24 Naval Aviation News March–April 2006

Hank Caruso’s AerocaturesTM Sketchbook

Seabirds overKoreaArt and Text © Hank Caruso, ASAA

The late 1940s and early 1950s werean exciting and dynamic time in thedevelopment of Navy and Marine

Corps aviation. New jet aircraft designswere the darlings of flight test operations,straight-deck carriers were being pushed tothe limits of their capabilities, andhelicopters were being introduced fortransport and rescue operations. In manyways the war in Korea was the combat testlaboratory for evaluating the capabilitiesand limitations of these new designs andtechnology combinations. This sketchbookis a tribute to the Naval Aviators of thatremarkable era.

Ramp MonsterTrapping aboard a carrier is always fraught

with potential peril and excitement. But duringthe birth of jet carrier aviation in the 1940s and1950s, landing aboard the straight-deckcarriers of the era took on added elements ofpucker-inducing risk. Jets were underpoweredand their engines were slow to respond tothrottle movements. Operating procedureswere still being developed. And the cramped,crowded decks were disasters waiting tohappen. Aviators who earned Centurion statusby dodging the ramp monster 100 times hadtruly accomplished something worth braggingabout. (This AerocatureTM was created for theTailhook Association’s “Early Centurion”certificate.)

Naval Aviation News March–April 2006 25

26 Naval Aviation News March–April 2006

Sink the Hwachon!During the Korean War, attempts to

destroy the robust Hwachon Dam withconventional bombs just didn’t work;the dam was too strong and the waterblunted the bombs’ effect. On 1 May1951, Douglas AD-4 Skyraiders fromVA-195—subsequently known as theDambusters—dropped Mk 13 aerialtorpedoes to breach the dam. F4UCorsairs suppressed flak guns and F9F-2P Panthers provided damageassessment photography. (The artistthanks Cdr. Bob Bennett, USN (Ret.),one of the Dambusters who flew thisamazing mission, for his inspirationand technical assistance.)

Rinse, Spin, Drip DryAlthough described

conceptually several hundred yearsago, the helicopter didn’t come intowidespread operational use withthe U.S. military until the KoreanWar. The four-seat SikorskyHO3S-1 (S-51) Dragonfly was the

preeminent shipboard search andrescue helicopter during the late1940s and early 1950s. Manyinjured ground troops and downedaviators owe their lives to thishelicopter’s unique capabilities andthe courage of its flight crews.

Naval Aviation News March–April 2006 27

Cats and TrapsThe F9F Cougar was the first Grumman

Aircraft Corporation “cat” to sport sweptwings. Developed from the F9F Pantherseries, the Cougar was intended to giveNaval Aviators more speed andmaneuverability for air combat. Introducedtoo late to serve in the Korean War, itnevertheless became one of the mainstays of

carrier aviation during the 1950s. It is bestknown for its performances with the U.S.Navy’s famed Blue Angels FlightDemonstration Squadron in 1955–1956.Here, a Cougar with its hook downapproaches for another trap.

Knife Fight Over the YaluJet air combat became a reality

during the Korean War. The mostwidely recognized adversaries werethe elegant North American F-86Sabre and the spunky MiG 15. Bothaircraft sported swept-wing designsderived from German WW II research.This new feature, combined with thepower of jet engines, gave theseaircraft performance capabilities farbeyond their propeller-drivenpredecessors. In the end, the Sabreruled the skies. But why is an AirForce fighter featured in this article?Because Navy and Marine Corpsaviators downed more than two dozenMiGs while flying as exchange pilotswith Air Force Sabre squadrons.