Fly Past

May 2018 FLYPAST 27

strain of the climb. Six tons lighter,
the A-6 soared up into the bright sky
of morning, clawing for the safety
of altitude as a final stream of tracers
chased past us.
“The bombs took half a minute to
fall. Their impact was signalled by a

sudden shock wave that ballooned

and spread out from the centre in a

growing circle, pushing the ground

fog and foliage in front of it.

“Immediately afterward, a smoky

ball of orange flame boiled out of the

trees where the gunfire had originated.

Even as the high-explosive fireball

began to collapse on itself, a white-

hot fountain burst out of its centre,

sending fiery fingers outward in every

direction. Ammunition was hit and

exploding on its own.

“Weapons gone, we pointed the

nose to the northeast and back to

the ship as Blind Bat turned to the

west.”

MONSOON SEASON

The Intruder often went out in

weather that would ground all the

other types. Hugh Brelogle, who

piloted A-6As and ’Bs in 1970 with

VA-165, described such a time and

an announcement over the carrier’s

speakers: “‘Now hear this, now hear

this. All hands stand clear of the flight

deck and catwalks due to high winds

and heavy seas.’

“Flight ops are cancelled with the

exception of A-6s. It was night, in the

monsoon season and the deck was

pitching ten to 15 feet! My B/N and I

were escorted out to our plane under

a tarpaulin by two very wet airplane

captains.”

Phil Waters, a B/N with 169 combat

missions, said: “During monsoon

season, the Intruders were the only

aircraft able to operate. The ‘Connie’

[USS Constellation] was not able to

find a hole in the weather to expedite

a night recovery and both Marine

airfields were below minimums.

“After two ‘wave-offs’ and nearing

the low-state fuel condition, my

very skilful pilot indicated that we

would trap-aboard on the third pass. I

raised my seat to the highest position

(normal for recovery), unlatched my

shoulder harness release and pulled

myself up to peer over the

glare shield to get the

“A stuttering white fl ame spat out of a grove of trees to the left of

us, and a string of seven bright orange balls rose slowly up to meet

us. I swear they hissed as they shot past us, close enough to touch”

Above left

E-model 155711 of VA-115

• built in 1969 as an A-6A.
  AUTHOR

Left

An A-6A of VA-165

launches from the deck

of USS ‘Constellation’ on

November 25, 1974. KEY