I'll never forget my dad's stories about this and the A-3D. He joined the Navy in 1960 and he was in his first operational S2 squadron when the Cuban missile crisis occurred and he was lucky or unlucky enough to take part in that. RIP Dad
We must have been at Key West naval base at the same time. My dads s2 squadron was there during the Cuban missile crisis. We were transferred to Road Island when it was over. Small world.
@@ashsurfs holy shit yeah it is! I wasn't born until 1979, my father who was a chief got himself a fine looking second class aviation store keeper petty officer for a filly. Lol. I believe my dad's last flight squadron was with VAQ 33 and I can't remember. I think they transferred back to key West after he flew with them out of Norfolk. I was born in the Portsmouth naval ship hospital down in Virginia. I want to say my dad was on the USS lake Champlain during that deployment but he might have been flying off base. I've got his flight jacket with all the patches that he got from the squadrons he flew with and then a bunch of weird patches from a couple of Canadian squadrons and some shit in Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam. He was a combat pilot in Vietnam and I know he was on the ground too because of some of his certificates and things. But until my mom dies and I can get a copy of his DD214, I'm not going to know exactly what the hell he did. I did an interview with him a couple years ago when I was at college about the Vietnam war. I interviewed him and I interviewed my father-in-law who is a combat vet. He was 105 mm howitzer crewman. And I compared their experiences in the war as someone who had been drafted like my father-in-law was or as someone who had joined up like my dad did before Vietnam ever started. And when I was writing that paper that was asking him about a bunch of the stuff that I vividly remembered him telling me when I was little. And the things he told me when I was interviewing him were completely different . And he's dead now but I wonder if looking into the little bit that I could if he wasn't allowed to talk about some of the stuff he did. I know some of the shit he did bother him but I wonder if he wasn't allowed to talk about some of it so he made up lies instead and then he just got them mixed up. If your old man is still around tell him I said thanks for his service and give him hug
@@ashsurfs All right so you have to ask your father if he knew a guy named Richard Wayne French. He would have been a probably second class or maybe third class aviation electronics technician at that point I think. Because I know he went up to Rhode Island after he got done on that first deployment he went to NAS Newport News I believe. 😂👍🤯
I had the great fortune of flying an S-2T Turbo Tracker operated by Cal Fire. The S-2T was powered by the Garrett/Honeywell TPE331-14 turboprop. The Cal Fire crews loved the aircraft as it had excellent climb performance for box-canyon situations.
I went school to be an aircraft mechanic in Boston in the early 90s, and hooked up with a group that flew an S2-F (stoof) C1-A trader. What a fun plane to work on. She definitely was not anything to look at, but man, did I have a ton of fun going to airshows and fixing everything that broke on the circuit. Somewhere out there, there is a newspaper with a front page picture of a hungover me sleeping on the top of the wing in the middle of an airshow in Sherbrook, Canada becuase we all stayed up until 5AM playing poker and drinking with the US F-15 West Coast demonstration flight team. Here's to you, 136788. You were a fun girl.
@@jehoiakimelidoronila5450 : C1-A is a high wing, so probably 10' or so from the ground. I was up there adding oil to the engines (1 10 gallon tank per engine IIRC), and kind of dozed off at ~8:30 am and didn't wake up until around 10 or so, surrounded by airshow peeps staring at me and laughing. I guess I snored a bit.
@@fallenhobbit6554 I worked on them from 1980-84 on VS 816 & VC 851 SQDNS of the Royal Australian Navy RAN. As I read the question of the how high the wing was I came up with the exact same answer of about 10' OH & S was not observed as much then and when you had a few younger sailors unsupervised, there was bound to be a bit of skylarking ( practical jokes, messing around) I remember one Aircraft Wash (while ashore) in which 1 junior sailor was blown off the wing by 1 on the ground using the fire hose during the wash. Lucky that he only suffered a few abrasions and extensive bruises but the look on his face as he fell was a thing that sticks in your mind.
My dad was an airframe tech in the Royal Canadian Navy and worked on these aircraft. You could never miss them when they flew over Halifax.....there's a picture of a Tracker that flew too low and inbedded a 6 inch tree trunk in the wing...made it safely back to Shearwater...it was a beast
The Stoofs operated out of MCAS Futemna when I was there in '73. Never would confuse the powerful prop noise with anything else operated by the Marines. Thanks for the look back and a nostalgic memory at least for me about my time on Okinawa.
One picture of the CDF fire fighting tanker without any explanation? They have converted several dozen S2 trackers into type II tankers with turbine engines. These are stationed at CDF bases in about a dozen regional airports throughout California. Each base has 3 or 4 trackers and one OV-10 Bronco which serves as an areal command platform. These bases provide very quick response to wildfires throughout the state and can be on scene dropping retardant within minutes of the report of a fire. It's an impressive operation.
My friend was flying the tracker for Cal-fire and was involved in a midair with another tracker while fighting a fire. He was one cool cat. Had a Cheshire cat grin while smoking an unfiltered camel cig. Rest in peace Larrs Stratte.
@@baomao7243 Guy was a part of my aviation connection in life. Married with children and it hit everyone hard. Happy you picked up on the grin with a cig. One cool cat.
Imagine a Marine variant S-2 with a side mounted mini gun. A mini Spooky. Cool plane. I'm friends with a guy who flew the S-3 Viking, he loved flying those planes and said the S-3 was super fine aircraft. He retired a Captain and is one of the nicest guys I know. I never flew, but served on a carrier and cruiser and rode on a Seahawk helicopter from a carrier to a cruiser deck once.. it was awesome. Thanks for the ride Overlords.
I flew in S-2's and worked on S-3's....Viking was an awesome airframe...motors were flawless....most of the problems were the state of the art electronics of the time taking a beating on the cat's and traps...
CALFIRE uses the S-2 for many years. The S2T (Turbine engines) is fantastic and fast. I miss the rotary engine sound but also enjoy the Turbine sound. I live where I can view the Ramona Air Attack Base in San Diego County, CA where the Air Attack Supervisor in an OV-10 Bronco usually is first out followed by "Tankers" 70 and 71. IF ordered US Forest Service Helicopter "Copter" 538 responds as well as ordered Copters 9, 10 or 11 from San Diego County Sheriff crewed by CALFIRE. Also a US Forest Service Sky Crane. The next Tanker resources from Hemet Air Attack Base in Riverside County Tankers 72 and 73 respond. In the height of fire season in the fall these are never enough. Long live the S-2. US Forest Service Division Chief (Ret.)
