| Re: Do you know this plane
I'm not too sure about the identity of that Skyhawk's pilot, other then the fact that he would be a USMC Reserve aviator, and likely a Vietnam vet given the timeline.
As for that baseline Skyhawk model, however, I'd recommend going with a livery of Lt. Cmdr John Michael Estocin, who won a posthumous Medal of Honor in 1967. Mike Esctocin flew Skyhawks off the U.S.S. Ticonderoga and was known as a master Iron Hand SAM Supressor. One of his better known engagements involved taking out a SAM site, and being hit by a SAM during the engagement. With his plane heavily damaged and leaking fuel from numerous hits, Estocin plugged into a KA-3 Whale tanker, and flew it back to the boat, plugged in the whole time, and streaming excess fuel as the tanker's supply kept his airplane in the air. The pair flew that way until final, with Ectocin calmly radioing directions to the tanker pilot (ie. "you're a half a ball low..). When Ectocin landed, he calmly walked away without saying a word, as fellow Yankee Station aviator John Nichol's said "another day, another dollar."
A week later John Nichols was flying Estocin's wing when the SAMs won. Nichols watched in horror as the SAM impacted and Estocin's airplane sustained visible damage to its cockpit section. When he closed up to the Skyhawk, he could see Estocin slumped over, eventually the airplane rolled over and crashed. All this is chronicled in On Yankee Station, by Barrett Tillman and John Nichols, it is probably one of the best books ever written about the Naval Air War over Vietnam.
I'd definately buy Estocin's Skyhawk if HM or Corgi came up with it. It'd have to have Shrike missiles, and may or may not have the avionics hump, but I believe it is an E model from Attack Squadron 192. And if somebody came up with a Crusader, Nichols's would be a natural, and a perfect wingman for this one.
Skysurfer808 |