My Dad played Jake Grafton in Flight of the Intruder, and the movie has always been close to my heart (I was born during production). We lost him February of last year, and we miss him dearly. It's always nice to see his work is appreciated. The developers of War Thunder released the A-6 as DLC recently, and included the callsign of "Cool Hand" as an player title in the game. Pretty neat.
Sorry to hear about your father. Flight of the intruder has been a favorite of mine since I was a kid and I still watch it at least once a year still. Thank you for sharing
Sorry about your father. I several books were written with Jake Grafton and I always pictured your dad in my head. I worked on A-6's for about 12 years and VA-196 was the first squadron I deployed with on the USS Enterprise so the books and movie were always a favorite.
For anyone interested, there is no difference between a "wild weasel" and an "iron hand" missions, other than that the former is USN and the latter is USAF.
Yes. Missions were essentially the same but the aircraft were of course different. I also suspect that the Air Force and the Navy had different ways of doing things as they usually do. One thing about the Air Force - was that it used F-100's, F-105's and F-4's - which were designed as Fighters - whereas the Navy used A-6's - which were designed as Attack Aircraft. I would imagine that this fact would result in at least slightly different ways of doing things - though I do not know what those differences might have been. All the Aircraft used had two crew members - but - for the F-100 and F-105 - they did not originally have two crew positions - so they were modified. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_F-105_Thunderchief#Wild_Weasel I'm unsure of how much other modifications might have been made to these aircraft .
@@BobSmith-dk8nw The modification was more the electronic gear. The F-100F and F-105F were originally built as conversion trainers for the single-seaters; they predate the Wild Weasel program.
@PolarizedMechs You're correct. The 100's and 104's were Iron hand. And they suffered horrible odds and loses. When the F4 came online it gave some unique benefits but the biggest was yhe ability to carry a large AR weapon load and E package.
@@BobSmith-dk8nw The Navy also used A-4 Skyhawks for the Iron Hand mission, as they were also capable of firing the AGM-45 Shrike anti-radiation missile, they usually flew Iron Hand missions during the day, whilst A-6 Intruders flew them at night (they were also capable of carrying the AGM-87 Standard anti-radiation missile, the A-6s that is).
I saw an A6 sticking out of the hangar when I first got to hangar 122 and I thought... pregnant June bug? I grew to love the A6 of course. I think it looks dangerous now lol!
When you realize most planes can't go supersonic with bombs on them, and have trouble in bad weather, and can't carry so many bombs, you understand the Intruder was a cool plane.
I worked on A-6s for eight years. It was a rugged airplane and could absorb damage that would bring down almost anything else. It was relatively easy to work on and fairly reliable. When the A-6s were retired I moved on to F-14s and despite both being designed and built by Grumman the two airplanes were very different. F-14s were sexy when the were flying, but, a total pain in the ass to work on. I do miss the A-6.
It's funny to think that the Superhornet replaced both the Tomcat and the Intruder but couldn't really do the main job of either. The '18 doesn't have the speed of the Tomcat or the long range reach. She also doesn't have the ordnance capacity of the Intruder or the same ability to loiter on station. I'd love to see Northrop Grumman get the chance to build new Intruders like the A6F, but with some new body panels to make her more harder to hit with MANPADs. New engines. New avionics and electronics. Lower cost than the mess that is the F35.
@@DriveCarToBar politics had everything to do with the A-6F and G not being built. Sadly, in todays integrated air defense systems, it would need more than just a few mods. It would need to be a totally new aircraft from the ground up. A 6th gen airframe to be precise. No more iron tadpole. I was in the last East Coast Intruder Squadron, VA-75, and went on their last two deployments. It was and still is my favorite airframe. I went on to work on EA-6Bs and all variants of F/A-18s. The Super Hornets were built to truly replace the Intruders and not really Tomcats. We needed something to tank the baby Hornets. That combined with the babies limited range and ordinance load pushed the Super Hornet being created. When the maintenance costs of the Tomcat grew to large, it was a no brainer to have Supers replace the Tomcats as well. Way cheaper than contracting for a new airframe. Considering the costs the F-35 grew to, it wasn’t a totally bad call to get us to the next airframe. The Super Hornet and Growler are way better than most people realize though. Still, it would have been awesome to see an Intruder 2 flying over Afghanistan and Iraq.
@@robertthomas1286 the A6F models were going to be mostly new anyways. I remember reading that the remaining A6E's were kind of at the end of their useful life having been upgraded a couple times to begin with. That's what the F model was going to do was incorporate a completely new avionics and electronics package along with the new F404 turbofans the Hornets used. So yes it was going to be new build aircraft. But that's what the Superhornet ended up being anyway, plus the extra hours because the Navy no longer had aircraft with adequate fuel capacity. The F14 could go farther or faster. The A6s could go farther or stay longer. The F model would have included a new hardpoint on each side for even more capacity. In terms of 6th gen, maybe. Even the F35 has external hardpoints. The understanding is that for lower level attack missions, stealth isn't that important because you can see them. That's a perfect role for the A6. She'd need a new stealthier dress with some radar absorbing makeup, but for CAS or even ground attack and anti-SAM missions, there still isn't much better.