The sound of the engines of this plane for me is unmistakable and unforgettable. This plane for me is almost like a family person. I grew up in the Italian air bases of Catania and Naples because my father was a pilot of the 41st Stormo and he flew these planes between 1959 and 1969. They were looking for Soviet submarines in the Mediterranean. My father told me that once they threw a sonobuoy so close to a Soviet submarine that they almost heard the voices of the crew.
the sound of the engines; agree it was cool, all these decades later the sound of Calfire's turbo trackers hold a special place too. Like the OV-10's it makes me smile that those old war horses of my childhood are out there protecting us and excelling at it.
I was on USS Kitty Hawk when we launched the last STOOF squadrons from a carrier in 1074. It was a sad day for me since it at and its Curtiss Wright 1820 engine had always been a favorite of mine.
My first a/c when I joined the Navy. Made two deployments onboard USS Kitty Hawk CV-63 in the early 70’s as the non-acoustic operator Naval Aircrewman. Best years of my life and 28 year Naval career.
I flew as a #3 MAD, ECM, radar operator in the S2 D & E MODELS IN VS35 (VS37’s sister squadron) between 1966 & 1969. This includes 63 combat missions in the Tonkin Gulf on the USS Hornet (CVS-12) before being transferred. The only S2 shot down (NV12) spoken of in this video came from my squadron. The crew wasn’t recovered until the early 2000’s, I believe. It was a great aircraft, but the speed and advances of nuclear submarines quickly made the Stoof obsolete. The S3 recovered our ability to track submarines, but most of my former shipmates missed the roar of those R1820 engines!
My dad flew Stoofs for 14 years, and commanded VS-33, The Fabulous screw birds in the mid-70s. He then went on to fly the S3, and put in time in nearly every ASW platform that flew in the Navy. Before retiring after 47 years. The stoofs have been re-engined with turbine engines and are still flying today as fire cats
@@jeromedschmidtz1177 this would have been 1973? He later went on to be XO and Navigator of Kitty Hawk when she was in the shipyard. I would bet, that, being on a spruance class myself with battle group Charlie we steamed by you in early 85 to take over that station for a little while.
I remember my first hours on liberty in Singapore and already there were Screwbirds stickers all over town in the most unlikely places, including the dashboard of the taxi we were in! They must brief a plan of attack before the first liberty boat departs the carrier and load their people with these stickers. I could not believe it.
What great memories! Back in August of 1971, I was in my last week of ADR “A” school at NATTC Memphis, TN. In the back of the A schools was a small boneyard of aircraft. With my instructor, I climbed into the cockpit of an S2 tracker and l learned how to start up the port R1820 reciprocating engine. What an exciting experience. After graduation from ADR A school, I was assigned to VP 60 at NAS Glenview with the SP2H Neptunes. Their I worked on the R3350-32WA engines eventually becoming a Flight Crew Plane Captain. If I were to get into a flight worthy SP2H today, I still remember how to start up the R3350. What a joy!….Mark
My dad passed away this past February. At his memorial service, there was a photo of the carrier he served on: The Randolph "15." What a surprise to see that # on a flight deck in this video! (He served just after Korea.)
My Father was on the Randolph between Feb 1957 to Nov 1961. I have folders of U.S.S. Randolph pictures sea schedules, etc. Nice seeing someone else connected to the Randolph. Stay well.
My dad John L Kent, was a Naval Aviator, first flying P2-V Neptune's then transitioning to S2-F's. He was CO of VS30 and VS24. We too were living at Trumbo Point, Key West during the Cuban missile crises. He died in 2016.
It really brings back memories. While I was stationed in Lakehurst New Jersey from 1977 to 1981. We had one of these on our base. I was an aviation electrician and I worked on it and actually got to fly in it once.
I was a Seat 4 Julie/Jez on S-2Es out of NAS Alameda. Not as glamorous as the jets, but the S-2E was an excellent plane and fun in which to be a crew member. Great memories include the low altitude MAD runs, ship rigging (before the days of satellite & GPS monitoring), rocket runs, and the great in-flight box lunches. Good times.
@@leftseat30 Yes, the word "stoof" was distinct and not very common, so I adopted it in various forms for my online handles/IDs, starting with CompuServe, Prodigy, AOL, etc. In my many years online, I have crossed paths with only one other "stoof". He was an S-2 pilot from an East Coast squadron.
I grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas. The old S2s were always circling overhead, training up multiengine pilots for the Navy. Miss the sound of those recips flying overhead.
Conair Aviation in Canada, converted a lot of these to turbo-prop fire tankers, which ended up working in France for the Securite Civile. I got to do a little bit of work on them, they are a SOLID airframe, very impressive. It was good to keep them flying after their service life with the military had ended.
Solid beyond imagination. Tanker 93 landed short at Fortuna and damaged its main gear. Repaired and flying again. I think it damaged the runway more than the aircraft. 😂
I have roughly 1000 hours in s-2D/E/and /G's. 3 tours in Vietnam, although one of those tours was flying a variant of the S-2 that this video didn't mention - the C-1A Trader. However, the video has several clips of C-1s. Thanks for the memories. Oh - BTW, I also have about 1600 hours in the S-3 and over 450 arrested landings...
My brother was stationed in CC, Texas and was a mechanic on this aircraft. Not sure about this but understood that the engine had enough power that it could take off with only single engine if necessary. Really enjoyed the video.
As a young pilot in the Canadian Air Force I had the pleasure of riding along with VU-33 on many Sugar Two Fox flights. Radial engines are sorely missed.
@@louisbabycos106 Relative to what? Are you saying the the 1950s soviet subs who could travel for thousands of miles and launch missiles had no ability to detect overhead aircraft, which were a hazard to subs since WWII? What are you defending here?
Brings back memories with VT-31 NAS Corpus. We had a mix of TS-2A's and US-2B's. I will always remember the smoke and flames when those Wright Cyclones came to life. Jets are for kids.
Thanks for this. The RAN had S2Es, from '67, replaced with Gs due to a hanger fire. They were retired in the early '80s due to the Fed Govt decision to end Navy fixed wing platforms. I got to fly one for 10 minutes, around 1981, amazing handling. Appreciate that radial grumbly sound, the turbo props just don't cut it (for sound).
@@Iwishiwasflying Yes, that combo worked well. The only problem with the A4s, in the latter stages, was the "thump" on landing, which weakened an old flight deck. The Trackers were heavier, but they had a softer landing than the A4s.
I was in the Navy when the last reciprocating engined aircraft were retired, circa 1974. Recip engine mechanics became jet engine mechs. Around the same time the last of the enlisted Navy pilots were ushered out. When I got out of the Navy in 1977 I was hired at the company that built the APUs for the S-3 Viking. Williams International who also builds the engines for the Tomahawk and ALCM Cruise missiles and other small jet ventures. I was the first employee hired there that worked on their product in the field.
I worked for Hawker de Havilland Aust. and these were housed in one of the hangars. Engine division looked after the R1820's, a lovely aircraft with an enviable record.
