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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ConstitutionCowboy" data-source="post: 3127902" data-attributes="member: 745">Memory Lane:I was on the Forestall on its first cruise after that incident. It was deployed in the 6th fleet. I was in HS-11 doing ASW stuff, keeping an eye on Soviet subs in the Med.One day, unbeknownst to me, they were having a 'demonstration' for some foreign dignitaries. I was sitting on a stool in our maintenance cage, up against some canvas that had been draped on the inside of the cage, and the huge door on the side of the ship next to the cage was open. Just then, I heard a large explosion and the concussion against the canvas knocked me off the stool. My first thought was that another bomb had exploded! (Fortunately, I had just returned from the head so there was nothing left to soil my underwear.)I headed out onto the hangar deck, and finding no fire, I then went up to the flight deck, saw the "grandstand" with all the dignitaries, and saw a Phantom circling around and realized it must have been a sonic boom - at just a few feet over the deck!I stayed and watched the rest of the "airshow".If you are familiar with the Vigilante, you know it is(or was) a backfire bomber and could hold ferry tanks in its bomb bay. Part of the demonstration was a mock 'dogfight' with a Vigilante being pursued by a Phantom. As the Vigilante flew past the carrier, it must have jettisoned some fuel from a ferry tank, and it ignited into a flame about twice as long as the Vigilante as if it had been struck by a missile fired from the Phantom. It was a beautiful sight!Thank you for poking my memory! Now you may return to today's revelations!Woody</blockquote>

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