@@DriveCarToBar no, the sad reality is that the environment has changed. A completely new design is going to be needed because the new requirements of the battlefield mean a completely different design philosophy. Stealth only works with certain shapes (meaning stealth aircraft are all going to look the same more or less), you'll need to stay at high altitudes or get easily shot down, you'll need an immense sensor suite because you'll be unable to use your eyes to send your ordinance down-range, you'll need a somewhat powerful computer to run everything, and you'll need damn good electronic warfare gear integrated too. ... and that's ignoring the lesson that people are constantly ignoring: you can't fight a semi-competent (or better) IADS from the air, you can only fight it _from the ground_ (or via artillery).
I love that movie, but for more realistic Naval aviation films I love Top Gun and Flight of The Intruder, all those movies are just great fun all around.
Pretty accurate, no real inaccuracies that I caught. I worked with the A-6 WSSA at China Lake 1983-1995. We produced software for the Mission Computer. A few tid-bits: An ex-B/N that flew A-6As in Viet Nam that was in our group said that on coordinated attack missions, the F-4s would launch an hour ahead of the A-6s, because the efficient cruise velocity of the Intruder was higher. Pretty uniquely, either crew member could be commander, in particular If the B/N was higher rank. The scene of the B/N kicking the pedestal to try to get the drum memory to spin again was accurate, apparently it was routine after Cats. It was the first (Navy?) aircraft that computed bomb ballistics on a continuous basis, giving instantaneous bomb solutions to the crew. The A6-B was designed for the Radar/AA Missile suppression missions was the A6-B.It was the only aircraft kin Desert Storm that could self-designate (or designate for other launchers) for Laser guided weapons deliveries (A-6E TRAM). We achieved a Bomb CEP of 25 ft on the final version of the aircraft (only two prototypes built).
Hey man thanks for making a video about the A-6 my grandpa (1945-2023) was in the navy during the 60s as a Aviation Fire Control Technician and so he worked on the A-6 radar and fire control systems I’m sure he would’ve loved to see this.
The A-6 was a great aircraft, and carried an impressive payload for its size. They were also incredibly LOUD. Having them buzz by you while they're flying nap of the earth would rattle your teeth for days.
Doubt they were as loud as the F-4's J-79 turbofan engines, those things WERE REALLY LOUD, in fact they were the biggest and loudest jet engines at the time and damn, there's audio of Top Gun and Red Flag exercises where you can hear those engines howling away in the background, HOLY SHIT they sound like an f---in' banshee.
It's those older turbojets they used. Sad thing is the the A6F Intruder II was supposed to get an upgrade to the GE F404 turbofan engines the F/A-18's used. This would have made them quieter and given a boost in power and fuel economy. The all new avionics and radar systems would have been the real star of that show. Funny thing is even with the better engines, the Hornets still couldn't carry as much ordnance as the A6 could. The A6F was going to come with the updated wings they were fitting to older aircraft as-needed, and would have included two more hardpoints, one on each side. She could have carried even more if the Navy hadn't decided to go with the A12 debacle.
@@DriveCarToBar Good info, thanks. The A-12 was desperately needed, however, IMO. But being the "debacle" that it turned out to be, all that got canceled (some of it out of spite).
Thanks for the re-post! The Intruder was called upon along with Navy/Marine Corps A4 scooters and F4b phantoms for us Marine 'grunt's' in the Arizona Territory of Nam. The delivery of 'Nape', 'daisy cutters' and other HE ordnance was essential for our survival. G/2/5 An hoa 68-69
The kicking scene had me rolling. I tried to get a pilot to give the dim and test (caution/advisory) panel a swift kick and he was afraid to do it. So he got out of the bird, I got in and kicked the hell out of it. It started working. The B/N stared at me in disbelief. Sometimes the relays stuck, whatcha gonna do? I miss the Intruder. VMA 533- 1985-1987- Electric shop Troubleshooter/Final checker. Semper Fi!!
Worked the A6/KA6D/EA6B from 1980 till they were decommed in the 90's...VA-75, VA42, STRKIE Pax and then Grumman Aerospace. While at Grumman we were approached by Paramount studios for an aircraft for the movie. The Navy agreed to let them have an old airframe (EA6A) and we supplied personnel for support while filming in Hawaii. Retired two years ago, what a ride!
I loved this movie. My NJROTC commander in high school was an A6 guy, Commander Austell ! He retired and then retired again from the school system. What was the coolest , walking into their office with him sitting there smoking cigarettes, with out NJROTC staff, a UDT Master Chief and a CB Senior chief. A fukking high school with our NJROTC
My dad was a avionics tech on the USS abraham and worked on these planes and loved them. I love the look of 2 pilots next to each other in a plane as sleek looking as a fighter.