The Canadian military ended up with a bunch of these back in the 70s. I lived near a military base on the east coast. These little aircraft were unbelievably loud, much louder than the Canadair Argus they replaced, which had twice as many engines and was three times as big
We had a DeHavilland tracker at BCIT aerospace for a few years, it was very well built and lots of fun to work on with those big round engines & folding wings. Some trackers went to Conair and were converted into Firecats and Turbo Firecats (PT6-67 engines)
@@nspro931 Curtiss-Wright engines are loud! I remember them flying over the Texas coast up into the 1980s. They would be very high but still clearly audible. At that altitude they seemed slow.
Worked on the CP121 Tracker in Summerside PEI for four years. Good old machine and not too hard to work on, actually reasonably easy. Throttle quadrant was a bit of a bitch, but doable.
I remember the HMAS Melbourne pulled into NAS North Island and loaded up with several dozen S-2's back in '76. All that was left for us was our trusty C-1 COD.
I didn't join until 1979 but in 1976 there was a hanger fire at HMAS Albatross. As a result of this fire a hanger with 12 tracker suffered 6 total losses when half the hanger roof collapsed, 4 beyond repair and there was definitely ONE Tracker saved possibly TWO. As I said this was before my time but to get the 1 or 2 flying again there was canabilisation of several aircraft. I remember when I started working on Trackers in 1980 an aircraft (or was it 2, no I think it was only 1 ???) had a large Pheniox painted on the tailplane to signify that it had arisen from the ashes.
These S-2F (STOOF’S) were the Main Aircraft we had on base at Quonset Point R.I. Naval Air Station in the late 60s and early 70s, where the Carriers WASP & INTREPID was docked at the time. Always liked hearing them Radial engines Crackling on takeoff during them cold clear days..!! Last time I saw Any of them was going through Mather CA in 2000, they were all with CAL Fire then and re-engined with Turboprops by then. 😎
I was fortunate enough to have been assigned to VRC-40 and then the USS Nimitz working and flying the cargo version of the Stoof. The C-1a Trader was a really fun and tough bird.
I was on the Nimitz from '80-'84 and remember watching the CODs take off. They were the only planes that we had that could take off from the deck without the catapult.
My dad was an electrical fitter on S2s in the Australian navy. The HARS Aviation Museum in New South Wales has one in flying condition (they also have the only flying Constellation in the world, and John Travolta’s Boeing 707).
You are right about the HARS Aviation Museum at Albion Park Rail NSW. It has a stunning collection of over 50 civil and military aircraft. Many have been restored to flying condition by their huge band of volunteers, many with extensive experience in the aviation sector. They have regular weekends that the aircraft are flown.
I worked on the C-1A, cargo version of the S-2. The Navy used those right up through the mid-80s. I believe they were one of the last, if not the last, planes on carrier deployment to use avgas.
My father, Commander Robert Lengel, flew both Tracker and rotorcraft in the 1950s and was involved in developing most of the Navy's anti-submarine warfare tactics.
I would love to see you do a film om the Canadian "Argus." It was the ultimate submarine hunter of the cold war. It was a four engine plane with enough endurance to fly 30 hours or from Nova Scotia to England and return non-stop. It was armed with bombs, torpedoes, MAD boom, radar Leigh Light, radio receivers and even a sniffer for diesel smoke to detect where a sub had recharged its batteries.
My late father flew the transport version of this plane in the early 60s at the end of his 25 year Naval career 23 as a pilot passed at 97 years old salute to ya pop
Thank you for that video. I have a strange relationship with that plane. As I was growing up on the Jersey Shore we would see blimps flying up and down the coast from Lakehurst NAS then one summer they were gone and we'd see these little planes instead which turned out to be the S2Fs also out of Lakehurst. In 1958 I got a touch it and see it on Armed Forces day at Lakehurst. In 1968 I flew in the passenger version from San Francisco to a carrier coming back from Nam and finally in 1980 or 81 a neat company just outside the fence at Davis-Mon was taking planes, rebuilding them and selling them to the civilian market. They had one they just finished, an S2F and wanted $54,000 for it. A firend was trying to get a few people together to buy it but I had just invested all my cash in a new business and just didn't have the cash.
I get the impression that the chap behind Dark 5 (and the other "Dark" channels) just decided, 'you know what? planes are rad. I'm going to make another channel just for planes and how rad they are.' And here we are, and I'm very happy about it.
There used to be a small fleet of Trackers at my local airport, purchased by a private owner with the intention to turn them into firefighting aircraft. They all flew in, using a single pair of working engines but then sat there. I got to have a look in one and take photos, but unfortunately I never saw them fly. There was also two VERY OLD box trailers full of spare parts. They ended up being sold, not sure where to or for what purpose, but I believe one was given to the local military museum (also located in the airport, which was a former RAAF training base).
You're talking about Marsh Aviation in Mesa. All those aircraft were highly corroded and unfit to ever fly again. That owner knew it, and didn't care either. I watched them perform illegal repairs and slather airframes in bondo all purpose putty to hide it. I tried to warn Calfire, but they were dumb enough to buy some anyway, which I knew were doomed to crash, and they did. The owner of Marsh aviation later went to prison for selling secret tech to our enemies, serves him right, he had blood on his hands.
An awesome video (as usual)... just want to point out that your helicopter shots were actually a SH-3 Sea King... I worked them back in 74-78. Keep up your great work...
I am from Argentina, here the navy still has an s-2 in active service it's an upgraded s-2t turbo tracker. I saw it a year ago, such a beatiful aircraft.
I was a newly minted Jet Mech and received orders to VS-37 in 1976. I got to spend a few months with the Stoof in the Line Division while awaiting FAM training on the S3. I rode brakes on the last bird when we passed in review during the S2 retirement ceremony.
You were wrong about the last one being retired in 1980. We had one on our base at Naval Air Engineering Center, Lakehurst, NJ and it was still there active when I left in December 1981. I know because I worked on this aircraft.
In the early to mid 1970's I worked on the S-2G. As part of VS-24, we were the last American east coast squadron to deploy with the S-2 between fall of 1974 and spring of 1975. The "Stoof" (as it was loving called) still holds a soft spot in my heart! The S-2 spawned 2 further variants: the C-1 COD (Carrier Onboard Delivery) transport and the "Willy Fud," the forerunner of the E-2 Hawkeye carrier EW aircraft. Interesting side note, the S-2 could do a deck-run takeoff, as could the early C-1's. I watched (and won a $10 bet) as a C-1 did this the day before we pulled back into Mayport, Florida, in the spring of 1975.
What surprised me in this video was that sonobuoys have been used since at least the mid 50's. There must be a staggering amount of these things lying on the seabed.
