At the risk of appearing to
be doing the work of the local tourist office, I have to say that San
Diego boasts many attractions, chief amongst which (for me at any rate)
are two aviation museums, the Air and Space Museum in Balboa Park (which
will be the subject of a future post) and the aircraft carrier USS
Midway (CV-41), moored a short distance from downtown at Navy Pier.
Decommissioned in 1992 after serving for 47 years, Midway eventually arrived in San Diego in 2004 to begin her new career and since then, annual visitor numbers have soared. It is definitely worth a visit, though my advice would be to get there as soon as it opens to beat the inevitable queues.
The aircraft and flight deck were, of course, the main attraction for me but many areas of the ship are open to visitors - a brief visit to the crew accommodation reinforced my belief that I did the right thing in joining the RAF rather than the RN!
The museum’s website is at http://www.midway.org/ and will give far more information than I could in this post.
I did mention in my earlier post about Denver’s Wings Over The Rockies Museum, that many museums rely on corporate functions to boost revenue and Midway is no exception. On the morning of our visit, preparations were being made for a US Navy function taking place that afternoon, and I did spend quite a lot of time waiting for naval personnel to move furniture and catering equipment out of the way, and access to some of the aircraft was also restricted.
Midway had a long and illustrious service record but again, rather than try to compress it into this article, I will direct you to the excellent Wikipedia entry: -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Midway_(CV-41)
The USS Midway moored alongside Navy Pier in San Diego.
If you’ve ever watched ‘Top Gun’ (and let’s face it, which aircraft enthusiast hasn’t?) you’ll be aware of the role of the US Navy’s ‘aggressor squadrons’ in the training of its top fighter pilots. McDonnell-Douglas F/A18A Hornet 162901/01red is painted in Russian-style camouflage and was operated by VFC-13 in the aggressor role from the nearby Naval Air Station at Miramar.
One type I’d never seen before is the North American T2C Buckeye, used by the US Navy for carrier training until replaced by the McDonnell-Douglas T45 Goshawk (a development of our own BAe Hawk). 156697/A-974 is available for visitors to sit in the cockpit and have their photograph taken – I’ll hold my hands up and admit my wife took a photo of me sat in the front cockpit….it just HAD to be done!
COD for many is a species of fish, but in naval aviation it refers to ‘carrier on-board delivery’, the transfer of personnel and supplies while the ship is at sea, and was the task undertaken by the Grumman C1A Trader until replaced by the Grumman C2A Greyhound. Midway’s example of the C1A is 146036/700.
Another ‘never seen before’ type for me is the Kaman SH2F Seasprite used by the US Navy for anti-submarine warfare. 150157/TF-31 wears the markings of HSL-33 squadron.
More senior members of the forum may recall seeing television footage of Apollo space capsules and their crews being retrieved from the ocean, having splashed down at the end of a mission. Anti-submarine squadron HS-4 was the unit chosen to perform the recoveries from the USS Hornet (see link at http://www.uss-hornet.org/history/apollo/ ) and one of their Sikorsky SH3D Sea Kings, 149711/NT-66, is on display on the Midway.
One aircraft that resolutely remained surrounded by furniture during our visit was Grumman E2C Hawkeye 161227/602, unless of course comfy armchairs are part of some new cockpit upgrade!
One of the features of the LTV F8 Crusader was a variable-incidence wing that could be raised to increase lift during launch and recovery. VF-111’s 147030/NE-461 shows this to good effect.
Sikorsky SH60F Seahawk 164079/RA-13 is the latest addition to Midway’s exhibits and carries the markings of HS-10.
In the dim and distant days of the 1960s and ‘70s, one of the striking things about US Navy aircraft would be the colourful, often gaudy, unit markings that adorned the tails and fuselages of the various types. Sadly, almost everything military since then is painted in various shades of dull grey so it’s particularly pleasing to see that many of Midway’s exhibits retain colourful schemes.
