I am sure "being flat on your back at 30,000 feet" is quite an experience and thrill. My experience during 2nd class summer with N3N's and the cruise on the Bennington convinced me Navy Air was not for me. When I was on the Snook SSN 392 in SanDiego, Mary and I lived in an apartment complex surrounded by aviators from Miramar. I can remember my next door neighbor lying flat on his back on the floor (He had broken his back when he ejected over Vietnam and during recuperation he had to either stand up or lie flat) talking about flying the wide blue yonder like he was having an orgasm and couldn't wait to get back in the air.

One of the reasons you are hearing a lot from Submariners is that there really is a special bond developed in Submarines. Flying off carriers and in the clouds is special too I am sure but it is an individual experience. Submarining is a cooperative expe rience. You get mighty close (not just literally) to your shipmates and get to know them all from mess cook to Captain for long periods of time. The bond established lasts a life time. I think we talk a lot about it now because we are trying to relive t hat special experience.

Bob M (16)

All Hands and Robert M,

Your mention of the 2nd Class Summer with the Bennington and N3N's tells me I must be stupid.

When the AJ crashed on the Bennington, I was the only one sitting on a stantion on the fantail smoking a cigarette. As one with no flight experience, I could even tell that the AJ was too low and too slow. Even considered jumping overboard. When it hit th e flight deck, the left wing had dropped and about six feet of the wing, with gas in its tip tank, broke off on the edge of the flight deck and landed on the opposite side of the fan tail. I dove under a three inch mount and crushed the cigarette in my ha nd as gas spilled all over the fan tail.

The three crewmen were in the water when the helicopter arrived but could only carry two men (no women then) because of weight limitations. When the helicopter came back for the third crewman, he had been pulled under with the wreckage.

The next day the CO banned anyone on the fantail during flight operations.

Yes, I remember the Bennington AND the surviving classmate who crashed, killing the instructor, in the N3N next to the then under-construction Bay Bridge.

I went Navy Air and accummulated 756 pilot hours and then went, part time, while Dean at the University of Baltimore, into civilian flight instructing and accummulated a total of 2500 pilot hrs.

I guess it must be desire over fear. Fear of living aboard a filthy ship for months.

Enough of this reminiscence.

Barry Bowen (4)

I too was closer to that mishap than I would have liked to have been. I was on the walkway aft of the pipe shop, above the fantail and under the round down. Taking pictures. I have one around here somewhere of the ole savage just before it hit the round down. If I had been a micro-second slower with the shutter I would have caught the wing coming off. I have often wondered how many of us would have bought it that day if the engine had come under the deck instead of going above. As I recall, there were a whole s...pot of people back there. The prop cut through the flight deck and a piece of it (the prop) fell into John G's' bunk. I think John was in it at the time. As for the N3N, as I remember, the IP's seat failed, all ten of the bolts holding it on the deck sheared and the IP was jammed under the instrument panel and he drowned. Seven of the bolts holding the rear seat also sheared. I believe that Ed B was the backseater. If that is correct I suspect that we will hear the real story from 

Ed.

Barry B and others: I remember that event like it was yesterday. I thought I was the only one in that 40 mm gun tub under the spud locker. When the AJ mushed into the round-down and broke up, I just hunkered down and covered my head figuring I was a goner, and I can still hear pieces of the wing hitting the deck all around me. How I got out of that crash alive and unscathed I'll never know, and to this day I believe it was Divine intervention.

Carl S (16) 

I was on the hanger deck, about amidships. I remember seeing an eruption of people running forward, clearing the fantail, and wondering what that was all about. A few seconds later the AJ hit. That cruise was just another episode in the story of a very un lucky ship---part of our era, I suppose. Remember the hurricane, and the motivational movies on the hanger deck?

I vaguely remember the AJ incident, but I do remember more clearly the "cold cat shot" of the jet that went off the catapult because the pilot apparently scratched his nose and the button was pushed. As I remember it, they saved the pilot but not the plan e. Another incident was when an F4U (?) with a Marine Corps Major piloting tried a regular take-off and the pin was not in his right wing. He went over the side never to be seen again. Boy, that was discouraging and sad. That hurricane RB mentions is still the source of many "sea stories" for me. Does anyone remember that the waves sometimes broke over the flight deck or am I embellishing the story? I can remember the expansion joints banging and crashing as I tried to sl eep. Ah, the memories. 

