SPLASH ONE!
Hasegawa 1/72 F-4B/N Phantom II
The
Kill: On May 6, 1972 LCDR Jerry “Devil”
Houston and LT Kevin Moore flying an F-4B, BuNo 150456, of VF-51 engaged and
shot down a MiG-17 trying to shoot down an A-6 striking the Bai Thuong
Airfield. Houston positioned himself
behind the MiG as it maneuvered into firing position on the A-6. Houston could not shoot as long the A-6 was
out in front. He could not be sure who the Sidewinder was looking at! The CAG
of CVW-15, CDR Rodger “Blinky” Sheets, piloted the Intruder this MiG decided to
pick on. CAG was a fighter pilot by
trade and knew the MiG-17 had no hydraulic assisted flight controls. At the transonic speed of the A-6, the MiG
driver could not pull the control stick hard enough to maneuver the MiG! (3. p 59)
“Having reached minimum
Sidewinder launch range, Houston squeezed the trigger from 'dead six o'clock',
about 3000 feet behind the MiG. [Devil Houston recounts] 'The AIM-9G came off and went straight down,
then straight up! And as we flew through the hump-backed smoke trail of the
Sidewinder, it straightened out and headed for the MiG. CAG Sheets saw the
missile come off the rail and broke, having played the role of ultimate decoy
to the end! The MiG couldn't break, and the Sidewinder flew up his tailpipe,
blowing his tail off. We were so low that the explosion of the missile was
followed immediately -just bam! bam! -by the explosion the MiG made as it
impacted the Karst ridge'. From after
action reports, it appears that the MiG pilot had given such complete attention
to shooting down the A-6A that he was never aware of Houston's presence.” (4.
p18)
The Airplane: When
VF-51 deployed to Vietnam in 1972, their airplanes carried the famous
Supersonic Eagle scheme. “Houston and Moore were flying VF-51's CAG jet when
they claimed their MiG, this aircraft boasting a multi-colored rendition of the
unit's famous 'Screaming Eagle' motif. Dubbed the 'supersonic can opener' by
rival fighter crews, this scheme was possibly the most flamboyant worn by any
F-4 unit. Jerry Houston remembers, ‘This scheme came about following a
competition within VF-51 to design a squadron paint scheme. The Miramar wags
said all the design lacked were mud flaps and a long raccoon tail on some
aerial!'” (4. p19)
VF-51
placed the MiG kill on the intake splinter plate of the aircraft that scored
the kill with the callsign of the pilot that got the kill. (3 p 40) Notice the callsigns were not of the aircrew
that killed the MiG; it was the pilot. VF-51 had transitioned from F-8s to the
F-4 for this deployment, and the pilots that made the transition did not think
much of the “fighter crew” concept.
“The transition from the F-8 to the F-4 was not all plain sailing, as
'Devil' Houston remembers, 'We had been single-seat F-8 pilots, and as such
we'd ridiculed all multi-crewed aircraft, especially the "Phantom
phlyers". Now we were becoming some of, well ...them! Our hardcore
philosophy going in was that there wasn't then, nor would there ever be, an NFO
we'd rather have than an extra 500 Ibs of fuel and the 20 mm cannons we were sacrificing by leaving the
F-8s. Word of how we felt soon got about at Miramar, and it was with a great
deal of reluctance that F-4 pilots and NFOs accepted orders to VF-51' ” (4.p49) *
* After I posted this model on ARC, Mr Houston sent me an e-mail (How cool is that!!) stating this CAG plane never carried a kill marking. He, also, expressed regret at the published NFO comments quoted in the book. He stated during his F-4 combat tour he come to appreciate the value of the NFO & the wisdom of the "fighter crew concept". You can bet I kept that e-mail!
The airframe decorated in the CAG colors was BuNo 150456 during the deployment.
Sometime after, the F-4B BuNo 153009 was decorated as the CAG plane. Which brings us to…
The Model: The decals in the kit and all the after
market ones I am aware of reflect the 153009 airframe. Pictures of BuNo 150456
are hard to come by, so I used the drawing by Mark Wiki (5) as my principle
decal reference. The MiG kill on the
intake plate with “Devil” above it is my speculation based on the way VF-51
decorated other MiG killers. I cannot imagine a plane scoring a kill and not
sporting a kill tally. But, I never
found a picture or drawing depicting a kill marking.* Sometimes accuracy must
give way to “cool”! I used the decals in
Super Scale International (SSI) 72-111 sheet instead of the kit decals. The SSI decals’ maroon was close to
a perfect match of Testors Gloss Dark Red No.1104. The kit decals had a very slightly brown hue
compared to the Testors paint. Obviously, I wanted the painted trim to match
the decals. There is nothing wrong with kit decals, they look just as good as
the SuperScale sheet. My decision was based on what matched the paint I had on
hand. Which sheet comes closest to real aircraft? I have no idea. Sorry! The model is out of the box except for the
detail added to ejection seats and decals. To capture the difference
between BuNo 153008 and 150456, I
printed custom decals using MS PowerPoint for the text and printed them on
clear decal paper using a laser printer.
The MiG kill markings came from SSI 72-145. I painted the model with Testors Model Master
enamel paint and weathered it with pastel chalk and a hard lead pencil. I
detailed the missiles with the decals from the Hasegawa Weapons Set III kit and
Scale-Master decal sheet SM-39.
I think
I captured the “look” of this “Old Salt” warrior.
FIGHT’S ON!!!
* After I posted this model on ARC, Mr Houston sent me an e-mail (How cool is that!!) stating this CAG plane never carried a kill marking. He, also, expressed regret at the published NFO comments quoted in the book. He stated during his F-4 combat tour he come to appreciate the value of the NFO & the wisdom of the "fighter crew concept".
Kits:
Hasegawa 1/72 scale F-4B/N Phantom II
kit # 00151
Hasegawa 1/72 weapons set III for the
AIM-7s and AIM-9Ds
(Note: The AIM-9D and AIM-9G are
visually identical.)
Decals: SSI decal sheet 72-111 CAG & CAW
Phantoms
SSI decal sheet 72-145 USN MIG KILLERS
SSI decal sheet 72-164
Phantom data
Scale-Master 1/72 sheet
SM-39: US Missile Markings
Custom decals printed using MS PowerPoint .
Bibliography:
1. Detail & Scale Vol. 12 F-4 Phantom II (part 3: USN
& USMC versions) by Bert Kinzey, Aero Publications, Inc, California,
USA, 1983.
2. USN Phantoms in Combat by Lou Drendel, Squadron /
Signal publications, Carrollton, Texas, USA, 1988.
3. …AND KILL MIGS Air-to-air Combat from Vietnam to Gulf
War (3rd Edition) by Lou Drendel, Squadron / Signal
publications, Carrollton, Texas, USA, 1997.
4. US NAVY F-4 PHANTOM II MiG KILLERS, 1972-73 Osprey
Combat Aircraft Vol 30 by Brad Elward & Peter Davies, Osprey Publishing
Limited, Oxford, UK, 2002.
Comments
Post a Comment
Please keep comments civil and on topic. Any comment can be remove without warning at the discretion of the moderator.