for 35 years. Modifications and refurbishments maintained their effectiveness until they could be replaced by the Rafale.”

“Aéronavale leaders waited until the end of the century, December 1999, for retirement. The last squadron did not expect a crowd to come to a small base in western France in December. They were wrong. They received so many acknowledgments that they asked the American Crusader Association for help. I was the secretary of the association, so that meant me. Making arrangements for sixty senior citizens to get to Landivisiau, France, was an interesting and fun challenge. Thanks to Bruce Boland we even threw in a dinner in Paris sponsored by the American Embassy (Bruce was a former F-8 pilot in VF-13 with me in the 1960s and retired as a 2-star).”

French Aéronavale F-8 Crusader retirement

“At the big event, the French put on a small air show for the guests with four F-8s. Remember, this is December: it’s cold and windy. Standing outside the chain link fence by the taxiway are about sixty old, cold Americans waiting to see relics fly again. I looked at the group and I was so very proud to have been part of this scene. I hadn’t seen a Crusader fly in more than thirty years. For some in the group, it had been even longer. Then we heard a distinctive whine as four J57 engines started up. They went through their procedures, and four wings were raised (the F-8 had that novel ‘variable incidence’ feature to reduce speed on approach to landing). Soon they started to taxi from our left, across in front of us, and onto the runway. I turned around to shoot a few pictures of the group, and looked again: grown men were in tears. Tough, seasoned fighter pilots were unabashedly allowing tears to come out of their eagle eyes. All I could think of was, ‘I have done a very good thing.'”

US Navy F-8 Pilot Says the French Aéronavale Retired the Legendary Crusader in Proper Style
In later years, French Crusaders wore a dark gray-blue that looked great on the sleek airframe. (Stéphane Nicolau via Peter Mersky)

The last American to raise the wing

“Towards the end of the festivities, the squadron skipper, Antoine Guillot, asked me to come to the ready room. He then asked me to get into full flight gear. As we walked out to a waiting Crusader, he said the government did not allow any money for a gift for my efforts. Instead, he wanted me to start an F-8 and go through the full startup procedure. That would involve raising the wing. He continued, ‘I want you to be the last American to raise the wing.’ No expensive gift would have meant more to me.”

US Navy F-8 Pilot Says the French Aéronavale Retired the Legendary Crusader in Proper Style
I proudly display this photo on a wall of my library, with an appropriate label.
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F-8-Vs-F-4
History

F-8 Crusader Vs F-4 Phantom II: the “Last of the Gunfighters” and the first “All-Weather Interceptor”

by Till Daisd
written by Till Daisd

In contrast to the F-4’s “all-weather interceptor” role, the Phantom made many of its early cruises as paired squadrons with F-8 units, which were considered “day fighter” (or, in the opinion of the F-8 pilots, “fighter”) units

A sleek design with a gaping jet intake beneath the fuselage and a variable-incidence wing that could be raised to enable the aircraft to land and take off at slow speeds while maintaining excellent visibility for the pilot made the F-8 Crusader one of the most capable fighters of the post-World War II era. The Crusader’s pilots dubbed it the “Last of the Gunfighters” because it carried a 20mm cannon during a time when fighter pilots depended more and more on missiles.

Rather, the Navy’s need for a high-altitude interceptor to protect carriers equipped with long-range air-to-air missiles from attacking aircraft led to the development of the F-4 Phantom II. McDonnell Aircraft Company provided the F4H (later renamed the F-4) Phantom II in answer to these requirements. The aircraft had its first flight in 1958, with deliveries to Navy and Marine Corps squadrons beginning in 1960. It became one of the most frequently used aircraft in aviation history when its performance and adaptability eventually drew the attention of not only the US Air Force but also the air forces of 10 other countries.

