Gray Angels

Gray Angels

The US company McDonnell Aircraft received a request in 1942 for a jet fighter which could be operated from U.S. Navy aircraft carriers. The eventual result was the FH-1 Phantom, a twin-engined craft that was only moderately faster than the best propeller fighters of the time. The Navy ordered 100 planes (only 60 were actually built), and the first units were delivered in 1947. They were used to equip one Navy and two Marine squadrons. They were the first carrier-based pure jet fighters acquired and put into operational service by the Navy.

The Marines used a few of their planes to form an aerial formation-flight demonstration team, dubbed "The Flying Leathernecks" (which was also the title of a 1951 film starring John Wayne, concerned with Marine aviation activity in World War II).

Three flag officers in the Navy, Admiral Daniel V. Gallery and Rear Admirals Apollo Soucek and Edgar A. Cruise, checked themselves out in the Phantom and made fly-by appearances at the inauguration ceremony of New York City's Idlewild Airport and the 1948 Cleveland Air Races. They referred to themselves as The Gray Angels, a reference to the actual Navy flight-demonstration team known as the Blue Angels (formed in 1945, the Blue Angels' official title was "U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Team", and they were first referred to as "Lancers", but within a few months the references were changed to "Blue Angels").

The "Grays" flew in various air shows during the summer of 1947, but the team was abruptly disbanded after their poorly timed arrival at a September air show in Cleveland, Ohio nearly caused a head-on low-altitude collision with a large formation of other aircraft.Mills, 1991, p. 226.]

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Mills, Carl. "Banshees in the Royal Canadian Navy". Willowdale, Ontario, Canada: Banshee Publication, 1991. ISBN 0-9695200-0-X.
* [http://www.vectorsite.net/avbansh.html The McDonnell FH-1 Phantom]
* [http://www.history.navy.mil/avh-1910/APP30.PDF List of Early Naval Jet Pilots]
* [http://www.4sims.com/toppilot/Cards/Blue_Angle.htm Blue Angels Trading Cards]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Angels with Dirty Faces — Studioalbum von Sugababes Veröffentlichung 26. August 2002 (UK) 16. September 2002 (DE) Aufnahme 2001–2002 …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Angels With Dirty Faces (альбом) — Angels With Dirty Faces Альбом Sugababes Дата выпуска 2002 Жанр Поп Продюсеры Ron Tom, Xenomania Лейбл Island Records …   Википедия

  • Angels One Five — Infobox Film name = Angels One Five image size = caption = director = George More O Ferrall producer = John W. Gossage Derek N. Twist writer = Pelham Groom (story) Derek N. Twist narrator = starring = Jack Hawkins Michael Denison Dulcie Gray… …   Wikipedia

  • Angels with Dirty Faces (альбом Sugababes) — Эта статья  об альбоме британской поп группы Sugababes. Об альбоме британского трип хоп музыканта Tricky с тем же названием см. Angels with Dirty Faces (альбом Tricky). Angels With Dirty Faces …   Википедия

  • Dolly Gray — For the right handed pitcher who was also nicknamed Dolly Gray, see Sam Gray. Dolly Gray Pitcher Born: December 4, 1878(1878 12 04 …   Wikipedia

  • List of Angels & Demons characters — The following characters appear in Dan Brown s novel Angels Demons (2000). Contents 1 Gunther Glick and Chinita Macri 2 Hassassin 3 Maximilian Kohler 4 …   Wikipedia

  • Place of Angels — Infobox Television episode Title = Place of Angels Series = Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons Season = 1 Episode = 23 Airdate = March 8, 1968 Production = 21 Writer = Leo Eaton Director = Leo Eaton Episode list = List of Captain Scarlet episodes… …   Wikipedia

  • Dolly Gray (left-handed pitcher) — Infobox MLB retired bgcolor1=darkblue bgcolor2=maroon textcolor1=white textcolor2=white name=Dolly Gray position=Pitcher bats=Left throws=Left birthdate=birth date|1878|12|4|mf=y deathdate=death date and age|1956|4|4|1878|12|4 debutdate=April 13… …   Wikipedia

  • Dulcie Gray — With husband Michael Denison Born Dulcie Winifred Catherine Bailey 20 November 1915 Kuala Lumpur, Malaya Died 15 November 2011 …   Wikipedia

  • Nelly Gray (song) — Benjamin Hanby See Nellie Gray for the American pro life activist Darling Nelly Gray is a 19th c. popular song composed by Benjamin Hanby, and as such, is a pseudo African American folksong. Hanby composed the song while attending Otterbein… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”