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RV-8 Sam in Seattle

Super Hornet

Congratulations on your performance at CNATRA and earning a seat in the Super Hornet! And on a successful first tour. We were lucky in the Intruder in that we had twice as many JOs to do all the squadron jobs. I don't know how you guys do it in the single seat world. And you have to maintain proficiency in both air-to-air and air-to-ground. We were single mission only in the A-6. I don't think people appreciate how much bang for the buck we get with a Hornet pilot. My hat is off to you. I hope you find an RV to fly during your shore tour and hope to meet you at a fly-in some time. Shoot me a note if you are ever in the Seattle area. I'll take you up in Bad Blue.
 
The mobile Chernobyl! :D. Hated that boat, great memories though. Nice bird! Oh, and the legacy Hornet is the only real Hornet... super is a pig. ;)
 
The Mobile Chernobyl! That's funny, I hadn't heard that one. The reactor guys came to our ready room one time to tell us how much better the engineering plant was after some overhaul. They offered to get us TLDs and give us a tour of the plant. Um...no thanks. But please let us know if you have any problems, so we can all fly back to Norfolk.:eek:
 
Yes the A-6 was a great airplane, although by the time I got to it, we were mostly carrying precision guided weapons and not the 28 500b bombs from the early days. Laser guided bombs (GBU-12,16,10), Mavericks (AGM-65), Harpoons (AGM-84s) and HARM (AGM-88). The Intruder was retired during my time in the Navy and I was transitioned to the EA-6B Prowler, so I have dedicated the right side of the plane to my Electronic Attack brethren. "VAQ" in naval aviation is the designation for a fixed wing, electronic attack squadron. In my case VAQ-130 is my old Prowler squadron out of Whidbey Island, Washington. We flew off the Enterprise on the east coast. They fly the EA-18G Growler now.

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When our Super Hornets call the ball they use the "Rhino" call sign. From your username it looks like you might be an old Navy Flyer yourself.

Good lookin' airplane! I'm a JO pilot in the Zappers. All you need now is Robbie on the tail!
 
Gizmo! Hey when I finish this thing I want to meet with one of your jets on a civilian ramp somewhere. I'd like to get a picture of the two airplanes together. Let your guys know that if any of them are interested in building an airplane, they have an open invitation to drop by my shop in Stanwood and I'll give them the tour. I've got beers in my fridge for any Zappers, any time.
 
Final Assembly

Been awhile since I posted an update. Its at the airport now (AWO) and nearing engine start. Just working off a long list of items to complete. I've also been in the middle of a career transition which has delayed things a bit. But not much longer!

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Your plane looks great Sam! I will be painting my -7 to honor an A-6 crew that went missing in January of '69 from VMA(AW) 242. There is an A-6A painted in 242 colors at the Miramar Flying Leathernecks Museum that I visited a few years ago. Could you share specifics on the paint and colors you are using? Thanks.
Gary
 
Your plane looks great Sam! I will be painting my -7 to honor an A-6 crew that went missing in January of '69 from VMA(AW) 242. There is an A-6A painted in 242 colors at the Miramar Flying Leathernecks Museum that I visited a few years ago. Could you share specifics on the paint and colors you are using? Thanks.
Gary

Thanks Gary! Your airplane will be a great tribute to that crew of VMA(AW) 242. Marines trained with us at the A-6 RAG on Whidbey Island VA-128. What a great bunch.

My paint is Dupont Imron single stage polyeurothane on top of Dupont Variprime 615S metal etch primer that has been sponge brushed on. I have some posts on that if you see if you search 'variprime'. I also built my own spray booth and did the painting myself so its not perfect by any means but much more affordable. It also lets you modify/improve the overall paint scheme decisions as you go rather than try to imagine and write down all the details for a painter that may or may not be quite right.

I decided against using a tactical paint scheme which would be flat grey two tone. I think it is just harder to make a tactical paint scheme look good plus the gloss paint is more durable than flat paint imho. But for you, the Marine Intruders in the late sixties may have had a gloss finish. That would take some research.

So my scheme is my impression of a standard current day non-tactical gloss paint scheme. I referenced MIL-STD-2161B Navy Markings which you can download for free "Paint Schemes and Exterior Markings for US Navy and Marine Corps Aircraft". This is the document that is currently used today. My scheme is similar to that used on our H-3 search and rescue helicopters and C-9 transports back when I was at NAS Whidbey Island. White on top, grey on the bottom, and safety orange on parts that you can take off and paint separately. Which would be what was done to an H-3 taken from the fleet and put into air stations SAR service. Or on training or test and evaluation aircraft.

So in my minds eye, I imagined that the Navy allowed an EA-18G squadron to acquire an RV-8 for use as a utility hack airplane, and this is how it might be painted.

If you are interested in the specific color codes I used on my Imron, I can get those for you also. I look forward to seeing your bird in VMA(AW) 242 colors!

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Sam
 
Good progress

Hi Sam. Looks like you are getting close. I've got my plane torn apart in it's conditional inspection. Hope to get that done over the weekend . Give me a shout when you maiden it. I will plan to fly over and help/watch.
Happy Thanksgiving

Andy
 
Sam, thanks for the detailed response. I like how yours looks and agree with the gloss advantages. Please post the color codes or send me a PM. Thanks again. Gary
 
Paint Codes

Sam, thanks for the detailed response. I like how yours looks and agree with the gloss advantages. Please post the color codes or send me a PM. Thanks again. Gary

Gary,
Here are the paint codes I used on my project. Again, the paint I used was single stage polyurethane DuPont Imron (now called Imron AF400 by Axalta). I shot it over DuPont Variprime that was mixed very thin and sponge brushed on.

Grey P6175 765400
Black 1640 646991
Omaha Orange P2344 565710
Pepsi White 698327 698327
Royal Blue P1197 564925

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Give me a call if you would like more detail on what I did.
Happy Holidays!
 
Airplane looks great!

The attention to detail is amazing. Looks like a fleet aircraft! When you are flying, you should call the guys at carrier suitability and see if you can get that thing carrier qual'ed. I think the RV-8 would make a great deploy-able utility aircraft. You could pull the wires and land in about 20 feet with a 30 knot headwind. I think you could fit about 500 RV-8's on a carrier. Your cycle time could be 2+00, what is it now with the super hornet, 0+25? Good luck as you finish up!

Jeff
 
Registered and Certified!

FAA guys gave me a thumbs up! I'm doing engine runs and working out final settings on communication busses and things, but I'm very close to first flight. Weather is getting better and engine is running strong. Also finalized a policy with AVEMCO so you know I'm getting serious.

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real close

Awesome Sam! Big congrats. Cant wait to hear November Golf (Alpha Charlie) 506 in the pattern at AWO.

When you get a chance, would love to hear how you chose 506 as your side number. This old Intruder driver plans on using 502 on my -4 project.

Looking forward to your first flight report.

Doug
Seattle area (close to NUW)
 
Boomer 506

Thanks Doug! You gotta come visit me at KAWO and we can tell old Intruder stories. I've got beers in my fridge at the hangar. 506 was the airplane that had my name on it the longest in VA-165. Were you out of NAS Whidbey also?
Sam

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