Highlights of 20+ Years in the U.S. Navy
Part 8: 1970 - COMFAIRLEMOORE
CDR Davis
Ex-US Navy pilot and now member of AOPA (NZ), Norm Davis continues here with his accounts of his experiences - in what is his pentultimate story - in his earlier life as an aircraft carrier pilot in the Navy.
By Norm Davis, CDR USN
One day, when I had just completed my 99th combat mission, a message came through ordering me to NAS Lemoore, California to the new staff, COMFAIRLEMOORE. This staff worked for a Commodore and was responsible for the operational and material readiness of all of the light attack squadrons on the west coast. I had been head-hunted to establish the billet of staff maintenance officer. There were 13 attack squadrons and three replacement squadrons there. The Corsair IIA-7E was being introduced to the Navy and sent into combat.
I took leave en route, left the ship and proceeded to New Zealand to pick up Annette and the kids to fly back to Lemoore. We found and bought a house in town and settled in for what we hoped would be a reasonable life style. I had observed how other staff officers performed their duties and appeared to have plenty of time for recreation, so I promptly went out and bought a set of golf clubs. Ha!
As new staff, we had the bare minimum manning level - lean and mean! Also, we were responsible to make sure that squadrons heading to war had all the support we could muster. We had to juggle materials between returning squadrons and those leaving. The A-7 was coming straight from the factory and into squadrons, without any time for shakedown, and there were plenty of teething problems with these aircraft. They were the first ones to have inertial navigation systems, heads up displays (HUDs) and computer-controlled tracking and bombing systems. They also had computer driven map displays.
Men had to be taught how to maintain them, and pilots how to fly them, using all the new equipment. Readers will be familiar with computer hardware and software "crashes"? Well, imagine what they were like then?! It was a real headache and my team was constantly in touch with the factory and with Naval Test and Evaluation at Patuxtant River, Maryland. Maintenance manuals that had been written for university level readers, were being provided to 18-year-olds with a reading level of 8th grade. Tools, black boxes and test equipment were designed to be used with carts but had to be carried up and down ladders aboard ship by hand. The TF-41 jet engine in the A-7E had some real problems. At high altitude, it would stall and flame out at certain flight attitudes. Pilots flying the aircraft for the first time had control difficulties when the plane was heavy. If handled roughly, it would "depart". A departure is where the aircraft - uncommanded by the pilot - starts pitching up and down (and every other which way!). Some planes were lost because pilots were unable to recover from such a departure and had to eject by 8,000 ft AGL, which was the minimum ejecting altitude for uncontrolled flight. To deal with all of the problems, we canvassed the squadrons to get lists of gripes and then organised a Maintenance and Engineering Review. We collated all of the gripes, assigned priorities, suggested fixes, and called all parties to Lemoore to spend a week hashing out the problems.
Engineers from the factory were amazed to find out about the conditions under which the aircraft had to be maintained while aboard ship, Text writers had to rewrite the manuals so the men could understand them. They also had to produce laminated check sheets that could be used on the flight deck in 30 kts of wind and rain. They had expected the men to take the whole loose-leaf manual up on the deck to work on aircraft. Tool kits were sorted by job and made portable. Black boxes in the aircraft were compartmentalized so they could be disassembled and carried up and down ladders. Computer software was modified to meet pressing pilot needs and improve HUD operation. The review made successful the continued introduction of the A-7 into combat. We were then required to make a presentation to the fighter community at NAS Miramar, following which the revised support procedures for the A-7 became the model for the introduction of the F-14 Tomcat.
A-7 "Departure"
As maintenance officer, it was a good idea for me to have a first hand experience of the A-7E single seat jet. I was given a A-7E handbook by VA-122, which I studied for a week before taking my first flight. On the day of the flight, I was briefed about the technique for recovering from a departure: reduce throttle, neutralize controls and (basically) hang on until the aircraft becomes a dart going straight downwards, and then pull out of the dive, adding throttle when the nose is above the horizon. I was also briefed on flameout technique.
Another pilot was assigned an accompanying aircraft and we briefed for flight as a section. The plan was to take off, join up and head for the Sierra Nevada mountains, climbing to 35,000 where we were to level off and get the feel of the aircraft. After doing some turns and climbs and dives, plus some break-ups and rendezvous, we should be light enough to do some mild aerobatics and then return to the field for touch and go landings.
I manned up, started up and taxied out. We took off and went to 35,000 to get the general feel. Somehow, I forgot about fuel limitations before commencing aerobatics. I eased the nose over and entered into a gentle dive to about 28,000. I then pulled up into a 4-G loop. The aircraft never made it over the top. At about 70° nose up, I suddenly was looking straight down, but still going up. The aircraft had swapped ends, or departed. Talking to myself and anybody else listening, I said, DEPARTURE, reduced throttle (there was some flame coming out of the intake) and neutralized the controls , holding them hard in place. The aircraft did some wobblies, like a dart that has been thrown sideways, and then straightened out, pointing straight down, with no airspeed, but accelerating. I waited until there was enough airspeed to get some flight control and then, very gingerly, started pulling. It seemed to take forever. The nose came above the horizon at about 18,000 ft, (highest mountain in area =14,000 ft) and I advanced the throttle to find that the engine was still running. I didn't know what effect the flames shooting out the front would have had on the intake blades, so we headed home for a final landing. I reported the departure and flaming intake, but heard no more from the squadron about it.
1972 - Command Selection
Selection of officers for command of squadrons is accomplished by a board of senior officers in Washington DC. These officers have access to the career history of each officer through their fitness reports. If, for some reason, the fitness report file is incomplete, the officer in question is not considered. While attached to the COMFAIRLEMOORE staff, I was passed over for command, twice. I decided to make some enquiries and found, to my chagrin, that a fitness report covering the period when I was VA195 Operations Officer in combat had been submitted with an addendum sheet missing. Because of this, my record did not go before the board for two consecutive sessions. I immediately wrote a letter to the Admiral chairing the selection board, to request an administrative screen for squadron command, and explaining what I had found out about my critical fitness report. My boss strongly endorsed the letter. I received a reply stating that an administrative screen was not possible, but that the error would be corrected and I would be properly screened at the next selection board. The board selected me to commission and command a new electronic warfare squadron to be formed at Whidbey Island, Washington, in 1973. When selected for squadron command, the usual route for the selectee is to be assigned as executive officer (XO) of a similar squadron before assuming command. In my case, I was to be a direct input as CO!