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Old 26th Feb 2009, 00:43
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wileydog3
 
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The Wrong Stuff, by John Moore

The Wrong Stuff is a short read by the late Cdr John Moore, USN.

Moore begins his book telling the story of being on the carrier USS Essex with a Banshee coming in with an emergency. Moore's squadron was flying Panthers and on the straight deck, they had to taxi the airplanes clear for the Banshee to land. Moore was in the cockpit when the Banshee landed long, hot and crashed into the Panthers on the forward deck. Moore was not only burned but tossed overboard into the water 70ft below. He was fortunate. Many did not survive.

Moore writes about flying such machines as the F7U "Gutless" and how the first models were so underpowered, the final turn to the carrier was made with occasional punches of the afterburner (reheat) to maintain speed. In a later chapter Moore writes about landing a Cutlass that has the nosegear collapse. When this happens, the fuselage breaks just aft the cockpit. Moore is tossed forward and with his hands on the throttles, they are slammed into burner. When the fuselage breaks, the throttle linkage is destroyed so the Cutlass is in burner and beginning to move. Moore is able to get out of the airplane before it takes on a life of its own, catches fire and is destroyed. Everyone is sure Moore is dead... but he has once again escaped.

Moore writes about flying Hellcats, Bearcats, Tigercats and is in one of the first Navy units to get the Lockheed F-80 renamed the TO-1. He is an instructor.

He later joins North American and flies the RA-5C Vigilante, the T-2 Buckeye as well as the FJ-4 Fury. He is also around when the fire kills three astronauts in the Apollo program. Like many mid-level managers, he gets sacked in the clean sweep after the accident. Moore died in the late 1990s.

The book is a quick read and Moore's insight to the dangers of test flight, his comments on various machines and his overall view of life makes for a decent read.

published 1997 by Special Press Publishers
ISBN 1-883809-10-x

Last edited by Genghis the Engineer; 26th Feb 2009 at 10:24. Reason: tidyness.
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