California Cat

Here are some shots of a Navy Grumman F9F-8 'Cougar" on a flight from North Island Naval Air Station (KNZY) on Coronado island, California out to the Naval Auxilary Landng Field on San Clemente Island (KNUC).

 

PS: Extra credit for anyone who can say why we know from the takeoff shots that this flight was sometime after 1969. :D;)

 

Lined up for takeoff.

 

 

Takeoff and making a climbing turn towards KNUC for the short 20-minute 80-mile VFR flight out.

 

 

 

On our climb, we're treated to a panoramic view of the greater San Diego area. Point Loma is on the nose with Mission Bay and La Jolla visible up the coast. Coronado and North Island are off the right wing with San Diego International (KSAN) and the tall buildings of downtown across the harbor.

 

Level at our cruise altitude.

 

At the controls today is Lieutenant "AJ Squared Away" USN. We know that because - unlike Tom Cruise and the "Top Gun: Maverick" guys - his oxygen mask is secured and his helmet visor is down. :pilot: We can't see in this shot but I'm guessing his flight suit sleeves are also rolled down and he's wearing his Nomex flight gloves.

 

On final, touchdown, and rollout at KNUC.

 

 

 

Taxi to the ramp. Welcome to San Clemente!

Edited November 30, 2022 by BillD22

"PS: Extra credit for anyone who can say why we know from the takeoff shots that this flight was sometime after 1969. :D;)"

 

Tail code change Bill?

"PS: Extra credit for anyone who can say why we know from the takeoff shots that this flight was sometime after 1969. :D;)"

 

Tail code change Bill?

 

Good guess Blair but not the visual clue hiding in the shots. May take a San Diego resident to see. :D

Good call on Maveric's indiscretions.

 

NATOPS bible was mask buckled from takeoff to after landing - ejection with an unlocked mask would tear your face off for one thing, if not your helmet with your head in it. NOMEX replaced goatskin tan leather gloves circa 1968 or so. Also they changed the rule about wearing gloves on cat shots being optional, which made unbuckling easier if you went in the drink while taxiing or on a soft cat shot.

Nice work showcasing the F9F-8B Cougar Bill. :cool: :cool: Haven't seen one of these around here for a while. I'll hazard a guess that it's carrying a full bomb load instead of Sidewinders? :confused:

Nice work showcasing the F9F-8B Cougar Bill. :cool: :cool: Haven't seen one of these around here for a while. I'll hazard a guess that it's carrying a full bomb load instead of Sidewinders? :confused:

 

Thanks Larry - another good guess but the clue lies outside the airplane in the surrounding scenery. May take a San Diegan from back in the day to see it.

Edited December 1, 2022 by BillD22

Good call on Maveric's indiscretions.

 

NATOPS bible was mask buckled from takeoff to after landing - ejection with an unlocked mask would tear your face off for one thing, if not your helmet with your head in it. NOMEX replaced goatskin tan leather gloves circa 1968 or so. Also they changed the rule about wearing gloves on cat shots being optional, which made unbuckling easier if you went in the drink while taxiing or on a soft cat shot.

 

Thanks Mike - as you can see from this inside shot AJ is fully NATOPs compliant.

 

How do you manage to have a military pilot while I'm stuck with a guy/gal with a baseball cap?

Hey JK - my sim PC is down for maintenance right now so I can't look at the pilot options but I think if you go into the graphics settings in MSFS under "Miscellaneous" you have a choice of pilot avatars. If you scroll thru them one of them is a military pilot. Select that as your pilot figure. It will appear in all your airplanes tho so when you're done with the military aircraft you'll need to switch back to an appropriate figure.

 

Hope this helps

Oh, alright. I'm surprised no-one else has come up with this already, but I guess having lived there for forty-odd years made it easy for me. 1969 is when the iconic bay bridge was completed.

 

Beautiful shots by the way, Bill. They really capture the SoCal ambience.

Oh, alright. I'm surprised no-one else has come up with this already, but I guess having lived there for forty-odd years made it easy for me. 1969 is when the iconic bay bridge was completed.

 

Beautiful shots by the way, Bill. They really capture the SoCal ambience.

 

No more calls please - we have a winner!:D:D:D:D

 

Thanks Ian - my dad was a career Navy pilot stationed at North Island back in the day before the bridge. As a child I remember riding the old car ferry from Coronado over to the city with my parents.

I was there from '75 until last year, so I missed the ferry. Looks like fun!

 

I was there from '75 until last year, so I missed the ferry. Looks like fun!

 

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It was! An adventure for a kid.

Nice pics and storyline Bill! You handle the Cat oh so well!

 

Rick :cool:

cool shots and im not from that era so ill let the pros guess...good work bill

Stellar shots of the Cougar, Bill. :)