Call me crazy but one of my favorite Navy aircraft was the A-6 Intruder. To me a was a beautifully designed and built aircraft. It was also a workhorse and performed its mission very well. Really glad I got to be a part of that era as there were many really cool aircraft that took pilots with really good skills as they didn’t rely on computers to fly the aircraft like todays aircraft do.
I flew S 2C type out of Cubi Point Philippines. It was a fine aircraft. Slow but reliable, strong , and easy to trap aboard ship.we lost one at night, during a tremendous storm. The plane lost all electrical systems including battery power, then lost it's port engine. Unable to overcome the adverse yaw, it could not maintain controlled flight. The aircraft hit the water inverted, at over 200 knots, killing all four crew. Still, some times cry about that night these decades later.
Cal Fire’s S-2T (turboprop) conversion program has resulted in a phenomenal aircraft platform for aerial firefighting. S-2 air tankers are fast to launch, high speed, and very maneuverable. I’m always impressed when I get to see them diving to match mountain slopes, dropping retardant and then rolling out to go reload.
Argentina's trackers had some action during 1982. Legend is that a retired US technician living in South Corea was hired to recommission the electromechanical computers onboard. Commercial spectrum analyzers were adapted to increase detection capabilities. At least one target was attacked, with no confirmation of having a hit.
Don't why you tagged these as "strange." Good solid AC with a great history, and still used for firefighting. USN, 68-74, ETR-2, NAS Miramar, 70-74, I maintained GCA RADAR and TACAN. There were S2 variants at North Island, San Diego, and they used to come over to Miramar for GCA approach practice and touch and go's. Miramar had a painted simulated carrier deck on one runway.
There was a whole fleet of these modified for firefighting in BC. Abbottsford's (CYXX) ConAir is internationally know as the biggest firefighter/waterbombers outfit. Their biggest mods were on these old Trackers. Cheers from the Pacific West Coast of Canada.
I got a chance to fly the ES2D out of PMRF Barking sands on Kauai during the 1979 - 1981 time. It was a great airplane to fly and gave me quite a few stories to tell.
My dad was in the Navy Reserve and flew as an S 2 aircrew man. They liked going of Conus. Cheap high quality booze and many hiding places on the Stoof to bring back more than your allowed 1 gallon duty free.
When I was a junior enlisted, in the late 70s, serving on USS Nimitz, I would spend free time watching the Stoofs do carrier quals while we operated along the East Coast. They could still do non-catapult launches. They would waddle down the angled deck and seem to stop to check the water then hop up and trundle into the air. The Navy had quit carrying aircraft gasoline aboard ships so there were no S-2s or C-2s deploying. An appropriate description of these great planes were, two T-28s flying in formation with a dumpster.
Thank you for the video! When i was growing up, Dad would take us sailing around in San Diego Bay, The S2s where always flying approaches to North Island. Later, their replacement the S3 did the same. The S2 airframe was modified to provide for the rotating dome and was designated the carrier borne E2. The current variant, the E2D, provides excellent airborne early warning and traffic control services to the Fleet. Therefore, the design still provides great service.
After completing advanced prop training and carrier qualifications in the T-28, I transitioned to the S-2 for multi-engine training. That was like going from a sports car to a driving a dump truck. The plane was ugly and lethargic. It did fly well on one engine which I found out when we got a sump light on #2. Two friends died during training with the S-2. One had a wing burn off at low altitude and the other dribbled off the end of the carrier when an engine failed during a free deck launch (no catapult). I had to wait until I graduated to the P-3 before I flew a real airplane again. Now that was a beautiful aircraft with plenty of power and great maneuverability.
![ร้อยพ่อพันแม่ - WanMai [Official MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/XY2pNYASEbg/mqdefault.jpg)
I'll never forget my dad's stories about this and the A-3D. He joined the Navy in 1960 and he was in his first operational S2 squadron when the Cuban missile crisis occurred and he was lucky or unlucky enough to take part in that. RIP Dad
We must have been at Key West naval base at the same time. My dads s2 squadron was there during the Cuban missile crisis. We were transferred to Road Island when it was over. Small world.
Thanks for sharing this part of both of your lives, and for your father's service to our nation.
The guy above you had a father that flew the same plane, at the same time, in the same place.
They may have been buddies. It is a small world..
@@ashsurfs holy shit yeah it is! I wasn't born until 1979, my father who was a chief got himself a fine looking second class aviation store keeper petty officer for a filly. Lol. I believe my dad's last flight squadron was with VAQ 33 and I can't remember. I think they transferred back to key West after he flew with them out of Norfolk. I was born in the Portsmouth naval ship hospital down in Virginia. I want to say my dad was on the USS lake Champlain during that deployment but he might have been flying off base. I've got his flight jacket with all the patches that he got from the squadrons he flew with and then a bunch of weird patches from a couple of Canadian squadrons and some shit in Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam. He was a combat pilot in Vietnam and I know he was on the ground too because of some of his certificates and things. But until my mom dies and I can get a copy of his DD214, I'm not going to know exactly what the hell he did. I did an interview with him a couple years ago when I was at college about the Vietnam war. I interviewed him and I interviewed my father-in-law who is a combat vet. He was 105 mm howitzer crewman. And I compared their experiences in the war as someone who had been drafted like my father-in-law was or as someone who had joined up like my dad did before Vietnam ever started. And when I was writing that paper that was asking him about a bunch of the stuff that I vividly remembered him telling me when I was little. And the things he told me when I was interviewing him were completely different . And he's dead now but I wonder if looking into the little bit that I could if he wasn't allowed to talk about some of the stuff he did. I know some of the shit he did bother him but I wonder if he wasn't allowed to talk about some of it so he made up lies instead and then he just got them mixed up. If your old man is still around tell him I said thanks for his service and give him hug
@@ashsurfs All right so you have to ask your father if he knew a guy named Richard Wayne French. He would have been a probably second class or maybe third class aviation electronics technician at that point I think. Because I know he went up to Rhode Island after he got done on that first deployment he went to NAS Newport News I believe. 😂👍🤯
You guys are psychic, this is the second time I started looking into an airframe and you guys made a video on it within a week
I had the great fortune of flying an S-2T Turbo Tracker operated by Cal Fire. The S-2T was powered by the Garrett/Honeywell TPE331-14 turboprop. The Cal Fire crews loved the aircraft as it had excellent climb performance for box-canyon situations.
Love watching the S2 put in work at CalFire. Amazing aircraft.
R.I.P. Lars Stratte
It was also developed into the Conair Firecat
Unfortunately ive seen them(along with many in ca.)in action up pretty close.
Also also what's amazing is how fast they jump into action.
