A-7B Corsair II Display Model

 Made of Philippine mahogany, this 1/40 scale model measures 13¾" in length and has a wingspan of 11½". Hand painted and detailed, model comes ready to display on the included mahogany base.
 

Attached to VA-192 from 1982-1985, known then as PN3 Grice.  CDR Rittenhour was CO and CDR Rudd was XO. Rittenhour transferred and CDR Rudd took over as CO. I remember the yellow socks at change of command ceremonies and the FOD walkdowns early in the morning looking up at the
mountains behind the hangar, amazed me because I'm from Florida. Made the WestPac onboard USS Ranger in 1983. Transferred just before the transition to the F-18 took place.
Vincent L. Grice
Library Technical Assistant
Vincent_Grice@dcf.state.fl.us

Subject: I was on the Kitty Hawk in 78

I am Bob Keller who was Doug Kellers brother. He was PH3 Douglas Keller and I was AE2 Robert Keller. We were both in the navy at the same time as we are only eleven months apart. When I was at N.A.S. Millington in the aviation electrician courses and nearing completion, I picked orders that would go aboard the Kitty Hawk. Doug was assigned ships company as a Photographers Mate and I went to N.A.S. Lemoore Ca. for B school for the Navigational System of the A7 Corsair of VA192 Golden Dragons. In February I departed Travis Air Force Base via MAC to fly to Clark AFB and then the long ride to Subic Bay and then to Cubi Point to await the Hawk. I joined The Kitty Hawk and reunited with my brother. We enjoyed the remainder of that WestPac cruise together and most people couldn't believe we were brothers. We had to show documents and share the same evidence to prove it. Anyway, It was a great cruise. I hung around Doug and his photo friends alot and learned a lot. I now have my own photography business in Akron Ohio called Keller Photography. Doug and I sometimes work together on projects. We do reunion photography for high school reunions.   www.reunionyearbooks.com Check out my site also...  I have a S/N with a profile on AOL called VA192GldnDrgnz@aol.com to seek other Dragons for a possible reunion. My other S/N is Kellerphoto@aol.com I really enjoy viewing your photos . Keep up the good work.

Bob Keller

Remember the acronym? :-) I just came across your picture series at
YellowAirplane.com . I have been trying to find a dedicated corsair website similar to skyhawk.org, but it looks like someone will have to start their own. I was an AE with the Dragons from '80-'83 and made the Med cruise on the USS America in '81 (not a bad deal for a west coast squadron!). Airwing 11 was still intact, except we took on some Whales from VQ2 and I think our helo sqdn was east coast. Imagine how long it would take to move an entire helo outfit across country to meet the ship! :-) 

I am doing all I can to find more photos of Golden Dragon corsairs to supplement my own rather paltry collection. Why do we always wish we had more and better photos of those bygone days? Are you aware that Revell of Germany has a 1/48 scale kit with marking for a WFGD from your cruise? I will probably redo a few markings to reflect my cruise in '81. One other item I noticed - one of your photos was of a/c 304 with LCDR Latendresse's name under the cockpit. He was my skipper for part of my tour. Another skipper of VA-192 was CDR Gil Rud who went on to be the Blue Angels' "boss" in '84 or '85. Another Dragon, Lt. Pat Walsh (a former Div. Officer of mine) was with the Blue Angels at the same time. I remember going up to them for autographs at an air show and mentioning that the last time I got their autographs was for my transfer paperwork. They got a kick out of it, as did I! 

Thanks for sparking a few memories! If I ever get another scanner, I will try to send a few of my better shots for the website.

Scott Rogers
AE3-AE2 with VA-192 from '80-'83

PS. Don't forget the yellow socks that were a GD trademark! The pilots wore them at change-of-command ceremonies, and the jets had a yellow ring 6-8" tall around both of the main landing gear shock struts.