Absolutely adore the Intruder ever since I saw the last 30 minutes of Flight of The Intruder back when I was about 7, yeeeeeears ago. Gotta love that drumstick.
As a Prowler PowerLine mech (we worked on the engines and were the Plane Captains) for the Corps, I was always grateful that we didn't have any armor on our engine bay doors! Serviced an A-6 once and those doors were heavy as hell! Mad respect for those WarPigs though!
A aircraft that is to me, a icon in avation along with the Skyraider and a few others that I can count on one hand. I believe that its retirement may have been more to tired airframes , lack of parts etc etc than a mission role it could do. The mark of a outstanding aircraft. I hope that some examples are, and shall be kept airworthy for as long as possible.
The aircraft were older generation. The main reason to retire was because of maintenance costs. The aircraft were expensive to maintain, and having a uniform fleet based on the less expensive to maintain F/A-18swas much less expensive. With that decision, the Navy abandoned the all-weather day/night attack role for a number of years. I was there at the end, so with allowance for memory glitches, pretty accurate.
@@inyobill Yes very true, lack of parts, older tech etc, but it can be said it still could do missions if the support by parts and such were available. :-) leaving new gen aircraft to take first line role. And not have multi role tasks that by design they were not best suited for. F 18 is fantastic , but it was not the end all..., be all. History may judge it as lacking when it is retired. Simply because it has so many hats to wear.
I can see why people didn't like flight of the intruder, some of the plot was stupid and all over the place, but it had great actors (William Dafoe was hilarious and epic) and I liked the climax a lot, I think it's a good movie 6/10
CW Lemoine and Gonky--an ex-F-18 pilot and ex-F-14 RIO--did a react video to Flight of the Intruder, and they thought it was one of the more accurate movies out there.
It was premier of it's day untill the F-111 showed up, but even then the A-6 displayed it's reliability when the F-111 struggled in it's begining. Flight of the Intruder was a awesome movie and a good one that related the issues pilots faced back during the Vietnam war. Hitting empty targets day in and day out,facing at the time, the world's most formidable air defense network, politics etc. The A-6 served a long career for a reason,it was excellent at its job and what we asked of it. I don't think it's ugly, though not glamorous it looks like a carrier bomber and could carry a good sized payload. Nothing wrong with chubby but reliable ;)
I find the DIANE to be really remarkable. It's a vector graphics CRT display on a mobile platform in the early sixties. I didn't think such a thing was possible back then.
In a way, a golden age of make something and make it work as best as possible. as strange as this may sound ,tech advancement in aircraft such as this gave the space program ideas and tech to make Apollo work. Again .., a golden age.. and a outstanding aircraft.
The fleet got pretty irritated with us software guys at the China Lake WSSA. They would ask for new text advisories, for instance, and we had to reply "No can do". The graphics were hard wired, we could only move where they were displayed.
Loved these so much. Glad I caught them in the war I fought in, as they now served an EW role. Caught the A-10 too, loved the sweet zipper sound of its gun. It was sad day when the F-18 took that EW role.
I worked on the A-6A through E series fire control systems from 1972-1975 with squadron VA-34. It was a quantum leap from the vacuum tubes and early transistors of the AN/APQ-95 (DIANE) to the AN/APQ-148 system with its integrated circuits and first microprocessors when my squadron transitioned from the "A" and "B" birds to the "E" model in 1974. It also had the expanded core memory the lunar module had in its DSKY computer other than the late 1950s model with the additional drum memory. Along with the missing drum memory and the quieter displays, the cockpit during test was much quieter in the "E" model. The "A" birds were the 1962 model basic attack. The "B" birds had the additional RADAR repelling TIAS system installed. The "C" birds was a reconnaissance platform with visible and FLIR cameras aboard. The KA-6D was the tanker. My squadron had these. The 4 seater EA-6B was a stretch model with electronic jamming capabilities. Those birds had their own squadrons.
I worked for Grumman Aerospace for 20+ years on the A-6 assembly line in Calverton, New York. Some A-6's had been overhauled up to 3 times ! it was built to take a beating and the old ones came in with years of battle damage showing end to end. The Bomb Squad had to called in one day when a worker found a live 37.mm A/A round still lodged in the tail ! One of aviation's great aircraft. It was a sad day when the last one left the plant.
I fuckin love the Intruder. When I was something like 6 years old I got this video about life on an aircraft carrier and it began a lifelong adoration of both the A6 and the F-14. Folding wings just looks sexy on a carrier deck.
Grew up in VA Beach, big Navy town. Dad worked at NARF mainly on the A6 . He believed it was the workhorse of the Carrier aircraft, extremely tough and reliable.
My uncle was a master chief and jet mechanic on the U.S.S. Roosevelt for 24 years. The intruder is what he specialized in. He was also in charge of a hanger in Norfolk, Virginia naval base. Yeah he was a expert and knew his shit.
