I couldn’t believe it-

I was instantly transported back 45 years to the day of my second performance at net. Here comes my aircraft, NL 407, with plenty of hook to ramp clearance the CRUSADER sails into the barricade as nice as you please, it stays intact and it rolls out sedately to rest squarely on the deck centerline. I walk-not swim-away from this one high and dry--it’s the proverbial “Piece of Cake”!

BEEN THERE – DONE THAT (TWICE)!!

This sequence of events so inspired (or, perhaps more accurately so appalled) our commanding officer, Bob Baldwin (an honored test pilot and subsequently a Vice Admiral and Chief of Naval Personnel) that he apparently repented his hasty and misguided issuance of that Flight Violation he tagged me with for the Atsugi caper. In fact he seemed downright remorseful when he awarded me the nom de guerre that I guess I more than deserved:

Well, as it turned out, I didn't lack for company. During our post-Korean pre-Viet Nam war work up and deployment we never fired a shot in anger.  Nevertheless during this less than two-year cycle VF 154 lost a full squadron complement of 14 aircraft in major accidents as well as something like 40% of our pilots. We had a 20% fatality rate not including the unfortunate death of one of our crewmembers. Of something like 15 or 19 of us nuggets, only 2 were still flying by the end of the '58 cruise. An old squadron mate, Commander Dave Winiker was one of them-he went on to be a flight instructor and to fly hundreds of combat missions. Dave tells me that, in terms of pure hazard and pure flying thrills nothing ever compared to those pioneering CRUSADER days.

During the 27-year operational lifetime of the F8 in the US fleet, the Navy purchased 1,266 CRUSADERS--there were 1,106 major accidents and 186 pilots were killed (not including those lost in combat). When we in VF 154 started flying the CRUSADERS in 1957 the accident rate for the F 8 (number of accidents per 100,000 flight hours) was a staggering 243.9. In 1983, its final year of US Navy service the CRUSADER'S accident rate was 68.82 versus an overall Navy rate of 3.34. The F 8's lifetime average was 46.74. By way of contrast, the last time I heard, the lifetime average for VF 154's F 14 Tomcat was 9.32. Furthermore, despite having been the Navy's only permanently forward-deployed F 14 squadron and thereby participating in every tea party from Desert Storm through Iraq, at one point VF 154 amassed a record of 80,000 hours and more than 8 years of flight time without a single major accident. VFA 154 is currently based at NAS LEMOORE flying the new F 18F Super Hornet.

However, the CRUSADER was dubbed the "MIG MASTER" in honor of achieving the highest kill rate of any fighter in the Viet Nam "conflict". The CRUSADER was in active service for over 40 years--pretty much a record for a jet fighter. There are no more single engine single pilot gun-toting fighters left so it is truly "The Last of the Gunfighters" - I've never met a pilot that didn't love (and respect) the CRUSADER.

The denouement? After more than 4 decades in service the F 8 CRUSADER was finally retired from active duty by the French Navy in December 1999. 12F Flottille, the last French F 8 squadron invited all of the surviving American ex-CRUSADER drivers to witness the final flights of the venerable and well loved CRUSADER a huge party in the local chateau capped the festivities. About 800 French & 200 Americans including yours truly & Mrs. Crash participated-It was MAGNIFIQUE!!

B             K              R

JOHN "Crash" MIOTTEL