I went school to be an aircraft mechanic in Boston in the early 90s, and hooked up with a group that flew an S2-F (stoof) C1-A trader. What a fun plane to work on. She definitely was not anything to look at, but man, did I have a ton of fun going to airshows and fixing everything that broke on the circuit.
Somewhere out there, there is a newspaper with a front page picture of a hungover me sleeping on the top of the wing in the middle of an airshow in Sherbrook, Canada becuase we all stayed up until 5AM playing poker and drinking with the US F-15 West Coast demonstration flight team. Here's to you, 136788. You were a fun girl.
How high the wing was that you slept in, if I may ask?
@@jehoiakimelidoronila5450 : C1-A is a high wing, so probably 10' or so from the ground. I was up there adding oil to the engines (1 10 gallon tank per engine IIRC), and kind of dozed off at ~8:30 am and didn't wake up until around 10 or so, surrounded by airshow peeps staring at me and laughing. I guess I snored a bit.
Suspiciously specific.....
@@fallenhobbit6554 gfy
@@fallenhobbit6554
I worked on them from 1980-84 on VS 816 & VC 851 SQDNS of the Royal Australian Navy RAN.
As I read the question of the how high the wing was I came up with the exact same answer of about 10'
OH & S was not observed as much then and when you had a few younger sailors unsupervised, there was bound to be a bit of skylarking ( practical jokes, messing around)
I remember one Aircraft Wash (while ashore) in which 1 junior sailor was blown off the wing by 1 on the ground using the fire hose during the wash.
Lucky that he only suffered a few abrasions and extensive bruises but the look on his face as he fell was a thing that sticks in your mind.
My dad was an airframe tech in the Royal Canadian Navy and worked on these aircraft. You could never miss them when they flew over Halifax.....there's a picture of a Tracker that flew too low and inbedded a 6 inch tree trunk in the wing...made it safely back to Shearwater...it was a beast
Grumman built a stout bird, thats for sure.
The Stoofs operated out of MCAS Futemna when I was there in '73. Never would confuse the powerful prop noise with anything else operated by the Marines. Thanks for the look back and a nostalgic memory at least for me about my time on Okinawa.
One picture of the CDF fire fighting tanker without any explanation? They have converted several dozen S2 trackers into type II tankers with turbine engines. These are stationed at CDF bases in about a dozen regional airports throughout California. Each base has 3 or 4 trackers and one OV-10 Bronco which serves as an areal command platform. These bases provide very quick response to wildfires throughout the state and can be on scene dropping retardant within minutes of the report of a fire. It's an impressive operation.
Cal-Fire has a fleet of S-2s. They do great work on brush fires
R.I.P. Lars Stratte
S-2T, powered by PT6A-67 turboprops.
heckuva bird.
My friend was flying the tracker for Cal-fire and was involved in a midair with another tracker while fighting a fire. He was one cool cat. Had a Cheshire cat grin while smoking an unfiltered camel cig. Rest in peace Larrs Stratte.
Unfiltered Camel cig says it all
@@baomao7243 Guy was a part of my aviation connection in life. Married with children and it hit everyone hard. Happy you picked up on the grin with a cig. One cool cat.
Imagine a Marine variant S-2 with a side mounted mini gun. A mini Spooky. Cool plane. I'm friends with a guy who flew the S-3 Viking, he loved flying those planes and said the S-3 was super fine aircraft. He retired a Captain and is one of the nicest guys I know. I never flew, but served on a carrier and cruiser and rode on a Seahawk helicopter from a carrier to a cruiser deck once.. it was awesome. Thanks for the ride Overlords.
I flew in S-2's and worked on S-3's....Viking was an awesome airframe...motors were flawless....most of the problems were the state of the art electronics of the time taking a beating on the cat's and traps...
Ah, the Hoovers. Retired far too early,.
@@gordonbrown5860 Maintenance is still my entire existence on one thing or another.
@@toomanyuserids Vacuum power. FOD walkdown required.
@@TheFlutecart they called them Hoover's for reason!
Growing up across the canyon from NAS Miramar in the 60s was a daily air show of the best aircraft ever.
CALFIRE uses the S-2 for many years. The S2T (Turbine engines) is fantastic and fast. I miss the rotary engine sound but also enjoy the Turbine sound. I live where I can view the Ramona Air Attack Base in San Diego County, CA where the Air Attack Supervisor in an OV-10 Bronco usually is first out followed by "Tankers" 70 and 71. IF ordered US Forest Service Helicopter "Copter" 538 responds as well as ordered Copters 9, 10 or 11 from San Diego County Sheriff crewed by CALFIRE. Also a US Forest Service Sky Crane. The next Tanker resources from Hemet Air Attack Base in Riverside County Tankers 72 and 73 respond. In the height of fire season in the fall these are never enough. Long live the S-2. US Forest Service Division Chief (Ret.)
The sound of the engines of this plane for me is unmistakable and unforgettable. This plane for me is almost like a family person. I grew up in the Italian air bases of Catania and Naples because my father was a pilot of the 41st Stormo and he flew these planes between 1959 and 1969. They were looking for Soviet submarines in the Mediterranean. My father told me that once they threw a sonobuoy so close to a Soviet submarine that they almost heard the voices of the crew.
the sound of the engines; agree it was cool, all these decades later the sound of Calfire's turbo trackers hold a special place too. Like the OV-10's it makes me smile that those old war horses of my childhood are out there protecting us and excelling at it.
@@christophers7753 BTW the sound I remember is the one of the Wright radial piston engines version.
They upgraded the fire fighting S2 and now they sound like a jet plane.
You forgot various COD Versions
@@olddog103 Yep. The C-1 Trader. There was also an early AWACS version the E-1 Tracer, also called "the Stoof with a Roof".
I was on USS Kitty Hawk when we launched the last STOOF squadrons from a carrier in 1074. It was a sad day for me since it at and its Curtiss Wright 1820 engine had always been a favorite of mine.
My last assignment in the navy was with VS-21 flying the S-2G in 1971-72. They flew off the Ticonderoga, a carrier older that I was!
My first a/c when I joined the Navy. Made two deployments onboard USS Kitty Hawk CV-63 in the early 70’s as the non-acoustic operator Naval Aircrewman. Best years of my life and 28 year Naval career.
I flew as a #3 MAD, ECM, radar operator in the S2 D & E MODELS IN VS35 (VS37’s sister squadron) between 1966 & 1969. This includes 63 combat missions in the Tonkin Gulf on the USS Hornet (CVS-12) before being transferred. The only S2 shot down (NV12) spoken of in this video came from my squadron. The crew wasn’t recovered until the early 2000’s, I believe. It was a great aircraft, but the speed and advances of nuclear submarines quickly made the Stoof obsolete. The S3 recovered our ability to track submarines, but most of my former shipmates missed the roar of those R1820 engines!
