DECEMBER

REAL AVIATORS 2012

FLEW STOOFS

submit stories, photos, comments !to: ! ! ! website: http://www.r-a-f-s.org/

RAFS_Stoof@sbcglobal.net all back issues now on website

GETTING AROUND IN THE NEWSLETTER

All LINKS, text that is in BLUE and underlined or buttons that say !! CLICK! HERE in the
Newsletter, are “HOT.” In other words, to contact someone"s Email, double click on blue address and it
should take you to your Email application with the person"s Email address filled in, or double click on any LINK
it will take you to the applicable website on your internet browser. RAFS also has its own web address where
we store documents too large to include in the body of the newsletter. In this issue, George VERNEY"s epic
saga of the Turkish S-2s is one such example. You can also enlarge the pages by ZOOMING IN.
DOCUMENTS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE
(click on link below picture)

NATOPS! SIDEWHEELER CARRIERS ! TRACKERS TO RAFS STUFF

!Once the
! document
! ! ! ! ! ! TURKEY!! ORDER FORM
opens, you can use the pop up
window (mouse over the bottom center of the window) to
either read the document online,save it to your computer
using the floppy icon, or print it out using the printer icon

REUNIONS & EVENTS

If your unit is planning a reunion, or you hear of an event of interest to RAFS, let me know
VS-39 VS-34
30 MAY - 2 Jun 2013
NORFOLK, VA DC AREA STOOF LUNCHEON
George Conery 8 JANUARY 2013
gconery@yahoo.com George Scott
george.scott2.ctr@navy.mil
VT-27 & NAS NEW IBERIA 50th
YEAR REUNION
NAVY AIR AND CAJUN FARE
11-13 Oct 2013 NO SCHEDULED AIRSHOWS IN DECEMBER
NEW IBERIA, LA
Dick Spears
respears1@mac.com

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 STOOF DRIVERS OF NOTE
NATHAN “NATE” H MAYO
Remember that old helmet that was spotted on the History Channel and
reported on in the October Newsletter?? John McKEE VS-28 VS-30 VS-31 was the
first to ID Nate as a VS-31 “oldtimer.” Harvey WENZ VS-24 VS-31 shortly followed
with:
“Back in the 50's I flew with Nate Mayo in VS-31 at NAS Quonset Point. One fine
day Nate took me and Gabe Gabriel, also VS-31, for a ride in his Waco UPF. We
were both strapped in together in the front seat held in by a single seatbelt he
had cumshawed from the paraloft. When he did a loop we
had to hold onto the sides to stay in place.

Online research led to Nate’s website, an email address and contact.

Nate took his first flight at the age of 7. He started hanging out at the
Bolton, MA Airport soon after, trading labor for flying time, He got his
pilot's license on his sixteenth birthday. He joined the Navy while at the
same time working on his first restoration, a Waco biplane he still flies.
After the Navy, Nate operated his own machine shop and worked as an
engineer with several firms before landing at the Stow, MA based Collings
Foundation in 1985 restoring planes full time. After retiring from Collings,
bored and somewhat depressed, he decided he needed a project and
decided to build, from scratch, a P-26 "Peashooter," the first all-metal, Nate VS-31 1956
low-wing fighter produced for the U.S. Army Air Corps. Some “oldtimer” huh?
They should see us now

FAMOUS STOOF TAILS

NATE’S SCRATCH BUILT P-26

PEASHOOTER
The craft has over 29,000 rivets, each painstakingly For more details & photos check
inserted, driven and made flush with the skin and has Nate"s website
about one-half million other parts, most of which had to http://www.mayo-craft.com/
be machined and fabricated from raw metal or cleverly He can be reached at
adapted from existing aircraft parts nathanmayo@gmail.com

[2]
 PHOTO OF THE MONTH

AUSSIE STOOF COMING ABOARD HMAS MELBOURNE (R21)

submitted by Irish MACNEILL VS-816 VC-851 RAN

FAMOUS STOOF PATCHES

On 5 December 1976, a fire was

deliberately set near the hangars at
HMAS Albatross. The fire destroyed or
seriously damaged twelve of the RAN’s
thirteen S-2s. Subsequently, 15 second-
hand S2-Gs were purchased from the US
and all remaining serviceable or repairable
S2-Es were upgraded to S-2Gs. 816
816 SQUADRON! ! 851 SQUADRON Squadron continued to operate S-2Gs
! RAN VS ! ! ! ! RAN training until the decommissioning of HMAS
Melbourne in 1982, when the Squadron
was disbanded.

