Grumman Museum Here On Long Island

[Dix]

Been meaning to do this for awhile, finally had time today. Gruman was a huge supplier to the Navy of jets back in the day.

They have a section of the old plant in Riverhead set apart for planes, etc. Adding as they can




You really don't realize how big these things are until you stand next to them.

Just wanted to share.

Pics 6 & 7 have my F250 in the back ground.

 

[Elderthewelder]

Been meaning to do this for awhile, finally had time today. Gruman was a huge supplier to the Navy of jets back in the day.

They have a section of the old plant in Riverhead set apart for planes, etc. Adding as they can


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You really don't realize how big these tings are until you stand next to them.

Just wanted to share.

Pics 6 & 7 have my F250 in the back ground.

Yeah those F14's were some big birds, So big that the Navy could not deploy them on a couple of their carriers (USS Midway / USS Coral Sea) b/c they took up so much room

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Holy cow Dixie. You took those pictures today. Where is all that snow you got?

 

[Dix]

Holy cow Dixie. You took those pictures today. Where is all that snow you got?

We got nothing, Dennis. About to get freaking cold for a few days, though !!

 

[ironpony]

very nice pictures, my Dad and I are both reitred from Gromman Aerospace Bethpage. We were able to visit the park a few years back. Those planes are on loan from the Navy and are caple of being put back into service.

 

[fossil]

Used to just be a day at the office.

 

[Dix]

very nice pictures, my Dad and I are both reitred from Gromman Aerospace Bethpage. We were able to visit the park a few years back. Those planes are on loan from the Navy and are caple of being put back into service.

Really? I didn't know that.

Gruman going out took a huge chunk of payroll out of the Island, as did Fairchild.

 

[Gasifier]

Nice Dix. I like those. Thanks for sharing.

 

[ironpony]

Really? I didn't know that.

Gruman going out took a huge chunk of payroll out of the Island, as did Fairchild.

all the planes they put into storage / on loan are capable of future service, Dad retired from Republic Fairchild before he went to Grumman. still collecting pension checks at 86 years old, one of the lucky ones. The average for Grumman was 14 checks after retiring, he is going on 22 years. Oh and Dixie 2 M's in Grumman. Grummanites would say if you cut me I will bleed Grumman blue........ best time of my life

 

[BrotherBart]

very nice pictures, my Dad and I are both reitred from Gromman Aerospace Bethpage. We were able to visit the park a few years back. Those planes are on loan from the Navy and are caple of being put back into service.

No "o" in Grumman.

 

[ironpony]

I think you used your super moderator powers to edit it.............

 

[jatoxico]

Driven by there enough times, should stop in one day. Nice Pix Dix.

 

[Jags]

Thats my plane. I couldn't even guess how many hours I have sitting in or working on those F14's. All the electronic stuff, the radar, the missile systems, jamming equip, etc. A more capable platform than most would ever give them credit to be. When they moved over to the GE engines...WHOA BABY were those things hot.

Rick - since you got the Kitty posted up, I figure it only appropriate to show off the Ranger (CV61). That was my boat.


Thanks for posting up the pics. It brought back some old memories.

 

[ironpony]

Thats my plane. I couldn't even guess how many hours I have sitting in or working on those F14's. All the electronic stuff, the radar, the missile systems, jamming equip, etc. A more capable platform than most would ever give them credit to be. When they moved over to the GE engines...WHOA BABY were those things hot.

Rick - since you got the Kitty posted up, I figure it only appropriate to show off the Ranger (CV61). That was my boat.
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Thanks for posting up the pics. It brought back some old memories.

Super Tomcat F14 D revision, my Dad designed all the tooling for the original engine nacelles and the tooling needed to retrofit the GE engines. I also spent many hours working on the nacelles to get everything to work. Yes those BIG planes do alot more than people give them credit for, just a big ole slow Navy jet. Remember that is a 1970 plane and it kept up with the new stuff way longer than intended. Close to forty years of service, not to shabby. A6's C2A's EA6B's still in service, they were started in the 60's. Grumman built the best planes ever to grace a carrier Period.

 

[Jags]

just a big ole slow Navy jet.

A6 (EA6B) yes, subsonic - F14, mucho speed. The Pratt and Whitneys would move it to mach 2.34. The GE's were faster (I'll just leave it at that). The ability to run mach 2 with the phoenix missile launching at mach 4 above aircraft speed gave a combo that you couldn't out run (including SR71, we got one of those during a practice run). And the missile had/has over a 100 mile range (again, I will just leave it at that). A "force" to be sure.

Factoid - in a straight line run, an F14 will simply outperform an F16.

 

[ironpony]

and track and fire upon 10 targets at the same time

ANYTIME BABY

and the big ole Navy jet was sarcasm I know exactly what the plane is capable of

 

[Jags]

and track and fire upon 10 targets at the same time

I actually have a story behind that.
We had a LTJG just come into our squadron and we were ramping up for a missile shoot. He was pretty nervous and you could just tell that he was a pretty good guy (some of the jet jockeys were real jerks, including my branch Officer). Anyhow, got to talking with him and told him I would take him out to a jet and get it all powered up and cooled and we can play video games for practice.
He took me up on it, and I showed him how to let the computer auto designate the targets and all he needed to do was to push the button when it turned red. He got good at it. He said "hell, I could shoot down targets and eat a pizza at the same time".

Missile shoot was 100% success and I got the largest Pepsi he could find (that was my standard bet/payback).

He turned into a heck of a passenger (back seat/RIO).

 

[ironpony]

do you know the story behind ANYTIME BABY??

short version. We sent an F-14 over to Soviet Union/ Russia for a war game. They sent up ten MIG's and we sent up one 14. The 14 locked on all 10 MIgs before they knew what happened. When the 14 landed the pilot got out and said "ANYTIME BABY"

darn you're getting me all emotional

 

[ironpony]

we also did destructive testing, we would bend and twist a 14, 24 hours a day seven days a week until something broke. Talk about a loud bang in the hangar, diagnose redesign fix and start over that was a fun project. We also tortured the rest of the fleet so you do not think we were picking on your baby

 

[ironpony]

do you remeber the 14 that went down in the English Channel??
They recovered what was left to save the "black box". After recovery they sent the pieces back to Calverton LI final assy plant. Some engineer got the idea to see if the BOX beam would go back into the original fabrication jig. Fit like a glove and the fabrication pins still lined up, after crashing.

 

[Jags]

darn you're getting me all emotional

I actually did know the story.
When you live something - it can get emotional for sure. Doesn't matter if you were building them or out on the line with them...I don't know of a person that has dealt with the F14 that didn't have an attachment to them.

 

[Jags]

Some engineer got the idea to see if the BOX beam would go back into the original fabrication jig. Fit like a glove and the fabrication pins still lined up, after crashing.

We parked one in the dirt in Fallon,NV and you could put the whole jet in a box.
(pilots walked away).

PS. - I have an authentic "anytime Baby" patch.

 

[fossil]

We (Kitty Hawk) had one strike the ramp during a night recovery. Hook caught a wire & the aircraft broke in two just aft of the wings. Aft end stayed aboard, forward end skidded off the deck into the drink. Fire the length of the deck. Both ejected safely, one came down on the fo'c'sle, the other came right smack down into the fire. He got pulled out real quickly. Exciting night.

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[Jags]

Rick - I recall seeing that footage (not my boat). Being that I was on the night shift and always on deck - just watching that sends a shiver down my back.

 

[fossil]

Could've been a hell of a lot worse...but it was bad enough for me.