VF-51

VF-51 was the designation of a fighter squadron of the United States Navy known as the "Screaming Eagles". The squadron was retired and its personnel reassigned in 1995.

History

Until its disestablishment, VF-51 was the oldest fighter squadron in continuous service with the Pacific Fleet. VF-51’s roots are traced back to 1927 when the Screaming Eagles insignia could be seen with the VF-3S Striking Eagles which flew the Curtis F6C-4. On February 1, 1943 they were re-designated to VF-1 and on July 15 the same year they became VF-5, then changed to VF-5A on November 15, 1946 and finally became VF-51 on the August 16, 1948 and retained that designation until the squadron’s disestablishment in March 1995. In 1947, the Screaming Eagles were the first Navy squadron to enter the jet age, flying the Grumman F9F-2 Panther. VF-51 became the first squadron to take jets into combat and score the first air-to-air kills in the Korean war. Future astronaut and first man to walk on the Moon, Neil Armstrong, was also a Naval Aviator in VF-51 during this period.

During the Vietnam war, VF-51 was the first squadron to evaluate the air-to-ground capability of the F-8 Crusader, and because of this, VF-51 was picked to fly secret interdiction missions into Laos in June 1964. The squadron became MiG killers when they shot down two North Vietnamese MiG-21s in 1968. In 1971 VF-51 transitioned to the F-4 Phantom and shot down four MiG-17s. During the final stages of the war VF-51 flew from the USS Coral Sea (CV-43). Members of VF-51 were amongst the first groups of POWs to be released by North Vietnam. On June 16, 1978 VF-51 transitioned to the Block 100 version of the F-14A Tomcat and their first cruise with the Tomcat was in May 1979 on the USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63). They were part of CVW-15 and partnered with VF-111 also flying the F-14. Both squadrons particiapted in efforts to rescue American hostages in Iran. After two more cruises with the Kitty Hawk, the air wing moved to the East coast for a short period of time, flying from the newly introduced USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) from March to October 1983.

VF-51 is credited to be the first to intercept Soviet Tu-26 Backfire bombers, armed MiG-23 Floggers and Su-15 Flagons using the Tomcat's TCS (Television Camera Sight). The TCS is one of the F-14's most useful sensors allowing the crew to passively identify a target to determine if it’s hostile or not.

During the 1987-1988 cruise with the Carl Vinson, VF-51 conducted operations in the Bering Sea during the winter. In February 1990 the Vinson conducted operations in the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean. VF-51 and VF-111 took part in several exercises with regional air forces, including Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. The air wing returned home on July 29.

Original Navy plans saw VF-51 and VF-111 becoming the first deployable squadrons to transition to the F-14D Super Tomcat, however these plans were cancelled in December 1991 and VF-51 spent its time to its disestablishment in March 1995 flying the same F-14As it had transitioned to in 1978.

Popular Media

In 1985, VF-51 was one of several NAS Miramar based squadrons to participate in the filming of Top Gun. Some VF-51 and VF-111 aircraft were repainted in fictitious squadron markings for the film. To be able to film the sequences, the F-14s were fitted with cameras mounted in pods attached to the underbelly Phoenix pallets and the under wing pylons, as well as using ground mounted cameras. There is an honourable mention in the movie where Tom Skerritt mentions VF-51, and several pilot names are mentioned during the end credits.

References

* [http://www.anft.net/f-14/f14-squadron-vf051.htm VF-51 History]
* [http://www.tomcatalley.com/squadron/vf51hist.htm VF-51 Screaming Eagles History]