Joe D(15)

I remember the AJ cartwheeling across the deck and off the port side. And the F9F cat shot with a dead stick . . . and the F4U. I heard that the Major was the exec of the marine squadron. 

The thing I remember about the hurricane was standing toward the after end of the hanger deck, looking forward and seeing the ship actually "twisting" longitudinally on her fore and aft axis! Do you remember the tin can on station ALFA bouncing along behind us like a cork?

Len D (23)

All I remember in the Valley Forge was a pleasant cruise to Halifax, with a couple of photo ops from a TBD (?). And the bars in Halifax had weird hours.

Some cruise huh?

Claude F

Remember the folding chairs sliding back and forth as the ship rolled during the movie? Word was that a classmate suffered a broken leg during the contretemps. Who was that?

Carlos

jtd

<< Another incident was when an F4U (?) with a Marine Corps Major piloting tried a regular take-off and the pin was not in his right wing. He went over the side never to be seen again. Boy, that was discouraging and sad. >>

I am amazed how you classmates remember all this stuff. I do recall there were nine aircraft accidents on the short Bennington cruise. But that wasn't what influenced me to go to AF pilot trng.

And speaking of hurricanes, in the fall of '56 while attending the AF All-Weather Interceptor School at Panama City, FL a late decision was made to evacuate all aircraft and this turned out to be a disaster. Every pilot had a plane and we took off close together into the worst of it. Nine aircraft went down killing pilots and civilians. A close friend bailed out and was airborne in his parachute for hours. He got back on flying status though after six months.

As for the failed catapult attempt, I recall that being at Patuxent NAS. The pilot was testing a new steam catapult and went off the side of the runway with the fire truck chasing after him. He came back on the back of the fire truck to speak over the PA system to us in the bleachers. I think he tried again and it was OK.

Norm (24)

Yes, I sure do remember the hurricane on the Bennington. I remember standing at the aft end of the hanger deck and looking forward and then seeing the whole ship twisting. Will it hang together? I thought.

Then during the hurricane, I also remember being somewhere on the 07 level or so and getting sprayed as the swells broke over, not the hull, but the flight deck. I truly loved it and was stupid enough to think it was exciting.

Barry B (4)

Len,

I definitely remember that alpha station tin can bouncing all over during the hurricane. My view was different from yours. I was on the can, watching you guys bouncing all over the ocean.

Don T (14)

Your reminiscence about the failed catapult attempt - - - I think the pilot got out of the plane just before it hit a building and burned. He came back to the assembled spectators (us) & told us on the PA system he had "over-elevated." I think he was the pilot with whom I rode the next day in a T2V(?), flying up to Gibson Island, doing a tight inverted 180 and going into a shallow dive on the way back to Pax. I don't know how fast we were going, but it was faster than I ever drove between Norva and Bmo re.
Bingy M (4)

I too remember the AJ hitting the deck. I kept a piece of wing for a long time because it cut a hole right above my bunk. I had to change bunk because of the rain water that came through the hole.

Chico C (14)

But wait....there's more........ She had just gotten out of the yard when we made that cruise. Seems that when she was down at Gitmo she had a downcomber explosion, and that was followed by a Banshee landing in the open number one elevator.

She ran aground on our way into Halifax.

We went through the eye of that huricane because the flag who was riding in her thought he knew more than the rest of the Atlantic Fleet which was sortied out of Norfolk and headed north while we and our tincan steamed east. At the worst, she was making enough turns to be going 20 knots just to hold her stationary position into the wind. The flight deck was permanantly warped, all the life rafts on the catwalks were slicked, and the corregated weather door on the starboard side of hangar bay one was peeled open like a canopener had been taken to it. She had to go back into the yard for extensive repairs, and then was sent to the west coast for a change of luck.

My compartment was on the 02 level, just aft of the island, and it had a door opening on a small "sunporch" approx 60 feet above the waterline. One of the mids was in mid-sentence asking if maybe we ought to close the door when a solid wall of water innundated us.

