1960 Aircraft Photo Gallery

<-- 1959

1960 Aircraft Photo Gallery. Last updated 13 May, 2008

1961 -->

• Jan 1 -- NAF has 43 aircraft consisting of 1 R4D-8, 1 R4D-4, 1 HRS-3, 1 FJ-4B, 3 F3D-2T2, 1 F4D-1, 4 F9F-6D, 2 FJ-3D2, 1 P2V-4, 1 YP2V-3W, 2 T-28BD, 2 JD-1D, 15 F9F-6K, 8 F6F-5K drones & 1 F-104A. VX-5 has 12 aircraft consisting of 1 F9F-8T, 2 FJ-4B, 5 A4D-2, 2 A4D-2N, 1 A3D-2 & 1 SNB-5.
• Hangar No. 3 completed at the Naval Air Facility.
• BuWeps and OpTEvFor successful evaluations of the ASROC anti-submarine weapon system.
• First successful Polaris firing after underwater launching.
• January -- VX-5 received three new A4D-2N Skyhawks and was assigned to develop improved en-route & delivery tactics for nuclear & conventional weapons. LCDR James Nance was named A4D-2N project officer.
• April 13 -- Public Works employee Mr. Jesse Ariel Thomas lost his life in a SNORT Track incident.
• July 1 -- NAF has 33 aviation officers, 2 other officers, 445 enlisted and 52 aircraft consisting of 1 AD-5N, 1 A3D-2, 1 A4D-1, 1 A4D-2, 1 F3D-2, 3 F3D-2T2, 3 F4D-1, 2 F8U-1, 1 FJ-4, 2 FJ-4B, 1 P2V-3W, 1 P2V-4, 1 R4D-8, 1 HRS-3, 2 JD-1D, 2 T28-BD, 1 F9F-6D, 1 FJ-3D2, 15 F9F-6K, 6 F6F-5K & 1 F-104A. VX-5 has 30 officers, 200 enlisted and 12 aircraft consisting of 1 SNB, 1 F9F-8T, 1 A3D-2, 2 FJ-4B, 4 A4D-2N, 2 A4D-2 & 1 A4D-1.
• July 28 -- 1st CALEB R&D flight.
• August 1 -- The Naval Air Rocket Test Station, Lake Denmark, NJ, was disestablished and the land wasturned over to the Army for incorporation in Picattinny Arsenal. Navy liquid rocket development projects were transferred to other activities, primarily NOTS China Lake, CA; the Naval Propellant Plant, Indian Head, MD.; and the Naval Weapons Laboratory, Dahlgren, VA.
• Sep. 22 -- U.S. Marine Corp Capt. Howard O. Casada jr. lost his life when his Navy F-104A Starfighter (56-0740) collided with Josephine mountain north of Los Angeles, CA.
• Oct. 21 -- U.S. Navy Reserve Lt. Jan M. Graves lost his life when his F4D-1 Skyray (130745) flipped over on it's back while simulating carrier takeoffs & landings on runway 21.The cause was determined to have been a broken wire on the rudder system positioning feed back servo which caused the rudder to fully deflect just after lift-off.
• Oct. 24 -- 2nd CALEB R&D flight unsuccessful after 2nd stage failed.
• Dec. 13 -- Civil Service employees Mr. Robert B. Hughes of Code 3081, Test Department, and Mr. Hubert J. Stanfill of Code 3081, Test Department, lost their lives at San Clemente when a rocket motor ignited prematurely.

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/2 Those of us that remember the o'dark thirty arrivals of the Slick Airways Red Label flights probably brought this one in more than once. N6937C, built as a cargo plane for Slick Airways, was one of the last Connies off Lockheed's assembly lines in 1959. The Airline History Museum at Kansas City restored N6937C to like new condition and today it flies again as a TWA Lockheed Super G Constellation (L-1049G).

/3 XF4D-1 124587 was used as an engine testbed by General Electric, testing the J79 and CJ805-3 engine intended for the Convair 880. 03 Oct 1953 - Piloted by Navy Lt-Cdr James B. Verdin, XF4D-1, 124587 set a new world's air speed record of 752.944 mph over a three-kilometer course above the Salton Sea in California, breaking a record speed of 735.70 mph set by Michael J. Lithgow in a Supermarine Swift F Mk4 just nine days earlier at Castel Idris, Libya. Lt-Cdr Verdin's record was beaten twenty-six days later by Frank Everest in a North American YF-100A at the Salton Sea in southern California. Everest's speed record was just 2.20 mph faster than Verdin's. 16 Apr 1958 - Piloted by Lt-Cdr George Watkins, 138647 set an altitude record of 76,831 feet over Edwards AFB.