Thank you for watching our video! It is a great pleasure for us to be able to communicate with people who have actually worked on the VF-154 through this video. Thank you for your service. I have a lot of respect for you. BKR!!
Thank you for watching sir! That was around the time when the VF-154s switched carriers to CV-62s and started stationing at Atsugi. I live near Atsugi Air Base and you guys were always my heroes.
You are correct. I started at NAS Miramar at hanger 2 aka Fightertown USA. Then we replaced the Midway in Japan. I loved living in Japan, having been a fan of the samurai culture and Japanese history. It's a beautiful country with amazing people.
Great video! DCS is such a great sim. It lets us sim geeks express our love for combat flight simulation in very creative ways. That Segway from sim to real life was nothing less than awesome! Great work !! Salute!
Thanks for your message! I get my inspiration from various cruise videos, but especially from the VF-154 2003 cruise video and the photo scenes during that cruise. I hope you can see some of your great seniors in my cruise video. and I hope your squadron members enjoy it too! we look forward to seeing your cruise video of 2022! Black Knights Rule!
Great video. I was in 154 from 98-01. Those were the days. 6 month long cruises seem to last forever, but looking back on it now I’m glad I did it and proud of all the men and women I served with. They must have swapped out a couple of the planes because A/C 100 was 161621 when I was there. I miss the Tomcat. There is no other plane that could do the job she did or had the star power she did either.
Thanks for the kind comments. According to the records, she (161621) took off from NAF Atsugi for the USA on December 21, 2001. I'll never forget the big OTIS painted on the tail. You guys are still my heroes! Black Knights Rule!!
I was an airframer who always love painting. So when I had the chance to go to the paint shop I took it. I was the only qualified painter in the shop so when the squadron said they wanted the new Otis on the tail they pretty much let me do my thing. I wanted in incorporate the F-4 nose paint into 100 so I brought the black nose down low then over the canopy to a point on the turtle decks. Along with black wingtips and horizontal tips. I showed my wife not that long ago the pictures of me painting that plane. I have pictures from when we sanded her almost completely down to bare metal and each stage of the painting process. The squadron was so pleased with my work that during the 2000 Atsugi airshow they asked me to stand next to her and take photos with all the guests. I left 154 in June 2001 so that’s why I didn’t know 100 had followed me home just months later. Thank you again it was truly an amazing video.
I was in VF-154 for two Vietnam cruises, 1967-68, 68-69. We left Alameda in early October and returned in early June. We flew the F4 phantom, J bird on my last cruise in 68. 12 hour shifts 7 days a week. I have great memories of those days and flight ops. Being on the flight deck quite a bit. Working the 7pm-7am shift I saw a lot of night ops. Spectacular. I have seen what few folks in the world have seen. War time night time flight ops.
Are the Black Knights an available option in the DCS F-14 Tomcat? I want to built my Tamiya F-14 as one of them and it would be great to have it as reference. I would buy that module just for this! AWESOME VIDEO!!!
If one of these tomcats had 5th generation avionics and weapons. Absolutely no enemy plane today or in the next 5yrs would ever beat it. Our military is so stupid with its decisions
I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Brought me to goose bumps due to the memories of reporting to the USS Independence CV_62. There is when i first laid eyes on the Knights and ran my hands along the nose cone of Knight100!! I had the distinct pleasure of working with the crews and inhaling the fumes of those beautiful birds. I was still in the Navy when the squadron change commands from the Indy to the Kitty Hawk CV-63 in Hawaii. I processed out of the Navy and over to the army when i was blessed to see my beloved Knights once again for i was deployed in Iraq for the start of the war and saw them using our firing location as a Waypoint. Long live the Knights!!!!!
I left the Kitty in June of 02. I was just ship's company and not part of the airwing but I'm glad I was not there to see the Tomkitty's last hurrah! It would have broken my heart. Did some shore duty in Hawaii and then got to be a rider on the Reagan's maiden combat voyage in 05. Did one final ride on WESTPAC on the Kitty again in 07. However, this time nothing but bugs and super bugs on the roof. Just wasn't the same! I miss strolling through the hangar bay when the Knights were still rocking those big, beautiful asses! I've tripped over a many a tie down chain on the way to the smoking sponson while oogling at those fat bottom girls.
Outstanding. The cut to the video shot of 101 landing confused the heck out of me, did a double take and had to go back and watch it again! Thanks for all your hard work putting this together, what a great tribute.
