336

UNITED STATES NAVAL AVIATION 1910-1995

1981-Continued

2 December Captain Cecil E. Harris, USN (Ret),

died. He was the Navy's second highest scoring ace

during World War II and was credited with downing

24 enemy aircraft.

1982

8 January The F/A-18 Hornet made its first fully

automatic landing on a simulated carrier deck field at

Naval Air Test Center, Patuxent River, Md.

28 January The new Limited Duty Officer Aviator

Program, in which enlisted personnel could receive

flight training and be commissioned, was inaugurated

by Antisubmarine Warfare Aircrewman First Class

Michael A. Gray and Chief Yeoman Douglas L.

McGowan, Jr., when they completed their flight train-

ing and received their wings and commission. This

was the first time that noncommissioned officers com-

pleted flight training since the NAVCAD program

ended in 1968.

3 February John F Kennedy transited the Suez Canal

from the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea, the largest

warship ever to pass through the Canal. She was en

route to the Indian Ocean for an extended deployment.

13 February VF-84, stationed aboard Nimitz, returned

to Norfolk from the Mediterranean, completing the first

operational deployment of the TARPS on the F-14 Tomcat.

TARPS was designed to be carried by the F-14 for low to

medium altitude photoreconnaissance missions.

5 March The Navy assumed command of the gov-

ernment plant representative office at McDonnell

Douglas Corporation's St. Louis, Mo., facilities. The

Navy replaced the Air Force plant representative office

which had been responsible for contract administration

at the McDonnell Douglas plant for the past 11 years.

16 March The Vice President announced the U.S.

Navy would be actively working with U.S. Customs

officials and the U.S. Coast Guard to curb the influx of

drugs into the United States. The Navy's E-2C

Hawkeye aircraft became a permanent participant in

helping detect drug smugglers.

18 April 40th anniversary of the Doolittle raid on

Tokyo. The event was celebrated on 14 April with a fly-

over of Washington, D.C., by four rebuilt B-25 aircraft.

General Doolittle, USAF (Ret), was on hand to greet the

pilots after the fly over. During the Tokyo raid in 1942,

B-25s had been launched from the carrier Hornet.

22 May Marine Corps Aviation celebrated its 70th

anniversary, marking the day when 1st Lieutenant

Alfred A. Cunningham, USMC, reported to the

Superintendent of the Naval Academy for "duty in

connection with aviation."

2 June The AV-8B Harrier II made the first flight of

its Navy Preliminary Evaluation. This advanced version

of the AV-8 was designed to have twice the perfor-

mance of its predecessor.

7 June The Navy received an advanced version of

the Harpoon missile called the Block IE Harpoon. The

new missile had an improved radar-guidance system

and was capable of flying at lower altitudes than the

initial Harpoons, which were delivered to the fleet

starting in 1977. The new capability reduced the risk

of detection by defense radar. The Harpoon was pro-

grammed to be the Navy's basic antiship weapon for

the rest of this century.

25 June The history of the Navy's C-121 (previous

designations include PO, WV, R70 and R7V) ended

after 33 years of service when the last Warning Star

(other popular names were Constellation, Super

Constellation and Super Connie) was retired from

active service with VAQ-33. The Constellation began

its naval career in August 1949 and served in a wide

variety of roles and missions during its active duty

with the Navy.

25 June The greatest concentration of U.S. Navy air

power in the Mediterranean Sea was the result of the

battle groups of Forrestal and Independence joining

forces with Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F.

Kennedy during the latter part of June. After steaming

together in the eastern Mediterranean Sea for several

days, Forrestal and Independence relieved Dwight D.

Eisenhower and John F Kennedy, the latter sailing

home to Norfolk, Va., after a long deployment.

30 June The last active duty photographic squadron

(VFP-63) was disestablished. VFP-63's disestablishment

also brought to a close the era of the F-8 Crusader

squadrons on active duty in the Navy. The only F-8

and photographic squadrons still left in existence were

reserve squadrons VFP-206 and VFP-306, NAF

Washington, D.C.

30 June Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Thomas

B. Hayward, the Navy's number one aviator, retired.

Admiral Hayward, the 21st CNO, assumed the position

on 1 July 1978. He was a graduate of the Naval

Academy, Class of 1944, and was designated a Naval

Aviator on 26 July 1950.