A couple of the aircraft on display have different markings on each side; one such is McDonnell Douglas F4N Phantom 153030 carrying VF-161’s markings on the starboard side and VF-21’s on the port.
Another aircraft to be dual-marked is Grumman A6E Intruder 151782, which carries the emblems of US Marine Corps squadron VMA/AW/224, as embarked on USS Coral Sea, on the port side. It proved impossible to capture the starboard side in pixels as that was cordoned off.
More choppers!
You look at Piasecki UH25 Retriever 130059/UP-18, one of the earliest helicopters flown by the US Navy and wonder how it ever got off the deck – it looks that flimsy and underpowered. Slightly more substantial are the Boeing-Vertol CH46 Sea Knight 150954/VR-46, this example being in the colours of HC-11, and HS-8’s Sikorsky UH34 Seabat 143939/NV-52.
The Lockheed S3 Viking fulfilled many roles during US Navy service. Anti-submarine/ship warfare, electronic intelligence gathering and COD were just some of the tasks that various marks of the type were involved in. Midway’s example, VS-41’s 159766/741, is an S3D and carries an AGM-84 Harpoon air-to-surface missile (hopefully inert) under the starboard wing.
The LTV lineage can clearly be seen in the lines of the Crusader’s little brother, the A7 Corsair II. The SLUF (short little ugly err…fellow) as it was nicknamed, was designed as a replacement for the Douglas A4 Skyhawk and at its peak, equipped 27 US Navy attack squadrons. A7B 154370/NK-507, in the markings of the USS Constellation-embarked VA-97, is used by Midway’s docents to illustrate how aircraft are launched from a carrier.
Arguably, the more illustrious Corsair though, is the gull-winged Vought F4U (also built by Goodyear as the FG1D), and known less-than-affectionately by Japanese troops as ‘whistling death’. In the cavernous hangar deck, F4U wears USMC markings as 96885/WI-16 of VMF-275.
The swept-wing Grumman F9F Cougar was developed from the earlier straight-winged F9F Panther during the Korean War but the Cougar came too late for that conflict. Chiefly remembered for the two-seat training version that saw service until 1974, the Cougar was also used as a reconnaissance aircraft and the large camera ports are clearly in evidence on RF9J 141702/PP-7 of VFP-81.
Four examples of Douglas-built machines are included in the Midway collection.
Below decks is an aircraft that found fame in the Pacific as a dive-bomber, particularly in the Battle of Midway, the Douglas SBD Dauntless, a type that sank more Japanese shipping than any other during the conflict. 42-54654 is an A24 version originally built for the US Army, but now painted to represent a USMC machine of VMSB-231
Directly descended from the Dauntless is the A1 Skyraider, which despite being piston-engined, served with distinction during the early stages of the Vietnam War. 127922/NE-577 is an A4D and carries the markings of VA-25.
Next in line is the A4 Skyhawk. Ed Heinemann’s design was small enough to ensure that folding wings were not required for carrier use, but this diminutive stature was felt by the USN to limit the type’s development potential (even though the A4 eventually stayed in production for 26 years) and the A7 Corsair eventually supplanted it. The ‘camel hump’ that was a feature of later models of the ‘Scooter’, is evident in this shot of A4F 154977/NM-301 of USS Oriskany’s VA-23
Another Heinemann design, the Douglas A3 Skywarrior, was created to give the US Navy a carrier-borne nuclear-strike aircraft. Instead, it found fame in later years as a reconnaissance and tanker aircraft, roles that kept it in regular use some 30 years after first entering service. Midway’s example of the ‘Whale’, 142251/612, is an EKA3B of VAQ-130.
The visit to the Midway enabled me to tick off another type in my list of ‘must see’ aircraft. Like the Skywarrior, the North American A5 Vigilante started life as a nuclear strike aircraft, but the A5 found success as a long-range, high-speed reconnaissance aircraft in its RA5C version. The airframe was packed with state-of-the-art (for the time) electronic and camera equipment and its high cruising speed (missions were flown at between Mach 1.1 and Mach 1.3) often meant that F4 Phantoms assigned as escorts struggled to keep up. 156641/NG-812 of RVAH-12 is the aircraft on display.