Flight of the Intruder is my most favorite movie of all time, I guess the bad reviews from the 1990s were because back then the Vietnam war was still viewed very negatively.
I read the book before seeing the movie and thought both were very good. Then there was also the EA-6 what we called the station wagon. I'm not sure what was the louder aircraft on the deck the AV-8, A-6, or the F-4 or F-14. Knew a few guys that flew the A-6 and they were some of the only ones I knew that graduated TPS and became space shuttle pilots for NASA. Thanks to all now serving, those who have, and those who will I the future. FLY NAVY!!!
First time I saw this bird I thought it looked like a canary. When we decommissioned VA-196, I didn't realize how much my perception of this bird had changed.
My dad was a USN carrier aviator for nearly four decades. He was NOT an attack pilot. He always told us that you could not be NORMAL and fly attack aircraft, and IRON TADPOLE were LESS normal than most.
My Dad played Jake Grafton in Flight of the Intruder, and the movie has always been close to my heart (I was born during production). We lost him February of last year, and we miss him dearly. It's always nice to see his work is appreciated.
The developers of War Thunder released the A-6 as DLC recently, and included the callsign of "Cool Hand" as an player title in the game. Pretty neat.
Sorry to hear about your father. Flight of the intruder has been a favorite of mine since I was a kid and I still watch it at least once a year still. Thank you for sharing
Sorry about your father. I several books were written with Jake Grafton and I always pictured your dad in my head. I worked on A-6's for about 12 years and VA-196 was the first squadron I deployed with on the USS Enterprise so the books and movie were always a favorite.
your dad was Brad Johnson?
@@utley Yes.
I was sorry to hear about your dad. "Flight of the Intruder" and "Always" are 2 of my favorite movies.
For anyone interested, there is no difference between a "wild weasel" and an "iron hand" missions, other than that the former is USN and the latter is USAF.
Yes. Missions were essentially the same but the aircraft were of course different. I also suspect that the Air Force and the Navy had different ways of doing things as they usually do.
One thing about the Air Force - was that it used F-100's, F-105's and F-4's - which were designed as Fighters - whereas the Navy used A-6's - which were designed as Attack Aircraft. I would imagine that this fact would result in at least slightly different ways of doing things - though I do not know what those differences might have been.
All the Aircraft used had two crew members - but - for the F-100 and F-105 - they did not originally have two crew positions - so they were modified.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_F-105_Thunderchief#Wild_Weasel
I'm unsure of how much other modifications might have been made to these aircraft
.
@@BobSmith-dk8nw The modification was more the electronic gear. The F-100F and F-105F were originally built as conversion trainers for the single-seaters; they predate the Wild Weasel program.
I believe Iron Hand was the first Anti Radiation missions conducted. USAF. Wild Weasle came later as task based variants were made for the F4G.
@PolarizedMechs You're correct. The 100's and 104's were Iron hand. And they suffered horrible odds and loses. When the F4 came online it gave some unique benefits but the biggest was yhe ability to carry a large AR weapon load and E package.
@@BobSmith-dk8nw The Navy also used A-4 Skyhawks for the Iron Hand mission, as they were also capable of firing the AGM-45 Shrike anti-radiation missile, they usually flew Iron Hand missions during the day, whilst A-6 Intruders flew them at night (they were also capable of carrying the AGM-87 Standard anti-radiation missile, the A-6s that is).
It's weird. When I was younger I thought it was ugly and I hated it. Now I think its beautiful and love it. People can change.
I saw an A6 sticking out of the hangar when I first got to hangar 122 and I thought... pregnant June bug?
I grew to love the A6 of course. I think it looks dangerous now lol!
When you realize most planes can't go supersonic with bombs on them, and have trouble in bad weather, and can't carry so many bombs, you understand the Intruder was a cool plane.
I worked on A-6s for eight years. It was a rugged airplane and could absorb damage that would bring down almost anything else. It was relatively easy to work on and fairly reliable. When the A-6s were retired I moved on to F-14s and despite both being designed and built by Grumman the two airplanes were very different. F-14s were sexy when the were flying, but, a total pain in the ass to work on. I do miss the A-6.
It's funny to think that the Superhornet replaced both the Tomcat and the Intruder but couldn't really do the main job of either. The '18 doesn't have the speed of the Tomcat or the long range reach. She also doesn't have the ordnance capacity of the Intruder or the same ability to loiter on station. I'd love to see Northrop Grumman get the chance to build new Intruders like the A6F, but with some new body panels to make her more harder to hit with MANPADs. New engines. New avionics and electronics. Lower cost than the mess that is the F35.
@@DriveCarToBar politics had everything to do with the A-6F and G not being built. Sadly, in todays integrated air defense systems, it would need more than just a few mods. It would need to be a totally new aircraft from the ground up. A 6th gen airframe to be precise. No more iron tadpole.
