When there used to be more than one carrier in a task group, if an aircraft landed accidentally on the wrong ship, some fun was had before sending him “home”.
Imagine doing this today.
“Must Be Air Force” A U.S. Navy McDonnell F2H-2 Banshee (BuNo 125019) of Fighter Squadron 62 (VF-62) “Gladiators” from the aircraft carrier USS Coral Sea (CVB-43) after it had landed aboard USS Wasp (CV-18) in 1952.
F9F-5 Panther “Dopey” of VF-111
USS Bon Homme Richard -1 USS Constellation – 0
VA-195 Corsairs dose of humility thanks to the crew of the Coral Sea -1972
Coral Sea “Sandy” bird from VA-25
F2H-2 Banshee Pilot from VF-34 appreciates the subtle humour at his misfortune.
Very special Sea Vixen. An example of this tradition in the Royal Navy
F2H-2 USN Banshee Non Standard markings
This Corsair also failed to escape the dishonorable markings of a wrongful carrier landing.
“ManHole”
A little tail work in honor of the misadventure of this Pukin Dog Squadron plane.
Beautiful shots of some humor in the crew and pilots that did the art work. Enjoyed the one on the F4U-4 for I was a plane captain on the USS Antetium back in 1951.
My Dad was at NAS Pt. Mugu when they had an A-7 from VA-155.out of NAS Lemoore, CA, which happened to be his next Squadron. Needless to say the Corsair II returned home with a custom paint job!
During Desert Storm, carriers routinely swapped positions in the Persian Gulf. We were airborne for up to six hours. I almost landed on the wrong carrier after one long flight. Only thing that saved me was the “screw top” paint job on the E-2 radomes on the flight deck.
Several 10th Mountain Division UH-60s wound up with USS Nimitz stencils painted on them during their trip to Haiti in 1994.
How many “rounds” does it take to get the forgiveness of the “ground crew” after they have to clean all the graffiti off?
IIRC, in the WWII Battle of the Coral Sea, a few Japanese aircraft tried to land on the USS Yorktown before realizing their mistake at the last minute.
And then some Japanese tried to land on the Yorktown during the Battle of the Coral Sea, if memory serves. Super embarrassing!
Great post