FW: Naval Aviator recalls A-7 pilot taking off (and landing safely) with Corsair wings folded ----- ARTICLE
I remember it. Happened at Miramar..I think my memory says someone managed to do it in a F-8 as well..maybe.mgb From: andy.cain@comcast.net <andy.cain@comcast.net> Sent: Saturday, September 12, 2026 12:52 PM To: Mike Brattland <mgbrattland@gerlecreek.com> Subject: FW: Naval Aviator recalls A-7 pilot taking off (and landing safely) with Corsair wings folded ----- ARTICLE From: Heyyyy fonzie <fonzie1jan@hotmail.com <mailto:fonzie1jan@hotmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, September 12, 2026 11:56 AM To: Heyyyy fonzie <fonzie1jan@hotmail.com <mailto:fonzie1jan@hotmail.com> > Subject: Naval Aviator recalls A-7 pilot taking off (and landing safely) with Corsair wings folded ----- ARTICLE Naval Aviator recalls A-7 pilot taking off (and landing safely) with Corsair wings folded Naval Aviator recalls that time an A-7 pilot took off (and landed safely) with its Corsair II wings folded theaviationgeekclub.com Folding wings are design features incorporated into aircraft to reduce the amount of space a plane takes up on a deck or other surface, so that more aircraft can be parked in a given area. They are most frequently found on aircraft intended to operate from aircraft carriers, where stowage space on flight decks and hangar decks is at a premium. The US Navy has got folding wing aircraft since essentially the dawn of carrier aviation. They are pretty much required in this day and age to save space aboard aircraft carriers because of the size of the aircraft in use. The F-35C, despite being the smaller of the two combat aircraft the US Navy employs, still has a wingspan of 43 feet. The F/A-18 has a 45 foot wingspan, the E-2 has an over 80 foot wingspan. So, they are pretty massive. Can an aircraft fly with its wings folded? A-7 taking off with wings folded David Tussey, former US Navy A-7E Corsair II pilot, recalls on Quora; 'I did fly with a Naval Aviator who had once taken off in the venerable A-7E with the wings folded. And remarkably, he made it back to land safely. No harm. No foul. But it was quite the story in the A-7 Community. 'The squadron involved was performing night carrier landing practice out of NAS Lemoore, CA. They were "hotseating" pilots, meaning, while the aircraft was still running (often while it was refueling), they would have one pilot get out, and another get it, and right back off you would go. So, you can see that this hectic pace of get in the airplane and get out there flying could create an opportunity for things to go wrong. 'In this case, the A-7 was lightly loaded (for the carrier landing practice), it was night, and the pilot did a "hot seat" while the aircraft was in the fuel pits refueling. There was no "final checker" so the pilot taxied out after refueling, and headed for the runway to takeoff. He did not notice that the wings were folded. A terrific pilot 'He did take off, realized the extreme position he was in, declared an emergency, and was able (somehow) to muscle the airplane around the pattern and land safely. Jesus H. C****t.' Tussey concludes; 'The guy was a terrific pilot with Vietnam experience, and the incident didn't hurt his career as there was no damage.just a violation of NATOPS. But boy did he earn a reputation in the community, and a lot of laughter.' Photo credit: U.S. Navy https://theaviationgeekclub.com/naval-aviator-recalls-a-7-pilot-taking-off-a nd-landing-safely-with-corsair-wings-folded/amp/
