In memorium of John S. McCain

[Rick Tsujimura]

Does anyone know if there is a decal sheet with the markings of U.S. Senator John S. McCain's A-4.  I found one very small profile but it is so small it would be difficult for me to get the markings printed.  The profile looks to be of an A-4E/F.  Can anyone confirm that this is the aircraft type?

Leads appreciated.

[Giorgio N]

McCain was shot down while serving with VA-163 and this unit employed the A-4E over Vietnam. The aircraft depicted in the profile is A-4E Bu.No. 149959, coded AH-300 and is indeed the one piloted by McCain on that day.

IMHO it's not particularlu difficult to get the markings for this aircraft printed. The only doubt would be the pilot name, if the aircraft carried any. Everything else is standard A-4E stencilling and unit markings, the lettering on the rear fuselage is simply VA-163 / USS HORISKANY on two lines, on the rear lower fuselage are the type and the Bu.No.

There's a welll known picture of this aircraft that can be even be found on Wikipedia, taken only a few days before McCains fateful flight that shows pretty well what 149959 looked like in October 1967

 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_4E_barrier_CVA34.jpg

 

Personally I would consider this an easy enough subject even for a "home printing" project, except for the white "00" numbers on the rudder tip that would have to be found somewhere

[jpk]

The name of the carrier was CV-34 Oriskany.

[Sonoran]

I believe the Victory Models A-4 sheet had those markings 

[huvut76g7gbbui7]

Why does it have an Atlantic fleet tail code?

This article adds to the confusion as it shows 149959 with an 'NL' code (nose code 3xx illegible in pic) but in the photo below it allegedly shows the aircraft 6 days before the shoot down wearing 'AH'

http://www.check-six.com/Crash_Sites/McCain-Skyhawk.htm

[Murph]

15 hours ago, Scimitar said:

Why does it have an Atlantic fleet tail code?

This article adds to the confusion as it shows 149959 with an 'NL' code (nose code 3xx illegible in pic) but in the photo below it allegedly shows the aircraft 6 days before the shoot down wearing 'AH'

http://www.check-six.com/Crash_Sites/McCain-Skyhawk.htm

CVW 16 was originally an Atlantic Fleet wing, and it maintained the AH tail code when it moved to the West Coast.  All of the air wing aircraft had the AH tail code, based on period photos:  1967 cruise book Air Wing 16  Aircraft were moved between squadrons during their lifetime, so an airframe could be seen in different squadron markings on different cruises.

 

Regards,

Murph

Edited August 29, 2018 by Murph

[fids]

He was on the Oriskany because he survived the fire on the Forresstal, climbed out the cockpit, down the nose and swung off the refuelling probe.

 

I'm glad someone has started this, I was going to post similar in the Airfix 2019 thread but its locked

 

 

[ruudster]

Victory Models' sheet has McCain's VA-46 markings

https://modelingmadness.com/scott/decals/vpd48004.htm

[Rick Tsujimura]

Thanks, need to figure out if I should buy the 1/48th decal sheet; scan and resize to 1/72.  Thanks to you all for the leads.