In contrast to the F-4’s “all-weather interceptor” role, many of the Phantom’s early cruises were paired squadrons with F-8 units, which were considered “day fighter” (or, in the F-8 pilots’ estimation, “fighter”) units, as explained by Peter E. Davies in his book Gray Ghosts, U.S. Navy and Marine Corps F-4 Phantoms. When the F-4 started to outnumber the Crusader and F-8 drivers began switching to the Phantom, the antagonism between the two communities grew more intense. Before making the switch, Jerry B. “Devil” Houston, who piloted Crusaders with a VF-11, summed up the situation as follows:

“The F-8 stole your heart from the get-go with its beauty and, for its time, power (God, an afterburner!), but it quickly earned an ensign-killer reputation, rightly or wrongly. In the long run, that reputation contributed greatly to fighter pilot development in the Navy; only the top ten percent of pilot graduates were even considered for the F-8 pipeline—the créme de la créme. And as luck would have it, a damn solid base of mid-level stick-and-throttle talent groomed the hungry youngsters into frothing-at-the-mouth tacticians. Without experiencing it, anyone would be hard-pressed to understand the aura that surrounded that early F-8 Crusader community. An ensign in F-8s took no crap from a Lieutenant Commander who flew anything else. Period.

“Among that small but growing privileged group, anyone in the first few squadrons knew damn near exactly where they stood in the overall tactics ladder. Killing, capability meant everything: King of the Mountain, in spades. Gunnery, tactics, gunnery, tactics, just enough intercept training to get you into the sky with another victim. F-8s didn’t bomb then—hell, the plane didn’t even have hard points on the wings. In other words, everything funneled the best pilots and the best airplanes through a narrow training spout and out-popped the world’s best fighter pilots. They all ate, breathed, thought, and dreamed about fighting airplanes. All the time.

“The F-4, on the other hand, was an ugly, two-seated, gas-hog monster that hit the Fleet with a bunch of F3H Demon interceptor pilots. Consequently, the F-4s got off to a horrid start when running into F-8s. Their reputation was dog-s**t, and the ex-Demon drivers didn’t have a clue about changing it. So they practiced intercepts, avoided tactics, and groomed follow-on clods in their own image. All the while, that lovely top-ten percent advantage kept aircrew infusing the Crusader community with superior talent, which rapidly molded into long-clawed killers. The rich got richer—and even richer. Better people, better training, frightful competition. Crusader pilots didn’t have to brag; they owned the sky. So it remained, until finally an F-8 jock got into an F-4, screaming and dragging his heels all the way. The rest is history.”

F-8 pilots and tactics, which were initially transferred from their squadrons to the Phantom, undoubtedly contributed to the rapid advancement of F-4 ACM training. Jerry Houston described his VF-51 squadron as a “double-barreled Crusader squadron with an extra set of eyeballs in each plane” as late as 1971 when the squadron transitioned from the F-8J to the F-4B. However, the need for ACM was recognized far earlier than then, and it was even recognized before the late 1960s initiatives that led to the development of the Top Gun ACM training program.

Gray Ghosts, U.S. Navy and Marine Corps F-4 Phantoms is published by Schiffer Publishing and is available to order here.

Photo by U.S. Navy

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Meteor-Prone-Pilot
History

The Gloster Meteor F8 “Prone Pilot” between gravity and flying lying down

by Till Daisd
written by Till Daisd

In the fall of 1954, Meteor F8 WK935 joined the Institute of Aviation Medicine after being chosen for modification

The ‘prone position’ Meteor, which is depicted in the images in this post, is a heavily modified Meteor F8 fighter that was used to test the benefits of flying while lying down. The challenges of using the aircraft’s controls actually outweighed the benefits.

The adoption of a prone-position cockpit in upcoming combat aircraft designs was attractive in the early 1950s for two reasons. First off, such a layout made it possible to decrease the frontal area of the airframe, which decreased drag. Second, because jet combat aircraft must maneuver at ever-faster speeds, crews can withstand greater “g” forces if they are not sitting upright.

Gloster-Meteor-F8-Prone-Pilot

In order to take advantage of these benefits, the Bristol Aeroplane Company included a prone pilot position in its Bristol Type 178 rocket-powered fighter concept. The RAF Institute of Aviation Medicine needed a jet aircraft that could be flown by a pilot lying on his stomach to test the viability of a prone pilot cockpit. In the fall of 1954, Meteor F8 WK935 joined the Institute of Aviation Medicine after being chosen for modification.

