My Dad said one of the chiefs on his Intrepid tour could tell which engine and which cylinder was misfiring just by hearing it fly overhead. He was sitting in a C-1 waiting to take off when one of the engines backfired and everyone got a little panicked but the chief, who told the pilot to run that engine up to full for ten minutes to see how it sounded. After 10 he turned to the pilot and told him they were good to go. Apparently there was an impromptu prayer session upon takeoff.
May your man rest in peace now that his service is done.
Took me a couple of seconds for ADRC to click in my head. My first contact with Naval Aviation was with the DASH Det aboard DE-1027. We had an ADJ3 attached. I think the "J" & "R" letters disappeared around 1976. In 1968 I got to control an EC-121 that popped up off the coast of Portugal. That was a thrill. The Constellations were seldom encountered by ASAC-ers. This one just wanted flight following and a lookout for other air traffic. The Aviator was gracious enough to let me put him through a couple of simple Air Plans for (my) training (I was a noob). It was the high point of my short ASAC career. Mostly controlled "Stoof's" and Sea Kings. My first encounter with piston engine aircraft was in the 50's when our family flew cross-country on commercial air on one of dad's many USAF transfers. It was loud but soothing. It put me to sleep. I guess that makes me old too.
Our CICO, an LTjg and LPO, an RD1, were our DASH pilots. They didn't much care for it either. Those DASH drones were so prone to crashing. There's no way to avoid the stink of a crash even if there was no error by the controller. I heard that early in the DASH program it carried 2 torpedos slung underneath side-by-side. When one torpedo was dropped the DASH became unbalanced and was prone to flipping over and crashing. They fixed that by slinging them one atop the other. Rocket science? We lost 2 DASH. One had the barometric altimeter atop the counterrotating props break on launch and the DASH started climbing until it disappeared. Never saw it again. Another crashed "just because" but the buoy inflated so we were able to find it. We strapped a line to it and tried to winch it aboard but the cable broke. All that we salvaged was the float buoy. DASH got replaced on our ship with the Navy's first Towed Array Sonar System called "Planet". Spooky experimental stuff for 1967.
There was an RD1 in the DASH Det who had plenty of stories. One involved a DASH flight demo at FTC Dam Neck. Shortly after they launched, the DASH crashed in a parking lot on base and took out several cars. The lesson learned was that it was always better to crash them at sea. That RD1 was a 7th grade drop out. He became my LPO when I was an RD3. He retired an EWCM(SW), earned a PhD and was an EW consultant for the Navy for a few decades. He is still kicking around in his 80s. Sharp guy.
I can confirm this to be true. I guess that makes me old?
My Dad said one of the chiefs on his Intrepid tour could tell which engine and which cylinder was misfiring just by hearing it fly overhead. He was sitting in a C-1 waiting to take off when one of the engines backfired and everyone got a little panicked but the chief, who told the pilot to run that engine up to full for ten minutes to see how it sounded. After 10 he turned to the pilot and told him they were good to go. Apparently there was an impromptu prayer session upon takeoff.
May your man rest in peace now that his service is done.
RIP, Chief Littlefield.
Took me a couple of seconds for ADRC to click in my head. My first contact with Naval Aviation was with the DASH Det aboard DE-1027. We had an ADJ3 attached. I think the "J" & "R" letters disappeared around 1976. In 1968 I got to control an EC-121 that popped up off the coast of Portugal. That was a thrill. The Constellations were seldom encountered by ASAC-ers. This one just wanted flight following and a lookout for other air traffic. The Aviator was gracious enough to let me put him through a couple of simple Air Plans for (my) training (I was a noob). It was the high point of my short ASAC career. Mostly controlled "Stoof's" and Sea Kings. My first encounter with piston engine aircraft was in the 50's when our family flew cross-country on commercial air on one of dad's many USAF transfers. It was loud but soothing. It put me to sleep. I guess that makes me old too.
Ironically, Ev became a DASH pilot… He hated it!
Our CICO, an LTjg and LPO, an RD1, were our DASH pilots. They didn't much care for it either. Those DASH drones were so prone to crashing. There's no way to avoid the stink of a crash even if there was no error by the controller. I heard that early in the DASH program it carried 2 torpedos slung underneath side-by-side. When one torpedo was dropped the DASH became unbalanced and was prone to flipping over and crashing. They fixed that by slinging them one atop the other. Rocket science? We lost 2 DASH. One had the barometric altimeter atop the counterrotating props break on launch and the DASH started climbing until it disappeared. Never saw it again. Another crashed "just because" but the buoy inflated so we were able to find it. We strapped a line to it and tried to winch it aboard but the cable broke. All that we salvaged was the float buoy. DASH got replaced on our ship with the Navy's first Towed Array Sonar System called "Planet". Spooky experimental stuff for 1967.
OH yeah. Ev had ‘stories’… One that just ‘took off’ off Vietnam, last seen going feet dry and never seen again.
There was an RD1 in the DASH Det who had plenty of stories. One involved a DASH flight demo at FTC Dam Neck. Shortly after they launched, the DASH crashed in a parking lot on base and took out several cars. The lesson learned was that it was always better to crash them at sea. That RD1 was a 7th grade drop out. He became my LPO when I was an RD3. He retired an EWCM(SW), earned a PhD and was an EW consultant for the Navy for a few decades. He is still kicking around in his 80s. Sharp guy.