I was in the last East Coast Intruder Squadron, VA-75, and went on their last two deployments. It was and still is my favorite airframe. I went on to work on EA-6Bs and all variants of F/A-18s. The Super Hornets were built to truly replace the Intruders and not really Tomcats. We needed something to tank the baby Hornets. That combined with the babies limited range and ordinance load pushed the Super Hornet being created. When the maintenance costs of the Tomcat grew to large, it was a no brainer to have Supers replace the Tomcats as well. Way cheaper than contracting for a new airframe. Considering the costs the F-35 grew to, it wasn’t a totally bad call to get us to the next airframe. The Super Hornet and Growler are way better than most people realize though.
Still, it would have been awesome to see an Intruder 2 flying over Afghanistan and Iraq.
@@robertthomas1286 the A6F models were going to be mostly new anyways. I remember reading that the remaining A6E's were kind of at the end of their useful life having been upgraded a couple times to begin with. That's what the F model was going to do was incorporate a completely new avionics and electronics package along with the new F404 turbofans the Hornets used.
So yes it was going to be new build aircraft. But that's what the Superhornet ended up being anyway, plus the extra hours because the Navy no longer had aircraft with adequate fuel capacity. The F14 could go farther or faster. The A6s could go farther or stay longer. The F model would have included a new hardpoint on each side for even more capacity.
In terms of 6th gen, maybe. Even the F35 has external hardpoints. The understanding is that for lower level attack missions, stealth isn't that important because you can see them.
That's a perfect role for the A6. She'd need a new stealthier dress with some radar absorbing makeup, but for CAS or even ground attack and anti-SAM missions, there still isn't much better.
@@DriveCarToBar no, the sad reality is that the environment has changed. A completely new design is going to be needed because the new requirements of the battlefield mean a completely different design philosophy. Stealth only works with certain shapes (meaning stealth aircraft are all going to look the same more or less), you'll need to stay at high altitudes or get easily shot down, you'll need an immense sensor suite because you'll be unable to use your eyes to send your ordinance down-range, you'll need a somewhat powerful computer to run everything, and you'll need damn good electronic warfare gear integrated too.
... and that's ignoring the lesson that people are constantly ignoring: you can't fight a semi-competent (or better) IADS from the air, you can only fight it _from the ground_ (or via artillery).
Nice to include so many scenes from the best naval aviation movie ever made, by which I of course mean Hot Shots
LMAO awesome comment, you made my day ! Thank you for it.
"Let's settle this the old Navy way. First one to die, loses!"
I love that movie, but for more realistic Naval aviation films I love Top Gun and Flight of The Intruder, all those movies are just great fun all around.
@@dinorocker8647 what's realistic about top gun?
his stock dropped on that display
"You see, flying Iron Hand is kinda my thing"
-Virgil Cole 1971
Pretty accurate, no real inaccuracies that I caught. I worked with the A-6 WSSA at China Lake 1983-1995. We produced software for the Mission Computer. A few tid-bits: An ex-B/N that flew A-6As in Viet Nam that was in our group said that on coordinated attack missions, the F-4s would launch an hour ahead of the A-6s, because the efficient cruise velocity of the Intruder was higher. Pretty uniquely, either crew member could be commander, in particular If the B/N was higher rank. The scene of the B/N kicking the pedestal to try to get the drum memory to spin again was accurate, apparently it was routine after Cats. It was the first (Navy?) aircraft that computed bomb ballistics on a continuous basis, giving instantaneous bomb solutions to the crew. The A6-B was designed for the Radar/AA Missile suppression missions was the A6-B.It was the only aircraft kin Desert Storm that could self-designate (or designate for other launchers) for Laser guided weapons deliveries (A-6E TRAM). We achieved a Bomb CEP of 25 ft on the final version of the aircraft (only two prototypes built).
Hey man thanks for making a video about the A-6 my grandpa (1945-2023) was in the navy during the 60s as a Aviation Fire Control Technician and so he worked on the A-6 radar and fire control systems I’m sure he would’ve loved to see this.
The A-6 was a great aircraft, and carried an impressive payload for its size. They were also incredibly LOUD. Having them buzz by you while they're flying nap of the earth would rattle your teeth for days.
I believe at the time of the Vietnam war, the only other aircraft with an equal or heavier payload capability was the B52! I love the A6.
EA-6B's were even louder/more bone-rattling, as they had "tuned up" versions of the same (F4) engines.
Doubt they were as loud as the F-4's J-79 turbofan engines, those things WERE REALLY LOUD, in fact they were the biggest and loudest jet engines at the time and damn, there's audio of Top Gun and Red Flag exercises where you can hear those engines howling away in the background, HOLY SHIT they sound like an f---in' banshee.
It's those older turbojets they used. Sad thing is the the A6F Intruder II was supposed to get an upgrade to the GE F404 turbofan engines the F/A-18's used. This would have made them quieter and given a boost in power and fuel economy. The all new avionics and radar systems would have been the real star of that show. Funny thing is even with the better engines, the Hornets still couldn't carry as much ordnance as the A6 could. The A6F was going to come with the updated wings they were fitting to older aircraft as-needed, and would have included two more hardpoints, one on each side. She could have carried even more if the Navy hadn't decided to go with the A12 debacle.
