A friend of mine, Lt. Bill Worley was killed in January 1968 while practicing in El Centro, CA in the F-11. He was new to the group and was a solo pilot. One thing he did not like about the F-11 was the stall characteristics. And that might have given him problems in pulling out of a dive. He probably blacked out just before he hit the ground.
Nice shots of the "Blues" with their period Grumman F-11 Tigers. But it's even better seeing a few shots of their #8, Douglas C-54 (R5D) Skymaster support aircraft.
I have to wonder how it would have been as a fighter especially had they put the Super Tiger into production. Seems like this is a more aerodynamically straight forward aircraft then the Phantom. With a good engine it may have outperformed both the Crusader and Phantom.
2 September A USN Grumman F-11A Tiger, BuNo 141764 , of the Blue Angels aerobatic team, Blue Angel 5, crashes on the shore of Lake Ontario during the International Air Exhibition at Toronto, Canada. The pilot, Lieutenant Commander Richard "Dick" Oliver, 31 years old, of Fort Mill, South Carolina, is killed.[243] Coming out of a knife edge pass, followed by a roll, 5 contacts the lake surface at ~500 mph and literally skis across the surface, striking a six-foot high sheet steel piling retaining wall on the edge of Toronto Island Airport and disintegrating. Wreckage (turbine) is thrown as far as 3,483.6 feet from point of initial impact.[191]2 September A USN Grumman F-11A Tiger, BuNo 141764 , of the Blue Angels aerobatic team, Blue Angel 5, crashes on the shore of Lake Ontario during the International Air Exhibition at Toronto, Canada. The pilot, Lieutenant Commander Richard "Dick" Oliver, 31 years old, of Fort Mill, South Carolina, is killed.[243] Coming out of a knife edge pass, followed by a roll, 5 contacts the lake surface at ~500 mph and literally skis across the surface, striking a six-foot high sheet steel piling retaining wall on the edge of Toronto Island Airport and disintegrating. Wreckage (turbine) is thrown as far as 3,483.6 feet from point of initial impact.[191]
A friend of mine, Lt. Bill Worley was killed in January 1968 while practicing in El Centro, CA in the F-11. He was new to the group and was a solo pilot. One thing he did not like about the F-11 was the stall characteristics. And that might have given him problems in pulling out of a dive. He probably blacked out just before he hit the ground.
The Angels proved that you only had to get used to it.
Nice shots of the "Blues" with their period Grumman F-11 Tigers. But it's even better seeing a few shots of their #8, Douglas C-54 (R5D) Skymaster support aircraft.
I have to wonder how it would have been as a fighter especially had they put the Super Tiger into production. Seems like this is a more aerodynamically straight forward aircraft then the Phantom. With a good engine it may have outperformed both the Crusader and Phantom.
I saw my father, Ed, at the 4:57 mark. The one on the left. Go Navy Beat Army!!!
Oh, shut up.
The Blue Angels will never look any better than they did in F-11s. Their archetypal team plane.
Myself, I think the A-4 Skyhawk was the best ! But the F-4 Phantom would Make a Ton of Noise...
I like the super hornet myself
If you watch how the landing gear cycles, I can see were General-Dynamics got the idea for the F-16's set-up.
Really great video, thank you for posting it.
Sweet looking aircraft. Too bad it's problems couldn't be fixed.
It's problem was too short legs. And then came along the Crusader.
gas guzzler. short time on station "Rampant Raiders" by Steve Gray, great book
Good grief, they used up pretty much every inch of that runway's length!
Yeah, I saw that too.
i have a question, was this plane a gas guzzler like the phantom was or was it as good as the A-4 Skyhawk
Compared to the Skyhawk the F-11 was more of a gas guzzler. It also had an afterburner which contributed to more fuel consumption.
"Blue Angels 20th anniversary"
2 September
A USN Grumman F-11A Tiger, BuNo 141764 , of the Blue Angels aerobatic team, Blue Angel 5, crashes on the shore of Lake Ontario during the International Air Exhibition at Toronto, Canada. The pilot, Lieutenant Commander Richard "Dick" Oliver, 31 years old, of Fort Mill, South Carolina, is killed.[243] Coming out of a knife edge pass, followed by a roll, 5 contacts the lake surface at ~500 mph and literally skis across the surface, striking a six-foot high sheet steel piling retaining wall on the edge of Toronto Island Airport and disintegrating. Wreckage (turbine) is thrown as far as 3,483.6 feet from point of initial impact.[191]2 September
A USN Grumman F-11A Tiger, BuNo 141764 , of the Blue Angels aerobatic team, Blue Angel 5, crashes on the shore of Lake Ontario during the International Air Exhibition at Toronto, Canada. The pilot, Lieutenant Commander Richard "Dick" Oliver, 31 years old, of Fort Mill, South Carolina, is killed.[243] Coming out of a knife edge pass, followed by a roll, 5 contacts the lake surface at ~500 mph and literally skis across the surface, striking a six-foot high sheet steel piling retaining wall on the edge of Toronto Island Airport and disintegrating. Wreckage (turbine) is thrown as far as 3,483.6 feet from point of initial impact.[191]
So what?
So what?
I love the blues, but they don't fly show's like that anymore ! On the dirty roll on take off #6 solo would be down on the deck !