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 GRUMMAN TRACKERS TO TURKEY
Several years ago RAFS started receiving photos of several derelict, overgrown S-2s in a fenced in
lot off RT 1 in St Augustine, FL. Ultimately this award winning photo of the cockpit of one of the A/C
prompted a search for the story of these poor neglected STOOFs.
Eventually George VERNEY ATU-611s VS-30rp VS-24 contacted me with
an outline of events that led up to the creation of this STOOF
Graveyard. Turkey wanted some S-2s and there was an abundance
of them in mothballs at Davis-Mothan AFB. Several were picked out
and eventually arrived for rework in St Augustine. 11 of these
aircraft were to be delivered to Turkey....the hanger queens, in this
case, grass lot left overs, were stored out in the elements until they
All Walt Arnolds S-2 Photos were finally destroyed 2 years ago. George eventually fleshed out
his brief outline into a highly detailed tale of high adventure; the taking of these aircraft from Arizona
to Florida, then to Newfoundland, across the Atlantic to Azores, Rota, Sigonella and on to Turkey.
RAFS PILOTS INVOLVED
George VERNEY! VS-24 VS30ATU-611
John WHITMORE! VS-24 VS-880RCN VT-28
Chip BEEDLE!! VS-22 28 30 VT-27!
George DUSKIN! AD A-7 pilot
Doug BRIGHT!! USAF!
Karl CLEMMENSEN! Civ flt instr
Michael MCKENNY! VS-28 30 32 VT-27
Jerry WRIGHT! VS-30 31 39 VT-31
Larry ATKINS!! NAS JAX Ass"t Ops
Bob DOUGLAS! VS-22 24 30 VT-31
Tom SPENCER! VS-24 27 30 36 VT-28 CVSG-60 For George"s full 50+ George may be
Bud ILES! ! GSAC chief test pilot page epic saga with photos reached at
LCDR ERROL! Turkish Navy georgeverney@bellsouth.net
LT KARTAL! ! Turkish Navy
CLICK HERE

SMILES

THEN I decided to
become a STOOF pilot

! !

Wasn’t exactly STOOF related, but I fixed that

submitted by Dick JONES VS-39 VS-34 VS-28 VS-42

[4]
 ASW OPS

A VS-27 PELICAN
ABOARD USS INTREPID CVS-11
POUNCES ON A SOVIET WHISKEY CLASS SUB
BALTIC SEA circa 1972
submitted by Brad SPAHR VS-27 VS-30rp VT-28s

FINAL CUT - SIGNAL DELTA

This list is by no means complete but it does contain the only names that were passed on to RAFS this past month
If you hear of the death of a fellow Stoof Driver, please notify RAFS
MCMANUS ! LCDR ! THOMAS H! ! VS-32!! ! ! MAY! 2006
PLATT! DR/LCDR! REGINALD J III! VS-32 ATU-402i VS-821 JUN! 2010
OLSEN! LCDR!! ROBERT C ! ! VS-39 VS-34! ! MAY ! 2012! OBIT
TWIGGS ! CDR! ! THOMAS E! ! VS-36!! ! ! SEP ! 2012! OBIT
DOWDY! LCDR ! JAMES C! ! VS-36!! ! ! OCT ! 2012
McKINNY! CDR! ! JOHN B! ! VS-25 CO #62-"63! ! OCT ! 2012! OBIT
PUTNAM! CAPT!! WAYNE “PUT”! ATU-402s VS-34 VS-31! NOV !2012! OBIT

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