@@DriveCarToBar Good info, thanks. The A-12 was desperately needed, however, IMO. But being the "debacle" that it turned out to be, all that got canceled (some of it out of spite).
Thanks for the re-post! The Intruder was called upon along with Navy/Marine Corps A4 scooters and F4b phantoms for us Marine 'grunt's' in the Arizona Territory of Nam. The delivery of 'Nape', 'daisy cutters' and other HE ordnance was essential for our survival.
G/2/5 An hoa 68-69
HHMMMMMMMMMMMMMHHHHMMMMMMM, Semper Fi brotha.
The kicking scene had me rolling. I tried to get a pilot to give the dim and test (caution/advisory) panel a swift kick and he was afraid to do it. So he got out of the bird, I got in and kicked the hell out of it. It started working. The B/N stared at me in disbelief. Sometimes the relays stuck, whatcha gonna do? I miss the Intruder. VMA 533- 1985-1987- Electric shop Troubleshooter/Final checker. Semper Fi!!
Worked the A6/KA6D/EA6B from 1980 till they were decommed in the 90's...VA-75, VA42, STRKIE Pax and then Grumman Aerospace. While at Grumman we were approached by Paramount studios for an aircraft for the movie. The Navy agreed to let them have an old airframe (EA6A) and we supplied personnel for support while filming in Hawaii. Retired two years ago, what a ride!
i absolutely love the a6
I love EA-6B more
I always thought Flight of the Intruder was a seriously underrated movie.
Fighter pilots make Movies...
Bomber Pilots make HISTORY.
Do Fighter-Bomber pilots make History Movies or Movie History then?
@@FirstDagger both.
Intruder baaaaby!
I loved this movie. My NJROTC commander in high school was an A6 guy, Commander Austell ! He retired and then retired again from the school system. What was the coolest , walking into their office with him sitting there smoking cigarettes, with out NJROTC staff, a UDT Master Chief and a CB Senior chief. A fukking high school with our NJROTC
VA-128,68-71 I worked on the AFCS systems black boxes. This aircraft was one of the best to ever fly!!
I was in VA-128, Whitby Island, in 1968, and transferred to VA-52. Loved the A-6!
Worked on this aircraft from 1980 until 1995ish. loved what it could do and loved being an electrician working on it!
Ah, the Thunderbolt and the Intruder, both amazing bomber planes of their time. I loved Flight of the Intruder, great movie.
My dad was a avionics tech on the USS abraham and worked on these planes and loved them. I love the look of 2 pilots next to each other in a plane as sleek looking as a fighter.
Absolutely adore the Intruder ever since I saw the last 30 minutes of Flight of The Intruder back when I was about 7, yeeeeeears ago.
Gotta love that drumstick.
It was a great plane, I worked on it from 1972 till 1989. Was in several east coast A6 outfits including two seen in this VA 34 and VA 35
VA-35, '81 -'85
Great video. I used to be a prowler mechanic back in the '80s
Thank You! Great Aircraft. I flew UH1 H& V models. Well done. ~ Be Safe out there ~ Peace & Health to Us All.
"Did you sh!t in my coffee cup? Who the hell sh!t in my coffee cup!" 😂 Flight of the Intruder. Great movie.
Love seeing this video. Used to work on the EA-6B when I was in the Navy and it was so much fun to work on.
As a Prowler PowerLine mech (we worked on the engines and were the Plane Captains) for the Corps, I was always grateful that we didn't have any armor on our engine bay doors! Serviced an A-6 once and those doors were heavy as hell! Mad respect for those WarPigs though!
A aircraft that is to me, a icon in avation along with the Skyraider and a few others that I can count on one hand. I believe that its retirement may have been more to tired airframes , lack of parts etc etc than a mission role it could do. The mark of a outstanding aircraft. I hope that some examples are, and shall be kept airworthy for as long as possible.
The aircraft were older generation. The main reason to retire was because of maintenance costs. The aircraft were expensive to maintain, and having a uniform fleet based on the less expensive to maintain F/A-18swas much less expensive. With that decision, the Navy abandoned the all-weather day/night attack role for a number of years. I was there at the end, so with allowance for memory glitches, pretty accurate.
@@inyobill Yes very true, lack of parts, older tech etc, but it can be said it still could do missions if the support by parts and such were available. :-) leaving new gen aircraft to take first line role. And not have multi role tasks that by design they were not best suited for. F 18 is fantastic , but it was not the end all..., be all. History may judge it as lacking when it is retired. Simply because it has so many hats to wear.
@@inyobill The same could be said for the B52, but yes, your point is valid. Thank you for it.
