I wanna a turn

I've always thought it would be neat to land a carrier. I wonder how close I could come before they shot me down? If they were going full speed ahead, with no wind, I could pretty much land in a (relative) vertical approach.

tom

The Everett Naval base is on my way to and from my airport and the Lincoln and soon the Nimitz are sometimes moored there.

As long as you are higher than 1900 ft msl you can overfly the base and while flying over the carrier it looks like I could land and take off my Maule from the deck. Then sanity kicks in and I keep on keeping on.

I did note they now park cranes and stuff up and down the deck in case one of the less sane actually tries it.

I figure if a C-130 can do it so can I : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjNyQvhsQE8

TD

Dos Gringos had a take on this

Check this video out. This may be a little more like what we would have to do. And this guy had 7 family members stuffed in his Birddog while he did it. No turning back either.

http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675 ... a-aircraft

More on the Bird Dog landing on the Midway from Wilipedia.

On 29 April 1975, the day before the fall of Saigon, South Vietnamese Air Force Major Buang-Ly loaded his wife and five children into a two-seat Cessna O-1 Bird Dog and took off from Con Son Island. After evading enemy ground fire Major Buang-Ly headed out to sea and spotted the aircraft carrier USS Midway. With only an hour of fuel remaining, he dropped a note[4] asking that the "runway" [sic] be cleared so that he could land.[5] Knowing there was no room for this to happen, Rear Admiral Lawrence Chambers ordered that $10 million (US currency) worth of UH-1 Huey helicopters be pushed overboard into the South China Sea. The Bird Dog that Major Buang-Ly landed is now on display at the National Museum of Naval Aviation at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida.[6]

Also this little bit, unrelated but interesting. Our real heros are usually unsung.

American television personality/actor Ed McMahon was a Marine Corps aviator and piloted one in Korea, flying more than 80 combat missions during 1953.[citation needed]

Also mentioned that the L-19 was certified for two rear passengers if they are Vietnamese.

The Dash-One (official Operating Manual) for the O-1E issued to USAF pilots in 1970 had the following statement: "rear seat rated for one pilot/observer or two Vietnamese."

Maybe they could have had the Hueys takeoff for 5 minutes while the bird dog landed and then return to the aircraft carrier instead of wasting 10 million dollars.

littlewheelinback wrote:The Bird Dog that Major Buang-Ly landed is now on display at the National Museum of Naval Aviation at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida.

I was just there yesterday and saw that plane. I didn't see the video of it, but the story was posted next to it. Funny timing.

Brett

Probably getting all those birds fueled manned and taken off would have taken too long. Most of them wouldn't have seen stateside again anyway. We were burning money by the acre during that war (like all or wars) so what's a little more? We left so much equipment in Vietnam. I just admire the Admiral for making the right call so quickly and humanely. A family or some combat worn choppers. Good call.