In article ,
Paul writes:
Good work Pat (and Dean) - it sure looks like a match!

Check out this photo - not sure that it's the same serial number but
check out the feature in the last "2" in 149212

http://members.aol.com/scottyv2/149212.jpg

compare with my friend Dave's photo of the tail base:

http://home.earthlink.net/~jpa_2/index_2.htm

Dave also said he thought the (tail) tip was partly fiberglass
(antenna?) and that a visible internal bulkhead was made of wood. I
saw a reference to wood in one description.

I'm really pleased you guys tracked this down - it will settle a lot
of "discussions" we have been having at the local coffee shop.


-Paul



On Fri, 28 May 2004 19:17:04 -0500, Pat Flannery
wrote:



Pat Flannery wrote:

....

AND I'LL FIND IT ALSO!
Dean Peeters was right- it's the vertical fin off of a Vought F-8
Crusader, (or possibly a A-7 Corsair II...but I'm betting on the F-8).
Look at the crashsite photo, and note the paneling that's shifted
backwards just under the bulge, so that it aligns with the front of the
fin rather than its overall shape:
http://home.earthlink.net/~jpa_2/pages/item2a.htm
....now look at this photo of the vertical fin on a F-8 (French Navy in
this case):
http://www.aeroslides.com/modelpubli...8p/F-8P-49.jpg
Everything matches; hinge location, bump, panel arrangement, circular
access panels at base of fin. The only difference is that the French
navy used different nav gear on theirs, so that the bump is rectangular
in section, rather than the more rounded shape of the one on the
late-model U. S. Navy F-8 Crusaders:
http://airpower.callihan.cc/images/Modern/f8u1-tm.jpg , which also
incorporated a tail light (the twin bumps on the back end would probably
be rear warning sensors to detect incoming enemy aircraft or missiles).
So I assume that the what's-it that was in the first photograph is the
crushed cylindrical tail section of the aircraft that incorporates the
hydraulic cylinders that move the tail control surfaces- stabilators and
rudder in this case.

Pat



To add some further confirmation to Pat's detective work, BuNo 149212
was part of a block of Vought F8U-2NE (F-8E) Crusaders. First
production delivery was in December 1961.

Most of the susviving E-models were upgraded to F-8Js in 1968.
Part of teh modification was the addition of the fairing just above
the rudder for the Radar Warning Receiver/DECM antennae. So, it's
highly probable that the airplane was F-8J, BuNo 149212, and that it
was lost sometime after late 1968.

The following units flew F-8Js:
VX-4, tailcode XF, flew 2 in 1969, and 1 in 1970.
VF-24, tailcode NE flew a number varying between 9 and 12, 1970- '75
VF-51, code NF, flew 9-12 aircraft between 1969-1970.
VF-53. tailcode NF, flew between 7 & 11 aircraft 1969-'70.
VF-124, tailcode NJ, glew between 10 & 30 F-8Js from '69-'72
Fleet Replacement Training Squadron - this was where Fighter
Jocks learned their stuff
VF-162. tailcode AH, flew 12 F-8Js in 1969.
VF-191. tailcode NM, flew F-8Js 1969-1976.
VF-194, tailcode NM, flew F-8Js 1969-'76
VF-211, tailcode NP, flew F-8Js 1969-1975
VF-301, tailcode ND, flew F-8Js 1971-1974 Navy Reserve Squadron

These squadrons were all Pacific Fleet squadrons, and so would have
spent a lot of time over the SoCal deserts.

So - we can pin the timeframe down to 1969-1976. the tailcode on the
fin would help pin it down a bit better.

--
Pete Stickney
A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many
bad measures. -- Daniel Webster