Stoofs live. The trusty Grumman S-2 Tracker is outliving it's replacement. I was onboard Independence CV62 from Jan 74 to Jan 77 and the ASW outfit was VS-31, The Topcats, flying the S-2. Those old PW R-1820's made some sweet noise!
Living in northern California, watching the S-2Fs every summer, listening to the rattle of their round engines...
Except we haven't heard them for the past couple of summers. They've been upgraded with turboprop engines to S-2Ts, and they're so much quieter that you often miss them if you don't happen to be looking up.
The nearest team to us here is based at Hollister, CA, along with an OV-10 spotter, so they pass by on their way to fires north of us.
More reliable now, and they're just as good hitting the fires.
3 comments:
that is an excellent photo
Stoofs live. The trusty Grumman S-2 Tracker is outliving it's replacement. I was onboard Independence CV62 from Jan 74 to Jan 77 and the ASW outfit was VS-31, The Topcats, flying the S-2. Those old PW R-1820's made some sweet noise!
Living in northern California, watching the S-2Fs every summer, listening to the rattle of their round engines...
Except we haven't heard them for the past couple of summers. They've been upgraded with turboprop engines to S-2Ts, and they're so much quieter that you often miss them if you don't happen to be looking up.
The nearest team to us here is based at Hollister, CA, along with an OV-10 spotter, so they pass by on their way to fires north of us.
More reliable now, and they're just as good hitting the fires.
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