9:38 Love the shots of the radar techs/operators having a smoke while they worked with the radar.
My dad flew Stoofs for 14 years, and commanded VS-33, The Fabulous screw birds in the mid-70s. He then went on to fly the S3, and put in time in nearly every ASW platform that flew in the Navy. Before retiring after 47 years. The stoofs have been re-engined with turbine engines and are still flying today as fire cats
I remember VS-33 on the CVW-9/CV-63 cruise to Gonzo Station in '85. I was with VA-165.
@@jeromedschmidtz1177 this would have been 1973? He later went on to be XO and Navigator of Kitty Hawk when she was in the shipyard. I would bet, that, being on a spruance class myself with battle group Charlie we steamed by you in early 85 to take over that station for a little while.
My dad was in VS-33! Same timeframe, also took receipt of the S3's and even did an instructional video for the S3 ejection system.
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I remember my first hours on liberty in Singapore and already there were Screwbirds stickers all over town in the most unlikely places, including the dashboard of the taxi we were in! They must brief a plan of attack before the first liberty boat departs the carrier and load their people with these stickers. I could not believe it.
What great memories! Back in August of 1971, I was in my last week of ADR “A” school at NATTC Memphis, TN. In the back of the A schools was a small boneyard of aircraft. With my instructor, I climbed into the cockpit of an S2 tracker and l learned how to start up the port R1820 reciprocating engine. What an exciting experience. After graduation from ADR A school, I was assigned to VP 60 at NAS Glenview with the SP2H Neptunes. Their I worked on the R3350-32WA engines eventually becoming a Flight Crew Plane Captain. If I were to get into a flight worthy SP2H today, I still remember how to start up the R3350. What a joy!….Mark
Yes, I love this, my father was a part of an anti sub squadron on board the HMCS Bonnaventure, he was a radio navigator in the Grumman Tracker.
We had them on the carrier USS Constellation and I remember them launching by running the deck to take off with no catapult. Great old piston bird.
My dad passed away this past February. At his memorial service, there was a photo of the carrier he served on: The Randolph "15." What a surprise to see that # on a flight deck in this video!
(He served just after Korea.)
My Father was on the Randolph between Feb 1957 to Nov 1961. I have folders of U.S.S. Randolph pictures sea schedules, etc. Nice seeing someone else connected to the Randolph. Stay well.
My dad John L Kent, was a Naval Aviator, first flying P2-V Neptune's then transitioning to S2-F's. He was CO of VS30 and VS24. We too were living at Trumbo Point, Key West during the Cuban missile crises. He died in 2016.
It really brings back memories. While I was stationed in Lakehurst New Jersey from 1977 to 1981. We had one of these on our base. I was an aviation electrician and I worked on it and actually got to fly in it once.
I was a Seat 4 Julie/Jez on S-2Es out of NAS Alameda. Not as glamorous as the jets, but the S-2E was an excellent plane and fun in which to be a crew member. Great memories include the low altitude MAD runs, ship rigging (before the days of satellite & GPS monitoring), rocket runs, and the great in-flight box lunches. Good times.
Hence your username?
@@leftseat30 Yes, the word "stoof" was distinct and not very common, so I adopted it in various forms for my online handles/IDs, starting with CompuServe, Prodigy, AOL, etc. In my many years online, I have crossed paths with only one other "stoof". He was an S-2 pilot from an East Coast squadron.
I grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas. The old S2s were always circling overhead, training up multiengine pilots for the Navy. Miss the sound of those recips flying overhead.
Conair Aviation in Canada, converted a lot of these to turbo-prop fire tankers, which ended up working in France for the Securite Civile. I got to do a little bit of work on them, they are a SOLID airframe, very impressive. It was good to keep them flying after their service life with the military had ended.
Solid beyond imagination. Tanker 93 landed short at Fortuna and damaged its main gear. Repaired and flying again. I think it damaged the runway more than the aircraft. 😂
I have roughly 1000 hours in s-2D/E/and /G's. 3 tours in Vietnam, although one of those tours was flying a variant of the S-2 that this video didn't mention - the C-1A Trader. However, the video has several clips of C-1s. Thanks for the memories. Oh - BTW, I also have about 1600 hours in the S-3 and over 450 arrested landings...
Thank you for your service.
@@TheAslakVind Thank you Sir!!
My brother was stationed in CC, Texas and was a mechanic on this aircraft. Not sure about this but understood that the engine had enough power that it could take off with only single engine if necessary. Really enjoyed the video.
Worked on these for several years, great plane. Brings back memories.
As a young pilot in the Canadian Air Force I had the pleasure of riding along with VU-33 on many Sugar Two Fox flights. Radial engines are sorely missed.
Stealthy? Those radial engines could rattle the bones out of a grave yard. Great video on the history of the s2.
Stealth is relative . Stealth is also about context of the advesary and the technology of the time .
@@louisbabycos106 Relative to what? Are you saying the the 1950s soviet subs who could travel for thousands of miles and launch missiles had no ability to detect overhead aircraft, which were a hazard to subs since WWII? What are you defending here?
Canada also used the Tracker.
Brings back memories with VT-31 NAS Corpus. We had a mix of TS-2A's and US-2B's. I will always remember the smoke and flames when those Wright Cyclones came to life. Jets are for kids.
Thanks for this. The RAN had S2Es, from '67, replaced with Gs due to a hanger fire. They were retired in the early '80s due to the Fed Govt decision to end Navy fixed wing platforms. I got to fly one for 10 minutes, around 1981, amazing handling. Appreciate that radial grumbly sound, the turbo props just don't cut it (for sound).
Also retirement of HMAS Melbourne didn’t help. S2, A4 both a great and simple combo
@@Iwishiwasflying Yes, that combo worked well. The only problem with the A4s, in the latter stages, was the "thump" on landing, which weakened an old flight deck. The Trackers were heavier, but they had a softer landing than the A4s.
I was in the Navy when the last reciprocating engined aircraft were retired, circa 1974. Recip engine mechanics became jet engine mechs. Around the same time the last of the enlisted Navy pilots were ushered out. When I got out of the Navy in 1977 I was hired at the company that built the APUs for the S-3 Viking. Williams International who also builds the engines for the Tomahawk and ALCM Cruise missiles and other small jet ventures. I was the first employee hired there that worked on their product in the field.
I always thought the blunt nose and the large windows on the S-2 would give the pilot a great view when lining up on the carrier for landing.
I worked for Hawker de Havilland Aust. and these were housed in one of the hangars. Engine division looked after the R1820's, a lovely aircraft with an enviable record.
The Canadian military ended up with a bunch of these back in the 70s. I lived near a military base on the east coast. These little aircraft were unbelievably loud, much louder than the Canadair Argus they replaced, which had twice as many engines and was three times as big
Water bombers now, saw a few in BC waiting conversion years ago.