The prone position concept was shown to be feasible after around 55 hours of flight testing, but only under the most extreme circumstances for aerodynamic reasons. The front cockpit was never used for solo flight of the aircraft. The prone posture was abandoned as a result of the creation of specialized aviation clothing, which provided a more straightforward answer to the issue of reducing “g” forces.

‘Its mission was to see if there were any benefits to the prone pilot position. It proved, conclusively, the opposite,’ David Powell, an aviation expert, explains on Quora.

Meteor-F8-Prone-Pilo

‘Aside from being more difficult to fly due to the unconventional layout, the prone pilot also had limited rear vision – which in mock combat scenarios proved to be a major drawback. Also, it was unclear how the pilot could eject from such a position. The final nail in the coffin was the fact that pressurized g-suits were becoming better and better and they were a far simpler and effective solution.

‘My Grandfather Robin Peter Reginald Powell was a test pilot at the end of WWII and flew early Meteor prototypes, though not the prone version which was a one-off modification to the last production Meteor airframe.’

At the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford in the UK, where the Gloster Meteor F8 Prone Pilot is preserved and still survives.

Photo by Crown Copyright and Alan Wilson from Peterborough, Cambs, UK via Wikipedia

Meteor-F8-Prone
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FBW Crusader
Military

The modified F-8 Crusader used as a testbed for fly-by-wire tech

by Till Daisd
written by Till Daisd

The fly-by-wire systems currently used in space shuttles and in modern military and civilian aircraft were inspired by the F-8 DFBW system

The F-8 Digital Fly-By-Wire (DFBW) aircraft’s control system was initially replaced by a primary system employing an Apollo digital computer, despite its exterior being identical to a regular U.S. Navy F-8C Crusader. Three analog computers were employed in the backup system.

Electronic signals from the stick and rudder movements of the aircraft were sent to the computer, which then produced signals to change the control surfaces. The digital fly-by-wire aircraft was intended to handle very identically to a regular F-8C thanks to the system’s design.

The F-8 DFBW team dismantled the aircraft’s guns and ammunition boxes in order to carry the computers and other equipment. Later, in Phase 2, the aircraft’s flight control system was controlled by three IBM AP-101 computers.

The F-8 DFBW flight research project validated the fundamental ideas behind the all-electric flight control systems that are now standard equipment on both military and commercial transports as well as practically all modern high-performance aircraft.

On May 25, 1972, research pilot Gary E. Krier took the controls of the modified F-8C Crusader that served as the testbed for the fly-by-wire technology for the first time in the 13-year project’s history. The NASA Flight Research Center in California (now known as Dryden Flight Research Center) and Langley Research Center collaborated on the project. There were 211 flights in all.

The Apollo hardware jammed into the F-8C. The computer is partially visible in the avionics bay at the top of the fuselage behind the cockpit. Note the display and keyboard unit in the gun bay. To carry the computers and other equipment, the F-8 DFBW team removed the aircraft’s guns and ammunition boxes.

On December 16, 1985, Ed Schneider, a Dryden research pilot, made the aircraft’s final flight. The F-8 DFBW system was a precursor to modern fly-by-wire systems, which are used to make military and commercial aircraft safer, more maneuverable, and more effective. Older hydraulic control systems were replaced with electronic fly-by-wire systems, allowing designers to create aircraft with less in-flight stability.

Fly-by-wire systems’ redundancies make them safer. Because computers can order more frequent corrections than a human pilot can, they are more nimble. In the case of airplanes, automated control guarantees a smoother ride than a human pilot can. Because it is lighter and takes up less space than the hydraulic systems it replaced, digital fly-by-wire is more effective. By doing this, the airplane can carry more people or pounds of cargo while using less fuel to travel.

Currently, digital fly-by-wire is employed in a wide range of aircraft, including the Boeing 777 and F/A-18 fighters. The DFBW research initiative is regarded as one of the most important and fruitful NASA aeronautical initiatives since the organization’s founding.

