Tuesday, October 8, 2024

An FJ-3 Fury of VF-33 aboard USS Lake Champlain (CVA-39), 1954-1955

 


4 comments:

  1. Thank you for posting this picture. Not many know about the Navy's version of the F86. The FJ-3 was circa '54-'55; the next version, the FJ-4, came on a few years later. My dad flew the FJ-4, and when I was five years old, as an instructor pilot out of Lakehurst NJ, he would take flights of 16 or 20 Furies over our house at around 200' AGL. Talk about motivating a young boy!! Led to his young son ending up a Naval Aviator also, flying the A-7E and the F/A-18. One of the best times ever was me putting my Dad in the back seat of a TA-7C when he was around 60 or so and taking him on a 2-hour low-level (approved by higher command, of course). He was rock solid the whole flight. Great day. Again, thanks for the picture of this venerable aircraft.

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    Replies
    1. ...great story. You or Dad, toss-up who it meant the most to. Sure hope you got to give a child a similar ride. Better still, you awarding one their wings.

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    2. Great story Sam. I'm sure you and your dad had a great aviation relationship

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  2. Seems a rare example of wing fold angle following the ww2 era of straight wings, instead of matching the airflow angle. With this setup, if it unlocks or didn't lock, you are crashing RFN, no saving it.

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