I can see why people didn't like flight of the intruder, some of the plot was stupid and all over the place, but it had great actors (William Dafoe was hilarious and epic) and I liked the climax a lot, I think it's a good movie
6/10
I liked the movie, but I also read the book(s) and they were of course much better.
They compare it to TopGun and think all Naval Aviation movies are copies of it.
My favorite movie of all times
Yes , agreed 👍
Critics hate the movie because they keep trying ti copare it to Top Gun. Havent met an A-6 crewman who didnt like Flight of the Intruder
CW Lemoine and Gonky--an ex-F-18 pilot and ex-F-14 RIO--did a react video to Flight of the Intruder, and they thought it was one of the more accurate movies out there.
@PolarizedMechs Many Naval Avairators like the movie. Shame how yhry pretend to be authorities of what makes a good Navy movie
Flight of the Intruder is way better than Top gun.To a really mind blowing extent.
It was premier of it's day untill the F-111 showed up, but even then the A-6 displayed it's reliability when the F-111 struggled in it's begining. Flight of the Intruder was a awesome movie and a good one that related the issues pilots faced back during the Vietnam war. Hitting empty targets day in and day out,facing at the time, the world's most formidable air defense network, politics etc. The A-6 served a long career for a reason,it was excellent at its job and what we asked of it. I don't think it's ugly, though not glamorous it looks like a carrier bomber and could carry a good sized payload. Nothing wrong with chubby but reliable ;)
My dad's cousin was a Bombadier/Navigator on one of these during the '80s. He flew over Lebanon during their civil war.
"Iron hands my thing!" Did anyone else feel it when Cole said "come on Sandy, I'd do it for you"
When I was in NJROTC in 1995 the head instructor was a former A6 driver. He loved that aircraft.
I find the DIANE to be really remarkable. It's a vector graphics CRT display on a mobile platform in the early sixties. I didn't think such a thing was possible back then.
In a way, a golden age of make something and make it work as best as possible. as strange as this may sound ,tech advancement in aircraft such as this gave the space program ideas and tech to make Apollo work. Again .., a golden age.. and a outstanding aircraft.
The fleet got pretty irritated with us software guys at the China Lake WSSA. They would ask for new text advisories, for instance, and we had to reply "No can do". The graphics were hard wired, we could only move where they were displayed.
The A-6 Intruder is one of my favorite aircraft of all time. Happy to see it in movies such as Flight of the Intruder and The Final Countdown. 😊👍
Lloyd Bridges is the best! Fav part of the movie when he started a firefight at a funeral. Blasting marines and tossing grenades. That’s nuts!
"Battle stations, BATTLE STATIONS!!!" "I love me a good funeral" 😂
I absolutely agree it's a beautiful aircraft
It makes a really awesome fun model to build 😊
the thumbnail had me saying "you know im something of an intruder pilot myself" in my best dafoe
Loved these so much. Glad I caught them in the war I fought in, as they now served an EW role. Caught the A-10 too, loved the sweet zipper sound of its gun. It was sad day when the F-18 took that EW role.
I worked on the A-6A through E series fire control systems from 1972-1975 with squadron VA-34. It was a quantum leap from the vacuum tubes and early transistors of the AN/APQ-95 (DIANE) to the AN/APQ-148 system with its integrated circuits and first microprocessors when my squadron transitioned from the "A" and "B" birds to the "E" model in 1974. It also had the expanded core memory the lunar module had in its DSKY computer other than the late 1950s model with the additional drum memory. Along with the missing drum memory and the quieter displays, the cockpit during test was much quieter in the "E" model. The "A" birds were the 1962 model basic attack. The "B" birds had the additional RADAR repelling TIAS system installed. The "C" birds was a reconnaissance platform with visible and FLIR cameras aboard. The KA-6D was the tanker. My squadron had these. The 4 seater EA-6B was a stretch model with electronic jamming capabilities. Those birds had their own squadrons.
I think I'm now going to have settle into a Top Gun, Flight of the Intruder, Hot Shots, Behind Enemy Lines & Top gun Maverick movie session
I served in VA-65....thank you so much in putting this excellent video together!!
I worked for Grumman Aerospace for 20+ years on the A-6 assembly line in Calverton, New York. Some A-6's had been overhauled up to 3 times ! it was built to take a beating and the old ones came in with years of battle damage showing end to end. The Bomb Squad had to called in one day when a worker found a live 37.mm A/A round still lodged in the tail ! One of aviation's great aircraft. It was a sad day when the last one left the plant.
honestly ye the intruder is a very beautiful plane and i have no idea who would call the A-6 or the A-10 ugly
One of my favorite air planes
One of, if not the best navy movie, Flight of the Intruder. :)
The A-6 Intruder is the superior Attack Aircraft
Launch the Intruder!
Well done and every interesting and thanks for taking the time to make it. Oh, and a BIG thumbs up.
I fuckin love the Intruder. When I was something like 6 years old I got this video about life on an aircraft carrier and it began a lifelong adoration of both the A6 and the F-14. Folding wings just looks sexy on a carrier deck.
