Flying, Fighting, and Ejecting From an F-8 Crusader 

Thanks for this great interview. . I was a plane captain with VF-51 from 1965 through late 1967 during the Vietnam war. Our base was at Miramar and I did one short tour on the Ticonderoga and two tours on the Hancock. I have the utmost respect for fighter pilots having been so close to them being a plane captain. When I would be standing next to them preparing for take-off and showing the safety pins for the ejector seat, missiles were pulled we'd laugh about something, chat, and I'd wish them a safe flight. Upon returning the pilots were soaked in sweat and tense, you didn't speak to them. We lost several pilots including the late Commander Roger Netherland, lieutenant Wayne Skaggs and lieutenant commander Ron Dodge who was in a POW camp for years. They all lost their lives protecting our freedom, never forget. Plane captains were usually the last person to person contact the pilots had before going on a mission. There is no more of an empty feeling that waiting for your pilot to return and he doesn't. May we always remember all those lives lost in service to their country. God Bless America Rich Casamento VF-51

When you are out of F-8s, you are out of fighters!

*"because you never know if you're going to ever come back"* That answer at the end there, man. Make the most out of your days as possible

An amazing chat with a lovely guy. These stories need to be told before this generation passes on.

That was epic. I love how sharp some of these old pilots are, even in their twilight years. There's a twinkle in the eye and energy in the voice whenever they recall old sea stories! Love it.

I had orders to VF 124 in May 1973 to fly the F-8. Around that time, the F-14s were stood up and as Magic stated, VFP 63 became the F-8 RAG. Magic was there but I never flew with him. All the instructors were combat veterans and included Bug Roach, Rabbit Campbell, Turtle Reddit, Cranedog Waldron, Tim Hubbard, Barfly Phillips and so many others. I think the F-8 community then became the primary source of Tomcat pilots in those years. After a cruise flying F-8Js with VF 211 on the Hancock, I went to the training command and later flew RF-8Gs as a reservist. What a trip down memory lane to see this interview! Sorry I missed the “31st (?) Last Crusader Ball” in Reno in conjunction with the Tailhook Convention.

I loved his shirt, and it said out loud exactly what I was thinking. It's so cool to hear the extraordinary stories of service from "ordinary" looking folks. And kudos to his boss for recognizing the fact that Magic had talent and dedication to his country that was needed. Great interview Mooch!

I got to know Captain Colin Haines when he was flying for Flight International in Taiwan in '93. He was shot down in Vietnam in '67 in an F-8. Spent 6+ years in the Hanoi Hilton. He was 61 when I met him, very nice man.

My old man flew the F-8 and was friends with this dude. Good stuff Ward! Cheers

I was a Navy Supply Officer from 1967 to 1969 and served on the USS Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31) (not Bonhomme Richard) for two cruises. I saw a lot of F-8s and A-4s. For a while, the Bonnie Dick held the record for number of Migs shot down. It was an experience. Thanks, Mooch.

These off the cuff interviews are great.

It sounded like he had an amazing range of assignments. I personally liked the fact that he judged the supply vs demand and say “no … no … here is what i want.”

Mooch always knows the most interesting people, nice interview love his stories.⚓💪😎

The only F-8s I have ever seen in flight were a reserve Det we had outside Jax doing CQs on Sara in '83 Love the look of the 'Going fast sitting still' Crusader!

My dad was an F-8 pilot and loved his airplane. He punched out over Sardinia.on his Med Cruise on the Forestal when he was in VF-103 Sluggers. He had zero pilot error - the throttle was frozen at about 80% due to a break in the linkage that was believed to be caused by contaminated fuel.

My late father in law flew the F-8, among other aircraft. The Crusader was his favorite! I proudly display his 1000mph club plaque in his memory.

Thank you for what you do,Mooch! I was an OS1 aic from 83-86 on the east coast. Did shore duty at Tarpon Control in NAS Key West. VF-45 adversaries flew everyday (mon-fri)... so we racked up a couple thousand gci's after our 2 year shore duty. Many times the Tomcat pilots were coming to give us a BZ. I was there when VF-45 used KFIR from the IDF, A-4's

In early 70’s F8 were the only fighters on Oriskany. In either 71 or 72 I was OOD as we began a recovery. An F8 was in the pattern abeam to port. Plane went inverted and pilot ejected. I saw both splashes. I also served on the Bonnie Diet 59-60. LCdr USN (Ret)

Was in VF-191 (Satans Kittens) as a E-3, E-4, and E-5 two long cruises on CVA-14 66,67,and 68. Vietnam. One cruise was 11 months I believe. On first deployment did my time mess cooking and loved it. Worked grave shift in the Chief’s mess. Needless to say I ate very well. Told myself that I would like to be a Chief one day. Retired as MCPO. Captain James Cain rings a bell. Shot down 9 bad guys and one destroyer to his credit, prior to the Vietnam conflict.

