On the day I was to carrier qualify in F-9F's, I flew out to the carrier as a passenger in an S-2F or Stoof as we called them (same type plane in video). We trapped and I immediately went down to the hanger deck.
The Stoof then attempted a deck launch sans catapult (which should have been no problem light and with a good wind down the deck). For some reason, the parking brake was engaged and the a/c didn't make take-off speed and hit the water directly in front of the boat. It was then hit by the carrier and broken apart. Both pilots exited, but one was dead when his body was recovered by a swimmer from the HS-2 and the other was never seen after passing the stern even though he had both arms out of the water and his Mae West inflated when he passed by me on the elevator.

I also had the misfortune to see a Stoof at NAS Glynco flip over on its back and crash right next to base ops when an instructor pilot let a student get behind while trying a single engine wave off. There wasn't a piece of anything bigger than a basketball left (plane or person). I knew both fellows, one having 3000+ hours S-2 time. I'd had a conversation with him the night prior in the "O" Club. He was a LtCommander and a good guy. F'ed me up for a long time.

It still chills me to remember those incidents and I hope the families of those four guys appreciated what their sons/fathers/brothers/husbands were trying to do for their country.

God bless those who go in harms way, be it in peace or war.

Judge,

What amazed me was the pilot managed to maintain concentration and control and fly through that wave, which I'm guessing isn't covered in flight training.

As a non-pilot it looked like a hell of a piece of flying.

quote:

Originally posted by Jefffive:
Judge,

What amazed me was the pilot managed to maintain concentration and control and fly through that wave, which I'm guessing isn't covered in flight training.

As a non-pilot it looked like a hell of a piece of flying.

I assumed the plane had been totalled and had to watch the video a couple of times to be sure that it hadn't crashed...An amazing bit of flying....

Regards,

Peter

Clean plane like hell. The cockpit is a mess and smells bad...................