Slipping Hot Shots in, is perfection
I'm a New Yorker and Grumman built is best built
Republic is outstanding too.
Nah fam. Boeing all the way.
If the a-6 wasn't leaking you knew there was a problem
Lockheed
a fellow new yorker
Grew up in VA Beach, big Navy town. Dad worked at NARF mainly on the A6 . He believed it was the workhorse of the Carrier aircraft, extremely tough and reliable.
2:02 Nothing like having a serious documentary with some hot shots footage 😆
Played a lot of "Flight of the Intruder" MS-DOS game as a kid, loved it and thought it was a really cool looking plane.
Always appreciate the updates, love the Prowler.
Ahhh the flying tadpole. I always loved this plane and its phenomenal bomb load.
YES!!! The tadpole deserves more recognition
One of my dad's favorite movies, Johnny. Always good to see the Tadpole getting some love!
5:58 guy with a musket? and hitting a subsonic jet lol, thats like simo hayha level
One of my favorite aircraft, it's role was specifically designed. Good video and the A6 didn't get the glamor it deserves.
I highly recommend reading the book. It's a real page turner.
I love this jet. Mainly because of the game with the same title as the movie. It was game for the Amiga computer.
Whew, I'n not going nuts. I think. Thanks for the repost Johnny, catch ya on the next one.
Keep up the good work. More vids like this would be nice.
The A-6 was a badass jet!
Grumman has such a long history manufacturing aircraft for the US Navy.
I remember those tadpoles, I was an powerplants mechanic for the A6 and the prowler. Loved the engine hated the safety wire.
The side by side seating was an advantage psychologically for long missions. Made crew members feel less isolated.
Thanks for the blast from the past. And nice to see the Green Goblin without his mask. 😁
My uncle was a master chief and jet mechanic on the U.S.S. Roosevelt for 24 years. The intruder is what he specialized in. He was also in charge of a hanger in Norfolk, Virginia naval base. Yeah he was a expert and knew his shit.
Which _Roosevelt:_ *_FDR_* CV-42 (Midway class) - or - *_TR_* CVN-71 (Nimitz class) ?
@@oubrioko CVN-71 Theodore Roosevelt. Nimitz class.
@@lckgilmo43 Ah, awesome. Your uncle served on a good ship, perhaps one of the most notable ships of the class. Cheers
Love the aircraft and flight of the intruder was also a top film
Just saw a bunch of them on deck on the last landing scene of topgun1.
Luv and Peace.
I’ve always found the A6 to be absolutely Beautiful.
Awesome vid again Johnny.. alllllrighhhnt!
Always liked the look of the Powlers as a kid. Just something about them, along with the E-111.
(To my knowledge,) It's notable that the A-6 Intruder was one of the few military jets America did not sell to any other nation.
That is correct.
The jet was a cool 1
I love the film for the fact that its portrayed the A-6 very well for the most part on what it could do
We sometimes called the A6 ugly and the EA6B double ugly. It was also called the buffalo.
I suggest videos on the:
Springfield 1903
Lee-Enfield
Spear
Pike
Winchester
Whip
Brown Bess
Long Rifle
Flight of the Intruder is my most favorite movie of all time, I guess the bad reviews from the 1990s were because back then the Vietnam war was still viewed very negatively.
Love the Intruder!
Flight of the Intruder was a good flick but it just didn't do the book justice. I would have loved to see more Jake Grafton movies.
Sir how are you i hope u will fine Glad to see you back with another good video
I'm well thanks for watching and checking in 🙏
Super underrated channel!
VA- 85 1981 -1982.
I read the book before seeing the movie and thought both were very good. Then there was also the EA-6 what we called the station wagon. I'm not sure what was the louder aircraft on the deck the AV-8, A-6, or the F-4 or F-14. Knew a few guys that flew the A-6 and they were some of the only ones I knew that graduated TPS and became space shuttle pilots for NASA. Thanks to all now serving, those who have, and those who will I the future. FLY NAVY!!!
Love the A6 ❤️
I love this movie. 3rd gen navy.
Kudos for showing the most accurate movie *Hotshots!*
First time I saw this bird I thought it looked like a canary. When we decommissioned VA-196, I didn't realize how much my perception of this bird had changed.
actually one of my fav aircrafts
One of my old LPOs was an A-6 plane captain.
Ayy back at it again
The book Flight of the intruder will forever be the first time I became aware of "strawberry nipples" as a young boy.
Yep.
isn't it in "The Intruders" (chornological sequel to "Flight Of The Intruder") ?! Sounds like a Flap LeBeau quote ;)
" Fighters make movies, Bombers make history."
Thank you Mr Crafton
My dad was a USN carrier aviator for nearly four decades. He was NOT an attack pilot. He always told us that you could not be NORMAL and fly attack aircraft, and IRON TADPOLE were LESS normal than most.
tough Little Nut ... Thankyou Grumman !!!