 VA-56 A-4C brings its Driver home despite severe damage.  August 1967 Naval Aviation News Photo. "I was there when this happened. This incident is what led to the airframe change that allowed the transfer of fuel from the drop tanks without going into the wing. The A-3 brought him by the ship and he didn't unplug till more than half through the 180 turn. They told him he needed to catch the wire on the first pass or else. This picture was in my cruise book. I got out of the Navy in July 68 and went to work at the Naval Air rework Facility NAS Alameda. This plane was still in Emergency Repair when I went to work there in Sept 68." Randy Wilson VA-56 65-68 Note: LCDR Hausmann was latered killed in an A-7 crash. |