The most compelling part of this interview was when Paco talked about the instructor who said Desert Storm was going to be like Rolling Thunder all over again - a years-long campaign to subdue Iraq. What's ironic isn't that he ended up being wrong, but rather that he ended up being right. Since Desert Storm began, the U.S. has never stopped dropping ordnance on Iraq or flying over it. It's been a non-stop air operation that continues to this day in the anti-ISIL campaign.
Great interview Mike and awesome A6 stories from a very smart, likable pilot like Paco, especially the carrier landings and 50 feet of the deck at 500 knots - normal day!
No way!! How did you come across this guy!! Ex VFC-13 saints F-5 Pilot. Check out the movie Speed and Angels in which he features trying to teach two of the final F-14 recruits some lessons in ACM over the deserts of Nevada back early 00s prior to final cruise.
Thoroughly enjoyed this interview!!! You have managed to get several of my hero's, Jello, Sunshine, Paco, you're just knocking it out of the park Sir!!! Well done... Again :-)
The Intruder is magnificent looking, idk what the fuss is. I would've loved to have flown it, unfortunately I was born too late. It'd have been #1 on my list
Regarding inert bombs, I did read that during OIF, USAF and RAF fighters dropped laser-guided inert concrete-filled bombs to destroy Iraqi armour in order to avoid collateral damage and due to the fact that a near-supersonic slug of concrete hitting a tank square on will disable it.
In 87 I got to go to NAS Fallon as part of a small Marine Det. Our job was to man 2 105mm howitzers. We were going to mark targets for the A6’s, and F/A18’s. We shot both day and night. It was pretty cool since we could see the targets they were dropping on. The A6’s were better at hitting than the Hornets. On a side note our Marine Liaison at Fallon was a CWO-4 Guy Hunter. He was a Vietnam vet and flew OV-10 Broncos. So fast forward to the first day of the air campaign in 1991. An OV-10 was shot down by a MANPAD. The pilot was the squadron CO, and the observer was CWO-4 Hunter. Fortunately they survived the shoot down, and captivity.
The A6 is an incredible aircraft. Using it their crews take the war to the enemy, in groups and alone. I served in VF21 on USS Ranger. Our pilots had great respect for the A6 pilots. Their often solo sorties over enemy SAMS and flak. Salute to the A6 aircrews. And the F4 guys as well. Hell, all the aircrews! And troops.
I am a fan of military aircraft. I was never in the military. But as a fan of military aircraft I’ve always been a fan of the A6, A4, and F14. If I had ever had the good fortune to fly in the Navy my choice would have been the A6. Go Navy.
My kids asked what I did in the Navy so I thought I'd show them some videos of the Intruder. I was an enlisted Plane Captain in the line division in the same squadron as Mr. Cherici. I checked in October of 91. Most of the Sqaudron was on a Fallon Det at that time as 155 was beginning work ups. As a result of that I was not able to "check in" with all the appropriate Officers and Chiefs until they returned a few weeks later. When they did return I remember LT. Cherici was in charge of selling our Sqaudron ball caps to all in the command. I wish I still had it or could find one online.
@@RCAvhstape Marines are tough, and hard to scare. Scaring one, even a little, is enough to unlock the achievement. It's a compliment on the bravery of Marines. They are not easy to scare.
Yeah.. Paco clearly explained why the A-6 was a cool and enjoyable aircraft to fly in, but apparently quite risky to go to war. No stealth, in fact quite un-stealthy, no A/A weapons for defense and slow. The Navy could have pushed for a serious upgrade. I believe it had that potential.
@@andrewchr it has a role. No strategist would put it in a role it isn't suited for. Desert Storm began after the stealth fighter took out command and control, or the last vestiges of it anyway. Low and slow bombers use the terrain for stealth. I'd use them for taking down everything defensive in quick strikes on the border and hightail it outta there. I have no idea what I'm talking about. Just my thoughts. Let the hate begin, but I'm really hoping for a constructive conversation. The Intruder was my beauty contest winner for attack planes of it's day.
I don’t know if Paco is still reading comments but if so was the KA-6D role something any A-6 attack pilots in a squadron/wing might do or was it specialized and handled only by a few and/or dets?
44:00 Well, considering the A-6 has no air to air weapons, yea, it's not a dog fighter. The only way for an A-6 to "shoot" down an enemy plane is to run into it. I have been corrected! I guess they carried AIM-9's in the 80's. Thanks guys, for letting me know.
@@pacoch Really? How embarrassing for a MiG pilot to be shot down by an A-6. So, I take it you guys are Intruder pilots? It was a good plane in it's day.
@@erictaylor5462 In Vietnam at least one MiG jet pilot got shot down by an A-1 Skyraider, which is a piston engine attack plane of WWII technology. When you pick a fight with somebody and underestimate them, you're asking to get taught a lesson.
@@RCAvhstape Do you know what an A-1 isn't? It isn't an A-6. Those A-1's were damn good airplanes for what they were used for, and the most extraordinary thing was, they could lift the balls of their pilots. It takes some giant balls to fly into modern air combat with a prop job. And then even more to do what those Sandy's did. There were all heroes of the highest caliber. I once saw gun camera footage of an A-10 shooting down a MiG in Iraq. This was extraordinary when you consider that the targeting system on the A-10 is designed for ground attack. The computer, that places the gun sight in the correct position is designed to hit targets that are not moving, or moving very slowly on the ground. Air to air targeting is very hard to do. Even experienced fighter pilots have a hard time with it. This guy had to just guess to hit the target. It's not pretty to see what those shells, designed to destroy armored vehicles, will do to an airplane.
Where is Part 2? In the book, Flight of the Intruder a crewman gets sucked into and A-6 engine and survives. Hes helmet and other gear is torn off, but he is caught and saved y another crewman. Then *THIS* shows up on the internet ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-AF55oyAJDBk.html Now, you might think Steven Coonts was talking about this incident, but this happened *AFTER* Flight of the Intruder was published. It got me to thinking. Had this happened before? Someone surviving getting sucked into the engine.
You should have asked him about the A6 accident in Italy where they hit the sky gondola and caused 20 people to die...big news back in the late '90s www.nytimes.com/1998/02/04/world/20-die-in-italy-as-us-jet-cuts-a-ski-lift-cable.html