Mooch, I sure hope (and know you are) keeping all these interviews in a safe somewhere; TIMELESS interviews that need to be preserved. Thanks for sharing!

The thumbnail photo is from LT JG Kryway's ejection, one of the most famous ejection photo sequences. One anecdotal story is that before that aviators would more often stay with the plane into the water, not trusting the off-the-deck ejection capability. After the photos were published and distributed the numbers were reversed and more aviators would use the ejection seats, especially in Martin-Baker equipped aircraft. Note that this ejection seat used was the early Mk. F5 with no underseat rocket. This means that the seat was a hard bang and a slightly lower ejection arc. If that could do the ejection off the deck, once the rockets were added they had far better margin for safety

My father was a Marine Aviator who started in F-8s, moved to F-4s, and ended his career in F-18s. He had the most time in Phantoms, but he LOVED- to fly the F-8. What's more, every one of his friends I've ever talked to who flew them loved the Crusader. Thanks for posting this! -Semper Fi-

James Frazier here Sept 69-Dec 71 VF 124 went to VF 211 Vietnam 72 worked as plane captain and AT on F-8 j and k s our pilots were highly regarded in The Crusader and were some of the nicest men learned a lot

My Uncle James Harrison Jr aka “Swamp Fox” A Marine Flew F-8’s and A-4’s, A Marine Fighter Pilot Flew over 300 Missions in Viet Nam and Retired a Major.and went on to Become Flight Instructor at Whiting Field and Barrancas for Over 20 Years. Numerous decorations for Combat including the Bronze Star, numerous Air Medals, Combat Action Ribbon, National Defense Service Medal and a Presidential Unit Citation.. peacefully passed at 89 on July 16, 2023 Dearly Missed. And appreciate all who have Served and put their lives on the line. Those F-8’s were Some Tough Planes.

I love these old Cold War aviators. They are all such cowboys. Just absolute legends.

Great to see “Magic”. Was his neighbor in the 70’s and always enjoyed his stories. Saw F-8 first time in early 60’s at Miramar airshow. Love it to this day. Good times!

I was in VFP63 maintenance 75-78. Two Meds on the USS America. Can’t describe the shock you felt when it went into afterburner on the ‘cat’. Special place in my heart for ‘Eyes of the Fleet”.

As a civilian, I appreciate the captions that clarify military acronyms. Please consider including them in future videos. I'm sure a lot of your viewers know what RAG and CAG mean, but I'm a carpenter, so explaining those details means a lot. Thank you both for your service.

Magic Morris arrived at VF-124 in June 1969 after I departed for VC-10 in May 1969. VC-10 CO, Bruce Ashley, gave us a recap and safety lecture following Magic's ejection in the gun pattern as we were starting squadron gunnery training.

What an amazing old character with useful exuberance! Great story teller!

Larry was at my dealership getting service done just recently, wearing that exact shirt. Extremely awesome guy and loved hearing his story!

Exactly like the Naval Aviators I grew up listening to. Being professional in meeting challenges. Friends gone. Some of our finest.

Never met the man but probably followed him on radar a few times as an RD (now OS) in CIC on the Bonnie Dick in 1970. The Crusader is (in my opinion) one of the most beautiful flying machines I ever laid eyes on (it had a wonderful sound as well). Used to go up with the lookouts to watch the CAP return for the last recovery of each cycle (when not on watch).

thank you , Mooch. And thank you for your service.

13:30 We used to take those shot up tow targets and tie them to the rafters in the hangar over the shop spaces. They made great hammocks for sleeping.

Very nice, Mooch! My grandfather led a team at Vought that built the training fixtures for the F-8 for the Navy. I have a box full of 8x10 black and white photos of his F-8 days, and I need to get those scanned and up on the internet!

Served with an F8 pilot in a Naval Reserve unit many years ago... a CDR Trione, who had gone through flight school with Randy Cunningham. Trione said Randy was kind of thick, but a great pilot and got Phantoms. Trione was lower in the class and got F8's.

This is great history. I like his SA, he still scans the room and never loses his train of thougth.

