TB-25N deck launched from the USS Carl Vinson 1995

[rwdfresno]

Mark,

It could very well be that the Koskela's spliced in some footage from other Doolittle events arond California as they both shot a lot of footage at several of these events including the April 1992 as well as the subsequent Doolittle memorial flights and Doolittle Raider Reunion in Fresno. There were several years in the early-mid 90's that we had these events to honor Doolittle and the Raiders and during each one we would make the flower bombing mission to Pebble Beach so that Doolittle could see and hear the bombers during his last few years he made his home there with his son John Doolittle.

Mark, by the way did you happen to see the formation of 4 F-16s yesterday? I was out on the walking path in Water Valley and they blew by in close formation heading toward Greeley at about 1000' AGL. It was an awesome sight to see on July 4th.

Ryan

[corsair166b]

Heard but not seen, Ryan....ah well.....guess some friends on the south end of Greeley had a C 130 buzzing around also.....happens every once in a while.

Mark

[the330thbg]

so.., did they land those aircraft on the deck..or were they placed on via a crane?

[rwdfresno]

so.., did they land those aircraft on the deck..or were they placed on via a crane?

They were placed with a crane. Prior to the launches a significant amount of attention was paid to the lifting hard-points to ensure that they would be adequate for lifting the aircraft. Custom lifting beams and rigging equipment had to be built. If I recall, the aircraft had to be fueled prior to loading as well because AV Gas fueling equipment was not permitted aboard the ship.