Source: NASA; Photo by NASA

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F 4 Vs F 8
Cold War

F-4 Vs F-8: the first “All-Weather Interceptor” vs the “Last of the Gunfighters”

by Till Daisd
written by Till Daisd

“The F-4s got off to a horrid start when running into F-8s. Their reputation was dog-s**t,” Jerry B. “Devil” Houston, former F-8 driver

One of the most versatile fighters ever constructed was the McDonnell two-place, twinjet, all-weather F-4 Phantom II, which could reach high speeds of over twice the speed of sound. It served in the first line of more Western air forces than any other jet. The F-4 became the fastest, highest-flying, and longest-range fighter in the U.S. Navy only 31 months after its maiden flight. It first flew on May 27, 1958, and entered service in 1961.

In contrast to the F-4’s “all-weather interceptor” role, many of the Phantom’s early cruises were as paired squadrons with F-8 units, which were considered “day fighter” (or, in the F-8 pilots’ opinion, “fighter”) units, as explained by Peter E. Davies in his book Gray Ghosts, U.S. Navy and Marine Corps F-4 Phantoms. When the F-4 started to outnumber the Crusader and F-8 drivers began switching to the Phantom, the antagonism between the two communities grew more intense. Before making the switch, Jerry B. “Devil” Houston, who flew Crusaders with VF-11, summed up the situation as follows:

“The F-8 stole your heart from the get-go with its beauty and, for its time, power (God, an afterburner!), but it quickly earned an ensign-killer reputation, rightly or wrongly. In the long run, that reputation contributed greatly to fighter pilot development in the Navy: only the top ten percent of pilot graduates were even considered for the F-8 pipeline—the créme de la créme. And as luck would have it a damn solid base of mid-level stick-and-throttle talent groomed the hungry youngsters into frothing-at-the-mouth tacticians. Without experiencing it, anyone would be hard-pressed to understand the aura that surrounded that early F-8 Crusader community. An ensign in F-8s took no crap from a Lieutenant Commander who flew anything else. Period.

“Among that small, but growing privileged group, anyone in the first few squadrons knew damn near exactly where they stood in the overall tactics ladder. Killing, capability meant everything: King of the Mountain, in spades. Gunnery, tactics, gunnery, tactics, just enough intercept training to get you into the sky with another victim. F-8s didn’t bomb then—hell, the plane didn’t even have hardpoints on the wings. In other words, everything funneled the best pilots and the best airplanes through a narrow training spout, and out popped the world’s best fighter pilots. They all ate, breathed, thought, and dreamed about fighting airplanes. All the time.

“The F-4, on the other hand, was an ugly, two-seated, gas-hog monster that hit the Fleet with a bunch of F3H Demon interceptor pilots. Consequently, the F-4s got off to a horrid start when running into F-8s. Their reputation was dog-s**t, and the ex-Demon drivers didn’t have a clue about changing it. So they practiced intercepts, avoided tactics, and groomed follow-on clods in their own image. All the while that lovely top ten percent advantage kept aircrew infusing the Crusader community with superior talent, which rapidly molded into long-clawed killers. The rich got richer—and even richer. Better people, better training, frightful competition. Crusader pilots didn’t have to brag; they owned the sky. So it remained, until finally, an F-8 jock got into an F-4, screaming and dragging his heels all the way. The rest is history.”

F-4 Vs F-8: the rivalry between the first

F-8 pilots and tactics, which were initially transferred from their squadrons to the Phantom, undoubtedly sped up the development of F-4 ACM training. In 1971, Jerry Houston referred to his VF-51 as a “double-barreled Crusader squadron with an extra set of eyeballs in each plane” as the unit transitioned from the F-8J to the F-4B. However, the need for ACM was recognized far earlier than then, and it certainly predated the late 1960s initiatives that gave rise to the Top Gun ACM training project.

Photo by U.S. Navy

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F 8
History

VF-111 Sundowners F-8 Crusader shot down by North Vietnam’s first ace

by Till Daisd
written by Till Daisd

Capt. Wilfred K. Abbott pulled the black and yellow handle to launch himself out of the falling F-8 because the controls were non-responsive. Seven years of captivity followed his parachute landing

The F-8 Crusader, which was numerically the most prevalent fighter in the U.S. Navy at the start of America’s involvement in the Vietnam War in 1964 with 482 F-8C/D/Es outfitting 17 frontline units, was known to its pilots as the “last of the gunfighters” due to its quartet of Colt-Browning Mk12 20mm cannons (its great naval rival, the F-4 Phantom II, was armed exclusively with missiles).