GOOD ONE MOOCH !!!

What a great interview with an interesting man - he has some great military experiences. "You guys all look alike to me" haha! Thanks for bringing these interesting people to us to share their stories. Excellent!

Hi, Ward. My uncle was a Crusader driver. Lt. Commander Hal Averyt. Call sign "Shag". He enlisted as a seaman and worked his way up. He flew CAP missions over Korea in Panthers. When I was about 10 years old he'd come to visit us in his Crusader. He landed at the Amarillo, Tx SAC base about 50 miles from our house. We didn't set up a time to pick him up. He flew over our house and then we'd go pick him up. And by 'Over our house", I mean flew down our ally at about 40 feet. A Crusader blowing your clothes off the clothes line is hard to miss and pretty awesome. On one occasion he let me sit in his pilot seat. Also awesome. A 10 year old aviation nut's dream. After he retired he told me he felt sorry for modern pilots. They are on too tight a leash to have that kind of fun. He ejected once after a collision right off the boat. He didn't say much about it except that he got wet. Anyway, he was a great guy, and had the right stuff. R.I.P. Lt. Commander Hal "Shag" Averyt.

Oh yeah, this fella was sharp and succinct. Ward picked up on it and didn't try his usual thing of inserting himself into every story every chance he gets. LOL.

It just does not get better than this.

Wow! My son and I rode from the Nugget to the airport with "Magic" in the Nugget bus Monday morning.

In the late 1980's I lived North of Apache Junction, Arizona in the Goldfield Mtns. Behind our house was a ridge that had a FAA facility. My daughter and I took the trail up to the tower and was checking out the valley below. A jet was approaching below a low level of cloud's and flew right over us. I did not recognize the jet and my daughter suggested we go to K-Mart and look at the aircraft models, turns out it was an F-8.

What a brilliant chat. I hung on every word he had to say. Love hearing from these guys. Keep em coming.

I got to VFP-63 in 1979 and as a newly minted Ensign, being around these guys was a real epiphany! LOTS of personality, for sure. Spoiled me for the rest of my career - overheard two F-14 RIOs discussing what I liked to hear, flying the ball and one said "nothing, he likes it quiet". Guess I had a rep. Just to elaborate on a couple of points. It's true that the fuselage went down, rather than the wing going up, but as that was occurring, nose up trim was automatically applied, so the sense you got was an initial feeling that the nose started to drop, then the nose stabilized, and it stayed pretty level. This level thrust axis had interesting implications for flying the ball. In the F-14, if you added power, you did get a slight reduction in sink rate due to the pitch attitude. In the RF-8, you pretty much just went faster. Also, it was attached to the catapult with a bridle, but it was a single point attachment known as a pendant. The F-4 was two points (bridle). Not real important to us, but any deck hand that worked attaching you would probably want that known for historical accuracy.

WoW! What an interview! Segments like this is what makes your channel so great!

Thankfully, Vought followed up the F7U with the F8U.

Great interview, watched it 2x

That was great Ward, thanks for bringing it to us!

Good times back in the day.

There is a great book that has quite a lot about flying the 'Sader "On Yankee Station" by Barrett Tillman, Naval Institute Press, really excellent read.

My Stepfather worked at LTV in the 1960s and built F-8s.

Great chat! Keep em coming!

I read books as a kid about F-14's and F-8's but to hear it from the horses mouth is special. Great interview, Ward.

My old man flew over Cuba with VFP-62 in the RF-8 and he so loved that plane.Went on to work at LTV and sell F-8s and A-7s around the world.

You interview many great pilots and people!!! Heros!!!

Fascinating story! These interviews are pure gold! Thank you

My Dad LOVED the F-8....He was a Vought Aircraft homer though...lol...

I could listen to conversations like this all day! Good Stuff.

Another excellent discussion - thanks.

Did anyone count how many different carriers he was deployed on?? Amazing career. Thank you for your service. 👍🏽

Great interview! And, Great T-shirt! F-8 "Last of the Gunfighters!"

Ward, perhaps your best interview

This channel has some of the best aviation interviews on RU-vid!

Planes Of Fame in Chino, CA, has a non flying example of the F-8. Not sure which one, but one of my favorite static displays there.

Great interview.

After A school, I went to VF-124, for F-8, then to my squadron VC-1 at Barbers Point. We got 4 newly rebuilt F-8K. My favorite plane to work on, from plane captain to A/F shop. CMD RG Sonicson ( probably mis spelled, 1969 was along time ago) Lt Gentalmen Jim Brule was our favorite Officer. He did all the maintenance hops. Always got a airshow.