Miramar was an interesting place in the 1950's. I was just a young sprog living in Del Mar with a divorced mother, my brother, and sister. Believe it or not, Del Mar was not the hot-rocket place to live back then. And, navy pilots rivaled the Hells Angels in their lifestyle. There was a road that parallelled the runway. One day, as I stood up in the backseat of my godmother's car, barely able to see over the front seat, I watched an F-7U Cutlass land hard and the forward landing gear strut jammed through the cockpit. The fireball was like nothing I'd ever seen in my life. Here's info on the F-8 Crusader flying with folded wings. It's happened with F-4's as well. https://www.reddit.com/r/WeirdWings/comments/f00un4/an_f8_crusader_flying_wi th_its_wings_folded_1960/ From: mgbrattland@gerlecreek.com <mgbrattland@gerlecreek.com> Sent: Saturday, September 12, 2026 2:37 PM To: HeloBubbas <helobubbas@helobubbas.com> Subject: [Helobubbas] FW: Naval Aviator recalls A-7 pilot taking off (and landing safely) with Corsair wings folded ----- ARTICLE I remember it. Happened at Miramar..I think my memory says someone managed to do it in a F-8 as well..maybe.mgb From: andy.cain@comcast.net <mailto:andy.cain@comcast.net> <andy.cain@comcast.net <mailto:andy.cain@comcast.net> > Sent: Saturday, September 12, 2026 12:52 PM To: Mike Brattland <mgbrattland@gerlecreek.com <mailto:mgbrattland@gerlecreek.com> > Subject: FW: Naval Aviator recalls A-7 pilot taking off (and landing safely) with Corsair wings folded ----- ARTICLE From: Heyyyy fonzie <fonzie1jan@hotmail.com <mailto:fonzie1jan@hotmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, September 12, 2026 11:56 AM To: Heyyyy fonzie <fonzie1jan@hotmail.com <mailto:fonzie1jan@hotmail.com> > Subject: Naval Aviator recalls A-7 pilot taking off (and landing safely) with Corsair wings folded ----- ARTICLE Naval Aviator recalls A-7 pilot taking off (and landing safely) with Corsair wings folded Naval Aviator recalls that time an A-7 pilot took off (and landed safely) with its Corsair II wings folded theaviationgeekclub.com Folding wings are design features incorporated into aircraft to reduce the amount of space a plane takes up on a deck or other surface, so that more aircraft can be parked in a given area. They are most frequently found on aircraft intended to operate from aircraft carriers, where stowage space on flight decks and hangar decks is at a premium. The US Navy has got folding wing aircraft since essentially the dawn of carrier aviation. They are pretty much required in this day and age to save space aboard aircraft carriers because of the size of the aircraft in use. The F-35C, despite being the smaller of the two combat aircraft the US Navy employs, still has a wingspan of 43 feet. The F/A-18 has a 45 foot wingspan, the E-2 has an over 80 foot wingspan. So, they are pretty massive. Can an aircraft fly with its wings folded? A-7 taking off with wings folded David Tussey, former US Navy A-7E Corsair II pilot, recalls on Quora; 'I did fly with a Naval Aviator who had once taken off in the venerable A-7E with the wings folded. And remarkably, he made it back to land safely. No harm. No foul. But it was quite the story in the A-7 Community. 'The squadron involved was performing night carrier landing practice out of NAS Lemoore, CA. They were "hotseating" pilots, meaning, while the aircraft was still running (often while it was refueling), they would have one pilot get out, and another get it, and right back off you would go. So, you can see that this hectic pace of get in the airplane and get out there flying could create an opportunity for things to go wrong. 'In this case, the A-7 was lightly loaded (for the carrier landing practice), it was night, and the pilot did a "hot seat" while the aircraft was in the fuel pits refueling. There was no "final checker" so the pilot taxied out after refueling, and headed for the runway to takeoff. He did not notice that the wings were folded. A terrific pilot 'He did take off, realized the extreme position he was in, declared an emergency, and was able (somehow) to muscle the airplane around the pattern and land safely. Jesus H. C****t.' Tussey concludes; 'The guy was a terrific pilot with Vietnam experience, and the incident didn't hurt his career as there was no damage.just a violation of NATOPS. But boy did he earn a reputation in the community, and a lot of laughter.' Photo credit: U.S. Navy https://theaviationgeekclub.com/naval-aviator-recalls-a-7-pilot-taking-off-a nd-landing-safely-with-corsair-wings-folded/amp/
participants (3)
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andy.cain＠comcast.net -
mgbrattland＠gerlecreek.com -
Peter Flynn