Decommissioned in 1992 after serving for 47 years, Midway eventually arrived in San Diego in 2004 to begin her new career and since then, annual visitor numbers have soared. It is definitely worth a visit, though my advice would be to get there as soon as it opens to beat the inevitable queues.
The aircraft and flight deck were, of course, the main attraction for me but many areas of the ship are open to visitors - a brief visit to the crew accommodation reinforced my belief that I did the right thing in joining the RAF rather than the RN!
The museum’s website is at http://www.midway.org/ and will give far more information than I could in this post.
I did mention in my earlier post about Denver’s Wings Over The Rockies Museum, that many museums rely on corporate functions to boost revenue and Midway is no exception. On the morning of our visit, preparations were being made for a US Navy function taking place that afternoon, and I did spend quite a lot of time waiting for naval personnel to move furniture and catering equipment out of the way, and access to some of the aircraft was also restricted.
Midway had a long and illustrious service record but again, rather than try to compress it into this article, I will direct you to the excellent Wikipedia entry: -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Midway_(CV-41)
The USS Midway moored alongside Navy Pier in San Diego.
If you’ve ever watched ‘Top Gun’ (and let’s face it, which aircraft enthusiast hasn’t?) you’ll be aware of the role of the US Navy’s ‘aggressor squadrons’ in the training of its top fighter pilots. McDonnell-Douglas F/A18A Hornet 162901/01red is painted in Russian-style camouflage and was operated by VFC-13 in the aggressor role from the nearby Naval Air Station at Miramar.
One type I’d never seen before is the North American T2C Buckeye, used by the US Navy for carrier training until replaced by the McDonnell-Douglas T45 Goshawk (a development of our own BAe Hawk). 156697/A-974 is available for visitors to sit in the cockpit and have their photograph taken – I’ll hold my hands up and admit my wife took a photo of me sat in the front cockpit….it just HAD to be done!
COD for many is a species of fish, but in naval aviation it refers to ‘carrier on-board delivery’, the transfer of personnel and supplies while the ship is at sea, and was the task undertaken by the Grumman C1A Trader until replaced by the Grumman C2A Greyhound. Midway’s example of the C1A is 146036/700.
Another ‘never seen before’ type for me is the Kaman SH2F Seasprite used by the US Navy for anti-submarine warfare. 150157/TF-31 wears the markings of HSL-33 squadron.
More senior members of the forum may recall seeing television footage of Apollo space capsules and their crews being retrieved from the ocean, having splashed down at the end of a mission. Anti-submarine squadron HS-4 was the unit chosen to perform the recoveries from the USS Hornet (see link at http://www.uss-hornet.org/history/apollo/ ) and one of their Sikorsky SH3D Sea Kings, 149711/NT-66, is on display on the Midway.
One aircraft that resolutely remained surrounded by furniture during our visit was Grumman E2C Hawkeye 161227/602, unless of course comfy armchairs are part of some new cockpit upgrade!
One of the features of the LTV F8 Crusader was a variable-incidence wing that could be raised to increase lift during launch and recovery. VF-111’s 147030/NE-461 shows this to good effect.
Sikorsky SH60F Seahawk 164079/RA-13 is the latest addition to Midway’s exhibits and carries the markings of HS-10.
In the dim and distant days of the 1960s and ‘70s, one of the striking things about US Navy aircraft would be the colourful, often gaudy, unit markings that adorned the tails and fuselages of the various types. Sadly, almost everything military since then is painted in various shades of dull grey so it’s particularly pleasing to see that many of Midway’s exhibits retain colourful schemes.
A couple of the aircraft on display have different markings on each side; one such is McDonnell Douglas F4N Phantom 153030 carrying VF-161’s markings on the starboard side and VF-21’s on the port.