What amazed me was in Basic Jet training (T-2C) they taught the Squirrel Cage gun pattern. No guns but you had a lead computing gunsight and four planes in the pattern, two dual and two solos. If you screwed it up and one plane was late off the high perch (acute), and one early (sucked), you’d end up with a simo run at the low reversal. Acute belly up to the sucked guy and a midair waiting to happen. That why the tractor pilot was in charge of the pattern and would call one plane off. I flew in the tractor a bunch as the stud autopilot, so the instructor tractor pilot could focus on the very dynamic pattern. Always fun but challenging to fly the Squirrel cage. Circular pattern is a piece of cake compared to the Squirrel Cage.

I was in the Navy in California the same time he was. I sure wish my memory was as good as his still is, sharp guy!

I served on the rosie myself. Made her last cruise before decomissioning with VA 192. Futhermore,I boarded the Mighty "O" in 1975, with VA-52. Stationed oceana VF 101 working on Phantoms. 1971 - 1972.

I wish this were 120 minutes longer! I love hearing from these amazing guys.

Commander Morris, very much can relate to your comments about your (our) service in Vietnam. It's been a while ago but those of us who served have not forgotten those days as you have so well remembered. I was: PN3 USS FOX (DLG-33) Ships Office, 1967-68 Vietnam tour. Well done.

Awesome interview. Tremendous respect. Deployed with VFP 63 recon F-8s, CVW-14 USS Coral Sea 1981-82 cruise. (The PI girls had a different name for the Coral Sea)

Nam pilots were out of this world what a great bunch

Wonderful interview with a classic hero. 👏👏👏👏

Just EXCELLENT Ward as usual!

So much respect, what a life you guys have had, amazing. You did what I could only dream of, thank you

Could literally watch this stuff all day!

F-8s and A-7s are such cool aircraft, thanks for this interview!

Thanks so much Mooch for another great interview with part of our aviation history. I was wondering if you know/knew Rear Admiral Paul T. Gillcrist? I love his book "Feet Wet" and it has his many stories of navel aviation from the early days of the Hellcat on straight decks through the evolution of jets to being the first flag officer to land an F-14A Tomcat on the USS Kittyhawk. I love these stories and the interviews that you provide are awesome for those of us who are gorund bound. Thanks again.

Tell some Moon Vance stories - I knew him when he was my boss at Grumman Aerospace Field Ops. He was the Director, I was his site manager in Taiwan (for the E-2 AEW aircraft), but only met him after he was retired from the Navy. On the rare occasions when I got back to the home office, I talked to him in his office but never got the chance to hear sea stories or tales of flying. He was a great guy (and, for an all-too brief time before he left us, one of my mentors).

Gone are the great stick and rudder guys

Love that t-shirt!

I remember an F8 Pilot named Cmdr "Wild Bill Evans", what an awesome pilot....He chewed me out for missing the numbers for one of his flights on my during my stint of Weight Board runner. He was a cool guy!

(4) 20mm cannons is amazing

Great interview Mooch. Thank you

Great interview. His T-shirt says it all!

Great interview. Thank you for your service.

Love hearing about this airframe. I feel like it's an unsung hero in aviation history's

Just what I needed, Mooch !!! I am currently researching something about F - 8 Crusader and this helped me a lot. TNX very much !!!

Insightful and entertaining content Mooch. Well-done. Consider a panel or round table of guys telling stories in general or on specific topics.

Great stories , great guy , great T shirt ! Thanks Mooch !

I had a co-worker who served on the Bonhomme Richard, repairing the radars. He described them as 'ballast'.

Love the F-8 Crusader. The Last Gunfighter.

After VC-10 in GTMO, I went to CNATRA in Pensacola as an instructor at VT-10. After that tour, I returned to Hangar 2 in Miramar (then VFP-63 instead of VF-124) October 1972 with orders as Photo Det. Maintenance Officer on the Midway. By April of 1973, I had not yet gotten back into the F-8 because of a shortage of airplanes and the war was winding down so I tendered my resignation. Magic Morris had recently arrived at VFP-63 as an instructor and was assigned my spot as Photo Det. Maintenance Officer on the Midway. BTW I have a shirt like his except mine is blue.

Another very good interview.

Built some Corsairs in the late sixties in DFW at LTV.👍🇺🇸

VERY cool. Thanks to both of you.