# Grumman Museum Here On Long Island



## Dix (Jan 19, 2013)

Been meaning to do this for awhile, finally had time today. Gruman was a huge supplier to the Navy of jets back in the day.

They have a section of the old plant in Riverhead set apart for planes, etc. Adding as they can












You really don't realize how big these things are until you stand next to them.

Just wanted to share.

Pics 6 & 7 have my F250 in the back ground.


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## Elderthewelder (Jan 19, 2013)

Doing The Dixie Eyed Hustle said:


> Been meaning to do this for awhile, finally had time today. Gruman was a huge supplier to the Navy of jets back in the day.
> 
> They have a section of the old plant in Riverhead set apart for planes, etc. Adding as they can
> 
> ...


 

Yeah those F14's were some big birds, So big that the Navy could not deploy them on a couple of their carriers (USS Midway / USS Coral Sea) b/c they took up so much room


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## Backwoods Savage (Jan 19, 2013)

Holy cow Dixie. You took those pictures today. Where is all that snow you got?


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## Dix (Jan 19, 2013)

Backwoods Savage said:


> Holy cow Dixie. You took those pictures today. Where is all that snow you got?


 
We got nothing, Dennis. About to get freaking cold for a few days, though !!


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## ironpony (Jan 19, 2013)

very nice pictures, my Dad and I are both reitred from Gromman Aerospace Bethpage. We were able to visit the park a few years back. Those planes are on loan from the Navy and are caple of being put back into service.


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## fossil (Jan 19, 2013)

Used to just be a day at the office.


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## Dix (Jan 19, 2013)

ironpony said:


> very nice pictures, my Dad and I are both reitred from Gromman Aerospace Bethpage. We were able to visit the park a few years back. Those planes are on loan from the Navy and are caple of being put back into service.


 
Really? I didn't know that.

Gruman going out took a huge chunk of payroll out of the Island, as did Fairchild.


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## Gasifier (Jan 20, 2013)

Nice Dix. I like those. Thanks for sharing.


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## ironpony (Jan 20, 2013)

Doing The Dixie Eyed Hustle said:


> Really? I didn't know that.
> 
> Gruman going out took a huge chunk of payroll out of the Island, as did Fairchild.


 

all the planes they put into storage / on loan are capable of future service, Dad  retired from Republic Fairchild before he went to Grumman. still collecting pension checks at 86 years old, one of the lucky ones. The average for Grumman was 14 checks after retiring, he is going on 22 years. Oh and Dixie 2 M's in Grumman. Grummanites would say if you cut me I will bleed Grumman blue........ best time of my life


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## BrotherBart (Jan 20, 2013)

ironpony said:


> very nice pictures, my Dad and I are both reitred from Gromman Aerospace Bethpage. We were able to visit the park a few years back. Those planes are on loan from the Navy and are caple of being put back into service.


 
No "o" in Grumman.


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## ironpony (Jan 20, 2013)

I think you used your super moderator powers to edit it.............


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## jatoxico (Jan 20, 2013)

Driven by there enough times, should stop in one day. Nice Pix Dix.


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## Jags (Jan 21, 2013)

Thats my plane. I couldn't even guess how many hours I have sitting in or working on those F14's. All the electronic stuff, the radar, the missile systems, jamming equip, etc. A more capable platform than most would ever give them credit to be. When they moved over to the GE engines...WHOA BABY were those things hot.

Rick - since you got the Kitty posted up, I figure it only appropriate to show off the Ranger (CV61). That was my boat.



Thanks for posting up the pics.  It brought back some old memories.


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## ironpony (Jan 21, 2013)

Jags said:


> Thats my plane. I couldn't even guess how many hours I have sitting in or working on those F14's. All the electronic stuff, the radar, the missile systems, jamming equip, etc. A more capable platform than most would ever give them credit to be. When they moved over to the *GE engines...WHOA BABY* were those things hot.
> 
> Rick - since you got the Kitty posted up, I figure it only appropriate to show off the Ranger (CV61). That was my boat.
> View attachment 90246
> ...


 

Super Tomcat F14 D revision, my Dad designed all the tooling for the original engine nacelles and the tooling needed to retrofit the GE engines. I also spent many hours working on the nacelles to get everything to work. Yes those BIG planes do alot more than people give them credit for, just a big ole slow Navy jet. Remember that is a 1970 plane and it kept up with the new stuff way longer than intended. Close to forty years of service, not to shabby. A6's C2A's EA6B's still in service, they were started in the 60's. Grumman built the best planes ever to grace a carrier Period.


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## Jags (Jan 21, 2013)

ironpony said:


> just a big ole slow Navy jet.


 
A6 (EA6B) yes, subsonic - F14, mucho speed. The Pratt and Whitneys would move it to mach 2.34. The GE's were faster (I'll just leave it at that). The ability to run mach 2 with the phoenix missile launching at mach 4 above aircraft speed gave a combo that you couldn't out run (including SR71, we got one of those during a practice run). And the missile had/has over a 100 mile range (again, I will just leave it at that). A "force" to be sure.

Factoid - in a straight line run, an F14 will simply outperform an F16.