We had a DeHavilland tracker at BCIT aerospace for a few years, it was very well built and lots of fun to work on with those big round engines & folding wings. Some trackers went to Conair and were converted into Firecats and Turbo Firecats (PT6-67 engines)
@@roye2479
The CDF uses S-2Ts that are converted to use big block Garrett turboprops.
@@rescue270 Up till the 2000s they still had the radials. Very loud airplane and commonly heard daily in summer in Ca.
@@nspro931
Curtiss-Wright engines are loud! I remember them flying over the Texas coast up into the 1980s. They would be very high but still clearly audible. At that altitude they seemed slow.
The Steam catapult was a British Royal navy invention and first used on HMS Perseus in1950, 2 years before this plane was produced.
That is what my dad flew while in the navy, he even dropped 2 pound dummy bombs on a Russian sub while on maneuvers during the Cuban missile crisis.
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Worked on the CP121 Tracker in Summerside PEI for four years. Good old machine and not too hard to work on, actually reasonably easy. Throttle quadrant was a bit of a bitch, but doable.
I remember them at Shearwater a lot.
I got to fly in one on my 21st, despite being a (Canadian) woman, will never forget it, thanks guys, wherever you might be now I'm 80...
I remember the HMAS Melbourne pulled into NAS North Island and loaded up with several dozen S-2's back in '76. All that was left for us was our trusty C-1 COD.
I didn't join until 1979 but in 1976 there was a hanger fire at HMAS Albatross. As a result of this fire a hanger with 12 tracker suffered 6 total losses when half the hanger roof collapsed, 4 beyond repair and there was definitely ONE Tracker saved possibly TWO.
As I said this was before my time but to get the 1 or 2 flying again there was canabilisation of several aircraft.
I remember when I started working on Trackers in 1980 an aircraft (or was it 2, no I think it was only 1 ???) had a large Pheniox painted on the tailplane to signify that it had arisen from the ashes.
These S-2F (STOOF’S) were the Main Aircraft we had on base at Quonset Point R.I. Naval Air Station in the late 60s and early 70s, where the Carriers WASP & INTREPID was docked at the time. Always liked hearing them Radial engines Crackling on takeoff during them cold clear days..!! Last time I saw Any of them was going through Mather CA in 2000, they were all with CAL Fire then and re-engined with Turboprops by then. 😎
I was fortunate enough to have been assigned to VRC-40 and then the USS Nimitz working and flying the cargo version of the Stoof. The C-1a Trader was a really fun and tough bird.
I was on the Nimitz from '80-'84 and remember watching the CODs take off. They were the only planes that we had that could take off from the deck without the catapult.
My dad was an electrical fitter on S2s in the Australian navy. The HARS Aviation Museum in New South Wales has one in flying condition (they also have the only flying Constellation in the world, and John Travolta’s Boeing 707).
You are right about the HARS Aviation Museum at Albion Park Rail NSW.
It has a stunning collection of over 50 civil and military aircraft.
Many have been restored to flying condition by their huge band of volunteers, many with extensive experience in the aviation sector.
They have regular weekends that the aircraft are flown.
Very educational. Some of Cal fire's S2s have been converted to turbo props. They have a distinct sound as spotting aircraft support.
All of Cal Fire’s S-2s are turboprops. They are all referred to as S-2T’s.
I worked on the C-1A, cargo version of the S-2. The Navy used those right up through the mid-80s. I believe they were one of the last, if not the last, planes on carrier deployment to use avgas.
My father flew the S2 at VR 30 1967 To 1970,He loved flying the tracker as much A 1
My father, Commander Robert Lengel, flew both Tracker and rotorcraft in the 1950s and was involved in developing most of the Navy's anti-submarine warfare tactics.
23 "turbinized" versions of this plane continue to fight forest fires in California. They work great.
Im loving how your showing the best clarity of footage possible. Excellent channel 👏
I would love to see you do a film om the Canadian "Argus." It was the ultimate submarine hunter of the cold war. It was a four engine plane with enough endurance to fly 30 hours or from Nova Scotia to England and return non-stop. It was armed with bombs, torpedoes, MAD boom, radar Leigh Light, radio receivers and even a sniffer for diesel smoke to detect where a sub had recharged its batteries.
They flew out of RCAF Station Summerside, PEI and Greenwood, NS.
My late father flew the transport version of this plane in the early 60s at the end of his 25 year Naval career 23 as a pilot passed at 97 years old salute to ya pop
Thank you for that video. I have a strange relationship with that plane. As I was growing up on the Jersey Shore we would see blimps flying up and down the coast from Lakehurst NAS then one summer they were gone and we'd see these little planes instead which turned out to be the S2Fs also out of Lakehurst. In 1958 I got a touch it and see it on Armed Forces day at Lakehurst. In 1968 I flew in the passenger version from San Francisco to a carrier coming back from Nam and finally in 1980 or 81 a neat company just outside the fence at Davis-Mon was taking planes, rebuilding them and selling them to the civilian market. They had one they just finished, an S2F and wanted $54,000 for it. A firend was trying to get a few people together to buy it but I had just invested all my cash in a new business and just didn't have the cash.
I get the impression that the chap behind Dark 5 (and the other "Dark" channels) just decided, 'you know what? planes are rad. I'm going to make another channel just for planes and how rad they are.'
And here we are, and I'm very happy about it.
There used to be a small fleet of Trackers at my local airport, purchased by a private owner with the intention to turn them into firefighting aircraft.
They all flew in, using a single pair of working engines but then sat there.
I got to have a look in one and take photos, but unfortunately I never saw them fly.
There was also two VERY OLD box trailers full of spare parts.
They ended up being sold, not sure where to or for what purpose, but I believe one was given to the local military museum (also located in the airport, which was a former RAAF training base).
You're talking about Marsh Aviation in Mesa. All those aircraft were highly corroded and unfit to ever fly again. That owner knew it, and didn't care either. I watched them perform illegal repairs and slather airframes in bondo all purpose putty to hide it. I tried to warn Calfire, but they were dumb enough to buy some anyway, which I knew were doomed to crash, and they did. The owner of Marsh aviation later went to prison for selling secret tech to our enemies, serves him right, he had blood on his hands.
An awesome video (as usual)... just want to point out that your helicopter shots were actually a SH-3 Sea King... I worked them back in 74-78. Keep up your great work...
It was a very reliable capable platform. When built it took the best of what WW2 had developed and comb bed into a workhorse for the Navy.
I had privilege of working on and crewing this magnificent aircraft with VU-33 out of CFB Comox. Great memories!
I am from Argentina, here the navy still has an s-2 in active service it's an upgraded s-2t turbo tracker.
I saw it a year ago, such a beatiful aircraft.