Remember the Admiral walking his dog accompanied by his marine with a pooper scooper? We had more action on that short cruise than the next 28 years (excluding combat) of my naval aviation career.

Brent (754)

Joe, you are quite right. I was up on Vultures Gultch when the Marine Corsair took off. We all were screaming to get his attention when we saw the red pin. I recall a memorial service on the hangar deck later. Re: waves over the flight deck during the hurricane, I was berthed in the half deck over the hangar deck aft and was able to get up on the catwalk under the flight deck from our compartment. I have pictures I took by resting my camera on the flight deck to hold it steady, of black water coming down the flight deck when the bow went way down. Also remember an awful lot of water sloshing around on the hangar deck. 

Rip W #1098 (12)

All,

My old high school football coach was flight deck officer on the Bennington (recalled to acdu for Korea) and gave the signal for the F4U to take off. The cant of the wings prevented him from seeing the red tab indicating wings unlocked. Apparently the pilot gave the salute that all was ready. Bad luck ship for sure. My old coach was killed a few months later on a training flight.

My only other recollection of that summer was that "Navy Air gave me a Scare"

Mal (14)

From: "Thomas L"
To: usna55
Subject: The USS Bennington
Date: 12 Jan 2000 

Reading what you've all had to say about the Bennington brought back a flood of memories...most particularly, why I went back into the Marine Corps and became an Infantryman. 

Semper Fi, Tom L (20)

Date: 12 Jan 2000 
To: usna55
From: Fred S
Subject: Bennington memories

I have a photo I took from a gun tub showing the fwd turn of the keel exposed during the up cycle of a pitching movement during the hurricane. I recall watching a "pirate" movie on the hangar deck as the waves broke through the elevator doors and started the metal chairs sliding around. It was during a "storm at sea" sequence in the movie. That's what I call realism!

The good part of that cruise was meeting Commissioner Fraser of the RCMP at the on-board reception in Halifax. I was invited out to dinner, visited the yacht club and toured the town.

Recounting other aircraft disasters at sea - I was a blackshoe plank owner on Independence and recall 7 accidents on our first cruise off the VA Capes. They were all cold shots - due to insufficient pressure on the cats. They blamed it on faulty data transmission (visual signals, sound powered phones) between the flight deck and the cat operator. I found it hard to believe that such a faulty communication system was allowed to exist when it was a life or death matter. I was OOD on the bridge when the first carrier landing was attempted by the new F4H. It caught the arresting wire and just kept going over the side. The pilot was quick enough to fire up the ABs and get airborne just in time to avoid the flight deck overhang. He left the hook on the flight deck and safely returned to Pax River. I was happy I chose to get get my jollies through SCUBA and hard hat diving.

Fred S (11)

From: Lauren_J
To: usna55
Date: 12 Jan 2000
Subject: Second Class Summer at PAXRIV

I recall PAXRIV vividly. The cat launch was a morning demo. They were using one of three of the new McDonnell F2H-4 that were there for testing. The dash one's and dash two's were already in the fleet. There was a right crosswind and as the cat fired the pilot over rotated to make up for not having 70 feet of built-in altitude he would have had from a carrier deck. The plane came off the cat and started drifting left with the wind. The left wing started to drop and as the pilot leveled the plane mushed into the ground pitch and wings level. It skidded - gear up - across a couple of runways and came to a stop in a grass patch. Helluva way to test a new plane.

In the afternoon there were rides and I drew a straw that got me a ride in a Sky- knight (F3D later known as an EF-10). It was a side-by-side'er.

I think about that summer every time I cross PXT north or south bound.

Lauren J L/N 373 (24)

I couldn't be the only one aboard the USS Valley Forge that summer. We also had one of those gull wing planes go over with one wing unlocked, lost plane and pilot. No crashes into the fantail, no hurricane and pretty good liberty in Halifax. Got to ride a two-seater (side by side) jet while at Pax River, up the Chesapeake, around the academy, with dives and climbs to experience "g's". All pretty exciting. Flying N3N's was not my cup of tea, "seatitis" and watching that bubble in the cockpit convinced me the navy had better things to offer. In my mind, that was "Destroyers". 

Dick M (3)