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Crew coordination- that’s what it’s all about, right? Now that I had a cruise under my belt (and been in combat to boot), I was in a better place to convince my pilot to work with me. As of the Med Cruise I had flow regularly with four pilots, all of whom were very senior to me and much more experienced, and on the whole outstanding pilots. During the Med cruise when much of our time was just boring holes in the sky this was OK.
My pilot this cruise was Commander John Huber, Squadron Executive Officer. He had a good reputation as a stick-and-rudder man. While not a combat veteran, He had been awarded the Legion of Merit for flight related exploits, but no one was quite sure what they were. Rumor was that he was the LSO in the project to land a U-2 aboard a carrier.
A short time after I left the squadron, John and his new RAN were climbing out of NAS Albany on a routine flight when they encountered a catastrophic engine failure. John did not survive the fireball; his navigator did make it out but suffered from serious burns.
I ended my career in RA-5C's with the same number of takeoffs and landings. No so much for the pilots I flew with:
Gene Campbell, my pilot during RVAH-3 training, had to eject due to flight control problems but survived
Charlie Buffkin likewise completed his RA-5C duties without mishaps (though he did have to eject earlier in his career)
Wyatt Foard, whom I flew with periodically during the Med cruise, ejected during an attempted take off from NAS Albany and survived.
Newby Kelt, Squadron CO during the Med cruise, was my pilot for a number of missions. He also made it through an RA-5C career with no ejections, but he previously had to eject from an F-8 Crusader as the yellow shirts pushed it off the deck.
John Huber, discussed above.
Heavy attack predecesssors to the A5: AJ Savage; A-3 Skywarrior
A note on the pilots assigned to fly the RA-5C. Historically, the Heavy Attack community pilots were focussed more on mission planning expertise for the delivery of nuclear weapons. The nature of operations also meant fewer flight hours and landings, with inevitable lessening of flying skills. This problem was recognized in the 1950's, with the delivery of the A-3 Skywarrior (swept wing and jet powered, both innovations), and especially with the introduction of the A-5A in the 60's, which required a very high level of flying skills indeed.
The Navy instituted a policy of bringing highly qualitied aviators outside the VAH and RVAH communities to beef up aeronautical skills. Gene Campbell, John Huber, and Newby Kelt all came into Vigilantes from outside the community. Newby, who came from the F-8 fighter community, shared that they were not greeted with open arms. But the skills that he and others brought were eventually recognized.
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