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## ironpony (Jan 21, 2013)

and track and fire upon 10 targets at the same time

*ANYTIME BABY*

and the big ole Navy jet was sarcasm I know exactly what the plane is capable of


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## Jags (Jan 21, 2013)

ironpony said:


> and track and fire upon 10 targets at the same time


 
I actually have a story behind that. 
We had a LTJG just come into our squadron and we were ramping up for a missile shoot.  He was pretty nervous and you could just tell that he was a pretty good guy (some of the jet jockeys were real jerks, including my branch Officer).  Anyhow, got to talking with him and told him I would take him out to a jet and get it all powered up and cooled and we can play video games for practice.
He took me up on it, and I showed him how to let the computer auto designate the targets and all he needed to do was to push the button when it turned red.  He got good at it.  He said "hell, I could shoot down targets and eat a pizza at the same time".

Missile shoot was 100% success and I got the largest Pepsi he could find (that was my standard bet/payback).

He turned into a heck of a passenger (back seat/RIO).


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## ironpony (Jan 21, 2013)

do you know the story behind ANYTIME BABY??

short version. We sent an F-14 over to Soviet Union/ Russia for a war game. They sent up ten MIG's and we sent up one 14. The 14 locked on all 10 MIgs before they knew what happened. When the 14 landed the pilot got out and said "ANYTIME BABY"

darn you're getting me all emotional


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## ironpony (Jan 21, 2013)

we also did destructive testing, we would bend and twist  a 14, 24 hours a day seven days a week until something broke. Talk about a loud bang in the hangar, diagnose redesign fix and start over that was a fun project. We also tortured the rest of the fleet so you do not think we were picking on your baby


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## ironpony (Jan 21, 2013)

do you remeber the 14 that went down in the English Channel??
They recovered what was left to save the "black box". After recovery they sent the pieces back to Calverton LI final assy plant. Some engineer got the idea to see if the BOX beam would go back into the original fabrication jig. Fit like a glove and the fabrication pins still lined up, after crashing.


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## Jags (Jan 21, 2013)

ironpony said:


> darn you're getting me all emotional


 
I actually did know the story.
When you live something - it can get emotional for sure.  Doesn't matter if you were building them or out on the line with them...I don't know of a person that has dealt with the F14 that didn't have an attachment to them.


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## Jags (Jan 21, 2013)

ironpony said:


> Some engineer got the idea to see if the BOX beam would go back into the original fabrication jig. Fit like a glove and the fabrication pins still lined up, after crashing.


We parked one in the dirt in Fallon,NV and you could put the whole jet in a box.
(pilots walked away).

PS. - I have an authentic "anytime Baby" patch.


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## fossil (Jan 21, 2013)

We (Kitty Hawk) had one strike the ramp during a night recovery. Hook caught a wire & the aircraft broke in two just aft of the wings. Aft end stayed aboard, forward end skidded off the deck into the drink. Fire the length of the deck. Both ejected safely, one came down on the fo'c'sle, the other came right smack down into the fire. He got pulled out real quickly. Exciting night.


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## Jags (Jan 21, 2013)

Rick - I recall seeing that footage (not my boat). Being that I was on the night shift and always on deck - just watching that sends a shiver down my back.


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## fossil (Jan 21, 2013)

Could've been a hell of a lot worse...but it was bad enough for me.


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## ironpony (Jan 21, 2013)

Jags said:


> We parked one in the dirt in Fallon,NV and you could put the whole jet in a box.
> (pilots walked away).
> 
> PS. - I have an authentic "anytime Baby" patch.


 

me too. maybe not as authentic as yours though. I have one for every aircraft Grumman built on a windbreaker jacket. Also have some promo pictures they used to give out.

I am sure you know the ejection seats are capable of ejecting the pilot high enough to safely parachute down while sitting on the runway.
did you know The Lords Prayer is inside the face shield of the ejection seat??

wow this is fun memorys


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## Jags (Jan 21, 2013)

Didn't know about the Lords Prayer, but I could still safety the ejection seat to this day.  It was pounded into our skulls.


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## ironpony (Jan 21, 2013)

we even had a chicken gun to test the canopys, talk about an uproar when the local animal rights got hold of that


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## Jags (Jan 21, 2013)

ironpony said:


> we even had a chicken gun to test the canopys, talk about an uproar when the local animal rights got hold of that


 
Now that there would be down right "quality entertainment".


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## ironpony (Jan 21, 2013)

Jags said:


> Didn't know about the Lords Prayer, but I could still safety the ejection seat to this day. It was pounded into our skulls.


 
don't want one of them going of accidentally.....oops


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## Jags (Jan 21, 2013)

ironpony said:


> don't want one of them going of accidentally.....oops


 
Trust me - it would be the last thing that goes through your mind.


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## ironpony (Jan 21, 2013)

Jags said:


> Now that there would be down right "quality entertainment".


 

they were trying to convert us to using frozen chickens..........instead of killing them onsite
they did enough damage without being frozen


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## Dix (Jan 21, 2013)

IP, the Calverton site is where the museum is. East end of Route 25, past the main entrance.


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## Elderthewelder (Jan 21, 2013)

[quote="ironpony, post: 1344541, member: 13457" A6's C2A's EA6B's still in service, they were started in the 60's. Grumman built the best planes ever to grace a carrier Period.[/quote]

A6 has been retired for quite some time now, EA6B's ( electric A6's) on their way out now being replaced by the EA18 Growler ( electric F/A 18's) E2C's still in service and I believe the C2A's are retired as well, not sure what acts as the COD now, I know the S-3 was doing it for awhile as will as tanking, F/A 18's doing the tanking now. Times have sure changed in carrier aviation


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## ironpony (Jan 22, 2013)

Thanks for the update I have been out of the loop since 1990, wow that was a long time ago, things have changed


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