Bearcat Blues
Here's another Horsemen Cometh video on the F-8 Bearcat and it's history when it flew in the Blue Angels. I saw one up close this past summer at Oshkosh. It resembles a Hellcat, but a hell of a lot bigger. The owner at Oshkosh said it was a real pilot's airplane and flew like a dream. Any of you Bearcat drivers in the student body feel free to tell us about your F-8 stories back in the day.
Comments:
Posted by
Jolly
on
Dec 12th, 2011
From Bob:I remember the first Navy outfit to get the F8Fs was, if I member correctly, CASU 35 at Santa Rosa CA
I was flying P-38s there at the time. We had a captured Jap Zero come in from Wright Pat. We lined up on the runway with full power and all of us cut loose at the same time. The Zero was off the ground and could have made a gunnery pass on us before we even got our wheels up. The F8 never saw combat, but we were scheduled a long with them for the invasion of Japan which never came off. The F8 could turn inside the zero and was the first American bird that could do that. We were actually going to take off carriers, including the 38s, and we practiced short field take offs. My concern was…where are we going to land..the answer was we should have taken some advanced airfields by that time
Chk6
bob
Posted by
Jolly
on
Dec 12th, 2011
Sorry to all for posting the F-4 Wildcat photo with the e-mail. I just picked the wrong picture when I sent the e-mail. Beers on me.Jolly
Posted by
Jolly
on
Dec 12th, 2011
This from Muskrat:Hey Jolly, SH video. OBTW, that's a F4F Wildcat, probably Thatch or O'Hare, engaged with the Zeros in the picture. I was a Navy brat, and my Dad flew the Dauntless, the Avenger, and later the Hellcat in WWII. He also flew the F9F Panther during the Korean war off the USS Valley Forge.
Bob "Muskrat" McNeese
MS, Fighter Tactics, Training, and History
USAF, USMC
PHD Candidate, Fighter Pilot University
Posted by
Jolly
on
Dec 12th, 2011
Muskrat,You're the smartest guy I know after a few Whiskies. We will send your PHD paperwork ASAP.
Jolly
Posted by
Jolly
on
Dec 12th, 2011
From Jerry:Jolly...thanks for sending the great photos! During the Korean War, I was stationed @ Los Alamitos NAS. I loved going on the flight line to watch the pilots revving up their engines...what a sound! Blew me away!! Keep the photos coming!!!
Jerry
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