During the Rolling Thunder campaign in 1965–1968, it had significant success against North Vietnamese MiG-17 and MiG-21 aircraft, downing 18 aircraft in total—officially representing 53 percent of all MiG claims made by Navy squadrons during this time.

However, on September 5, 1966, the Crusaders of the USS Oriskany suffered a rare F-8 air-to-air loss. On that day, the Sundowners of VF-111 provided four Target Combat Air Patrol (TarCAP) fighters during a strike on enemy transport targets close to Phy Ly. Lt. Cdr. Foster Teague led the first pair, and Capt. Wilfred K. Abbott, a USAF exchange pilot flying since 1958, led the second pair.

Teague took his wingman inward to protect the A-4 Skyhawks, leaving Abbott and Lt. Randy Rime to orbit offshore, as described by Barrett Tillman and Henk Van der Lugt in their book VF-11/111 “Sundowners” 1942-95. Teague egressed when he ran out of fuel, allowing Abbott to move in and continue guarding the A-4s. Situational awareness was compromised when Rime was forced to follow Abbott on a trail due to cloud cover. Abbott and Rime were startled to see two MiG-17s emerge from the clouds while they were circling at 6,000 feet.

Without being noticed, the “Red Bandits” maneuvered into gun range and fired 23 mm cannon rounds at Rime’s Crusader. Abbott took a shot from the stalkers at a 90-degree angle while covering Rime. The challenging gunnery challenge—a close-range, high-deflection shot—was where he put his faith. The USAF pilot had to deal with North Vietnamese opponents who could fire.

The unknown story of the first official American aerial victory of the Vietnam War

The Crusader was struck numerous times, all of which were fatal. Abbott’s instrument panel was broken, his canopy was damaged, and his helmet was knocked off. Abbott pulled the black and yellow handle to launch himself out of the destroyed Vought because the controls were non-responsive. The sole enemy jet loss for the “Sundowners,” he parachuted into seven years of captivity.

Randy Rime just about made it. He escaped his attackers despite being slightly hurt by glass shards from his canopy and just had enough fuel to limp back to the “0-Boat.” He missed the wave-off lights, caught a wire after it had already passed, and his starboard wheel came off. About 300 lbs of JP-5 were still in Rime’s possession, but not enough to make another pass at the deck.

Oriskany then double-checked with the controllers in charge of keeping an eye on enemy radio nets and locating hostile aircraft. It soon became clear that the two MiGs had mishandled an earlier attempt to hit the F-8s before being told to adjust their position for the successful bounce. Abbott and Rime had been refused access to this crucial information for unspecified reasons. Later, Abbott recalled:

How North Vietnam's first ace scored a rare victory over the iconic F-8 Crusader

‘On September 5, I was flying my F-8 Crusader in bright and sunny conditions when I was shot down over North Vietnam. In the ejection, my right leg was broken. After the leg was finally operated on, I was in a cast for about four months. It took about two years, with my roommates’ help, for me to achieve full use of the leg. It was my constant desire not to be a cripple so as to fly again someday. Other than my leg, the treatment and daily routine as a POW were similar to that described by most other veterans. The food was just enough to sustain life. A constant battle was to keep our minds active. In the early years, communication was extremely limited, but in the last couple of years, we were able to conduct our own educational programs — courses in everything from languages and mathematics to meat cutting, duplicate bridge, and Toastmasters.’

Nguyen Van Bay, North Vietnam’s first ace, who had already been involved in the downing of two Crusader aircraft—an RF-8A and an F-8E—off USS Hancock (CVA-19) on June 21, 1966, might have been the cause of Abbott’s demise. He claimed an F-105 and an A-4 later that month (both of which are not supported by U.S. records), adding four additional victories in April 1967. Van Bay was thus one of only four MiG-17 pilots from the Vietnamese People’s Air Force (VPAF) who likely took part in the downing of five or more American aircraft.

VF-11/111 ‘Sundowners’ 1942-95 is published by Osprey Publishing and is available to order here.

Photo by U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force

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