Another aircraft to be dual-marked is Grumman A6E Intruder 151782, which carries the emblems of US Marine Corps squadron VMA/AW/224, as embarked on USS Coral Sea, on the port side. It proved impossible to capture the starboard side in pixels as that was cordoned off.
More choppers!
You look at Piasecki UH25 Retriever 130059/UP-18, one of the earliest helicopters flown by the US Navy and wonder how it ever got off the deck – it looks that flimsy and underpowered. Slightly more substantial are the Boeing-Vertol CH46 Sea Knight 150954/VR-46, this example being in the colours of HC-11, and HS-8’s Sikorsky UH34 Seabat 143939/NV-52.
The Lockheed S3 Viking fulfilled many roles during US Navy service. Anti-submarine/ship warfare, electronic intelligence gathering and COD were just some of the tasks that various marks of the type were involved in. Midway’s example, VS-41’s 159766/741, is an S3D and carries an AGM-84 Harpoon air-to-surface missile (hopefully inert) under the starboard wing.
The LTV lineage can clearly be seen in the lines of the Crusader’s little brother, the A7 Corsair II. The SLUF (short little ugly err…fellow) as it was nicknamed, was designed as a replacement for the Douglas A4 Skyhawk and at its peak, equipped 27 US Navy attack squadrons. A7B 154370/NK-507, in the markings of the USS Constellation-embarked VA-97, is used by Midway’s docents to illustrate how aircraft are launched from a carrier.
Arguably, the more illustrious Corsair though, is the gull-winged Vought F4U (also built by Goodyear as the FG1D), and known less-than-affectionately by Japanese troops as ‘whistling death’. In the cavernous hangar deck, F4U wears USMC markings as 96885/WI-16 of VMF-275.
The swept-wing Grumman F9F Cougar was developed from the earlier straight-winged F9F Panther during the Korean War but the Cougar came too late for that conflict. Chiefly remembered for the two-seat training version that saw service until 1974, the Cougar was also used as a reconnaissance aircraft and the large camera ports are clearly in evidence on RF9J 141702/PP-7 of VFP-81.
Four examples of Douglas-built machines are included in the Midway collection.
Below decks is an aircraft that found fame in the Pacific as a dive-bomber, particularly in the Battle of Midway, the Douglas SBD Dauntless, a type that sank more Japanese shipping than any other during the conflict. 42-54654 is an A24 version originally built for the US Army, but now painted to represent a USMC machine of VMSB-231
Directly descended from the Dauntless is the A1 Skyraider, which despite being piston-engined, served with distinction during the early stages of the Vietnam War. 127922/NE-577 is an A4D and carries the markings of VA-25.
Next in line is the A4 Skyhawk. Ed Heinemann’s design was small enough to ensure that folding wings were not required for carrier use, but this diminutive stature was felt by the USN to limit the type’s development potential (even though the A4 eventually stayed in production for 26 years) and the A7 Corsair eventually supplanted it. The ‘camel hump’ that was a feature of later models of the ‘Scooter’, is evident in this shot of A4F 154977/NM-301 of USS Oriskany’s VA-23
Another Heinemann design, the Douglas A3 Skywarrior, was created to give the US Navy a carrier-borne nuclear-strike aircraft. Instead, it found fame in later years as a reconnaissance and tanker aircraft, roles that kept it in regular use some 30 years after first entering service. Midway’s example of the ‘Whale’, 142251/612, is an EKA3B of VAQ-130.
The visit to the Midway enabled me to tick off another type in my list of ‘must see’ aircraft. Like the Skywarrior, the North American A5 Vigilante started life as a nuclear strike aircraft, but the A5 found success as a long-range, high-speed reconnaissance aircraft in its RA5C version. The airframe was packed with state-of-the-art (for the time) electronic and camera equipment and its high cruising speed (missions were flown at between Mach 1.1 and Mach 1.3) often meant that F4 Phantoms assigned as escorts struggled to keep up. 156641/NG-812 of RVAH-12 is the aircraft on display.
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