I was a newly minted Jet Mech and received orders to VS-37 in 1976. I got to spend a few months with the Stoof in the Line Division while awaiting FAM training on the S3. I rode brakes on the last bird when we passed in review during the S2 retirement ceremony.
I worked on the last of them at NAS Norfolk, Va.. I also worked on it's close relative the C-1 Trader.
You were wrong about the last one being retired in 1980. We had one on our base at Naval Air Engineering Center, Lakehurst, NJ and it was still there active when I left in December 1981. I know because I worked on this aircraft.
6:26 mark was an example from the Royal Australian Navy (RAN)
Still see these regularly operating on wildfire scenes. Cal Fire has a bunch. Great looking aircraft.
Good video.
The reference to the Tracer reminded me of an aircraft I had forgotten about. So thank you for that.
just love the way you present your materials .. sound sense logic with a purposeful conversation
I love how a couple of shots of the Aussie aircraft snuck in there.
In the early to mid 1970's I worked on the S-2G. As part of VS-24, we were the last American east coast squadron to deploy with the S-2 between fall of 1974 and spring of 1975. The "Stoof" (as it was loving called) still holds a soft spot in my heart! The S-2 spawned 2 further variants: the C-1 COD (Carrier Onboard Delivery) transport and the "Willy Fud," the forerunner of the E-2 Hawkeye carrier EW aircraft. Interesting side note, the S-2 could do a deck-run takeoff, as could the early C-1's. I watched (and won a $10 bet) as a C-1 did this the day before we pulled back into Mayport, Florida, in the spring of 1975.
What surprised me in this video was that sonobuoys have been used since at least the mid 50's. There must be a staggering amount of these things lying on the seabed.
Great video👍
The Royal Australian Navy added several of these to their Fleet Air Arm, flying them off the carrier HMAS Melbourne.
I was stationed at Alameda and Norfolk during my service. We had C1a traders in Alemeda and in Norfolk. VR30, VRC40 1971 to 1975
Call me crazy but one of my favorite Navy aircraft was the A-6 Intruder. To me a was a beautifully designed and built aircraft. It was also a workhorse and performed its mission very well. Really glad I got to be a part of that era as there were many really cool aircraft that took pilots with really good skills as they didn’t rely on computers to fly the aircraft like todays aircraft do.
Great Channel 💯
I flew S 2C type out of Cubi Point Philippines. It was a fine aircraft. Slow but reliable, strong , and easy to trap aboard ship.we lost one at night, during a tremendous storm. The plane lost all electrical systems including battery power, then lost it's port engine. Unable to overcome the adverse yaw, it could not maintain controlled flight. The aircraft hit the water inverted, at over 200 knots, killing all four crew. Still, some times cry about that night these decades later.
I flew as a Naval Aircrewman in the C-1A, US-2B, P-3C, EC-121M, EA-3B and EP-3E aircraft. All were great aircraft!
Great video and I love hearing all the stories from the community on this topic!
Cal Fire’s S-2T (turboprop) conversion program has resulted in a phenomenal aircraft platform for aerial firefighting. S-2 air tankers are fast to launch, high speed, and very maneuverable. I’m always impressed when I get to see them diving to match mountain slopes, dropping retardant and then rolling out to go reload.
The Trackers thag flew out of Shearwater use to fly over my house all the time when I was a kid loved the sound of their engines.
Argentina's trackers had some action during 1982. Legend is that a retired US technician living in South Corea was hired to recommission the electromechanical computers onboard. Commercial spectrum analyzers were adapted to increase detection capabilities. At least one target was attacked, with no confirmation of having a hit.
Don't why you tagged these as "strange." Good solid AC with a great history, and still used for firefighting. USN, 68-74, ETR-2, NAS Miramar, 70-74, I maintained GCA RADAR and TACAN. There were S2 variants at North Island, San Diego, and they used to come over to Miramar for GCA approach practice and touch and go's. Miramar had a painted simulated carrier deck on one runway.
There was a whole fleet of these modified for firefighting in BC. Abbottsford's (CYXX) ConAir is internationally know as the biggest firefighter/waterbombers outfit. Their biggest mods were on these old Trackers. Cheers from the Pacific West Coast of Canada.
I got a chance to fly the ES2D out of PMRF Barking sands on Kauai during the 1979 - 1981 time. It was a great airplane to fly and gave me quite a few stories to tell.
My Dad was a MADS operator on a S2F crew out of NAS Alameda in the early days of the Cold War.
My brother-in-law flew S-2's and loved the aircraft. He went on to work on putting the GPS system in orbit and bringing that system on-line.
My dad was in the Navy Reserve and flew as an S 2 aircrew man. They liked going of Conus. Cheap high quality booze and many hiding places on the Stoof to bring back more than your allowed 1 gallon duty free.
1969 to 72 I flew #3 and 4 seat off CVS 10 and CVS 11 in VS-24
Loved that plane
When I was a junior enlisted, in the late 70s, serving on USS Nimitz, I would spend free time watching the Stoofs do carrier quals while we operated along the East Coast. They could still do non-catapult launches. They would waddle down the angled deck and seem to stop to check the water then hop up and trundle into the air. The Navy had quit carrying aircraft gasoline aboard ships so there were no S-2s or C-2s deploying. An appropriate description of these great planes were, two T-28s flying in formation with a dumpster.
Was onboard the Essex (CVS-9) in 66-67. Squadrons of these STOOF's were always on board, along with what we called Hiss-2 helos. Long ago now!
Thank you for the video!
When i was growing up, Dad would take us sailing around in San Diego Bay, The S2s where always flying approaches to North Island. Later, their replacement the S3 did the same. The S2 airframe was modified to provide for the rotating dome and was designated the carrier borne E2. The current variant, the E2D, provides excellent airborne early warning and traffic control services to the Fleet. Therefore, the design still provides great service.
one of the best looking planes evermade theres a operational AUS Navy one at my local air museum and its such a good looking plane
After completing advanced prop training and carrier qualifications in the T-28, I transitioned to the S-2 for multi-engine training. That was like going from a sports car to a driving a dump truck. The plane was ugly and lethargic. It did fly well on one engine which I found out when we got a sump light on #2. Two friends died during training with the S-2. One had a wing burn off at low altitude and the other dribbled off the end of the carrier when an engine failed during a free deck launch (no catapult). I had to wait until I graduated to the P-3 before I flew a real airplane again. Now that was a beautiful aircraft with plenty of power and great maneuverability.
No P2V service stories?
My dad was an H-46 pilot but occasionally took up the US-2 they had at Oceana in the early 80s.
My dad worked on the Viking project in 1970-72
Grumman sure hit the mark when they built this plane. Great company that later went on to build the Lunar Lander. Happy Trails