Grumman WF (E-1) Tracer

Bill Bradow, e-mail, 11.11.2014 03:30 I joined VAW-12 right out of the Training Command in Oct 1964. VAW-12 was the largest squadron in the Navy at the time and flew the E1B. It was re-formed as CAEWW-12 in July 1967 and split into individual squadrons when the E2's began arriving in force. The E1 squadron was VAW-121 and the E2 squadrons were 122, 123, etc. Rvaw-120 was the RAG squadron and I was part of the first instructor group flying E1B's. We also did E2A training. The E1B was a good, solid aircraft which could be a little tricky to fly at times because of the dome-created extra drag. I left active duty in 1969 with around 1200 hrs of E1B time. reply

Billy Pierce, e-mail, 10.11.2014 18:10 I was an inflight tech on these planes out of North Island, San Diego, CA during 1973-75. Completed 1 WESTPAC cruise each on the USS Hancock and USS Coral Sea. Norb Roden and Steve Gorek who posted here were on the last one with me. There is currently an E1-B (1 of the 3 assigned to RVAW-110 Det 2) on the USS Yorktown Museum in Charleston, SC. reply

Terry Rogers, e-mail, 09.04.2014 01:43 I was with RVAW-110, North Island from 1968-1969, working in Maintenance Control and Airframes (hyd.) on E-1B's and E-2A's. Just happened to find this site today while reading up on R-1820's. Also, I'm meeting up with Al Angerstein this weekend after 40 some odd years who was an ADR-3 at RVAW-110 as well. I recall an E-1B cross country flight where we stopped at Davis Monthan AFB, and the AF chap pointed to the radome and asked who rode up there? I told him I did, and it wasn't much fun because there weren't any windows up there. I now work across the street from Long Beach Airport, and Catalina Flying Boats have a DC3 they fly to Catalina everyday hauling freight, and the sound of those radials warming up brings back fond memories of the Willy Fudds and North Island. reply

Allen Capel, e-mail, 16.01.2014 22:59 Just a correction to my email. It is seavamp@wildblue.net. Anyone notice that there is no mention of the TF-1 or the C-1A ? reply

Allen Capel, e-mail, 16.01.2014 22:45 I served in VAW-111 Det 34,6,7, 11 (all the same, they just kept changing the numbers )on Ranger and Oriskany 1970-1974. My job was P.O. on charge of P /P on the Ranger and Maint CPO on the "O Boat ". I had been working on the TF- /C1A and S2s for about 12 years, so I knew the R-1820 well. What a great engine! On two WestPacs the Det never missed a mission. We changed engines on the flight deck ( 8 point changes)almost over night. That was the norm on the East Coast, so I made it the norm for our Det. For corrosion control at sea, I found an old GREB that said to use aluminum paint made by Rustoleum. Sure beat that waxy,oily peralketone, and we had zero corrosion. When ashore, I got to rack up a lot of right hand seat fying. All of those Grumman planes were tough and got the job done. I'm still in touch with a few "Fuddmen" and we all agree that Fudds are fun! Anyone want to swap sea stories - I'm available. reply

Norb "Rat" Roden, e-mail, 07.01.2014 00:19 I joined the E1B community for training in Sept. of 1971 with RVAW-110 training command. In the spring of 1972 I joined up with VAW-111 Det. 4 aboard the USS Coral Sea and Retired VAW-111 Det. 4 3 aircraft in the spring of 1974. I was due to transfer back to the RVAW-110 training command to transition to the E-2C aircraft, however when VAW-111 Det. 2 returned later in 1974 they were not decommissioned and became RVAW 110 Det. 2 and were short of inflight technician crewmen. Thus I went back to sea with RVAW-110 Det. 2 on the USS Coral Sea for the 1974 - 1975 cruise. We were low and slow but never had trouble with take offs and landings. The aircraft was very enjoyable to fly on and also to maintain as an electronics technician. It was sad to bid farewell to this sound work horse of the fleet. reply

Tom Ferreira, e-mail, 31.12.2013 01:28 In 1966 I was in VAW-11 working on both the E1B and E2A. In 1974 I received orders to RVAW-110 Det 2 which was assigned to the USS Coral Sea. We had three Willy Fudds to get groomed and ready for a cruise. It was actually an easy aircraft to work on and reliable. The aircraft was the right size for the ship, the E2 Hawkeye was too big. The only great danger with this aircraft were the props. Except for the ships COD everything else was jets, so you had to stay on your game. Any time we did maintenance turns, the jet guys would come over and listen to the 1820s purr like a kitten, that engine sounded good. As all good things must come to and end, the Willy Fudd was around for another year or two and it was time to say good by. reply

Lou Romano, e-mail, 24.12.2013 18:45 After completing VAW 110 RAG training I was assigned to VAW-111 Det 3 and joined the det aboard USS Ticonderoga in Hong Kong in 1971. Upon return from that cruise we were involved in several at sea training exercises then in April of '72 Tico and Det 3 was sent to the South Pacific, and our Fud crews were assigned to track the descent and the pickup of Apollo 17. Immediately following return from that cruise we were sent back to WestPac and while in the South China Sea among other assignments we were working with the ASW crews to track the Russian nuke subs coming down following the mining of the harbors in Hanoi, interdict junks heading from NVN to SVN carrying weapons and munitions as well as tracking Russian trawlers operating electronic monitoring equipment. Having been pilot and plane commander of several naval aircraft, I enjoyed flying and landing aboard the carrier with the Willy Fudd as she was a reliable and durable aircraft. reply

Charlie McDaniel, e-mail, 05.08.2013 23:52 I flew the prototype136792 for about three years while at NAS Cecil Field. No roof, just the twin tail. Does anyone know if any other c-1As were used as prototype for the E-1? reply

Ian Shaw, e-mail, 26.04.2013 15:35 Firstly I will explain a bit about myself, I was a Warrant Officer in the RAF and retired 6 years ago. I have a passion for AEW aircraft derived from my 5 years at RAF Waddington working on two tours of duty with the E-3D AWACS fleet based there. The book about the history of AEW Aircraft is a project that Sergio (who lives in Brazil) and I have been working on now for over 4 years, initially adapting Sergio's Brazilian text from a Portuguese language version into English. In the last year we have found a European publisher who is as enthusiastic as we are to produce the book but with an emphasis on narratives from the actual Aircrew members who took part in the AEW missions. We are not writing this book for financial gain as the royalties for each copy will amount to coppers that will be split between two people and will barely cover our paper and ink cartridge costs after tax . The reason we are writing it is to tell the true story of AEW development and to ensure that the guys and girls who spend or have spent hundreds of hours staring at PPI's get the full recognition that they deserve for their dedication to duty and their efforts to complete their mission. Incredibly there are very very few books out there that cover this subject and those that exist mainly concentrate on the technical aspects and do not cover the human or historical elements at all. Our aim is to correct this and to try and tell the complete story for the first time. We realise that time is of the essence in several respects, primarily because many of the guys from the very early days in WW2 who flew the ACI Wellington and the crews who flew in the PB-1W's in Korea are no longer with us. In addition our publisher is very keen to get the book completed and out in the shops because he knows that a hole in the market exists The early operational story of the E-1B's of the U.S Navy hasn't really been told from the crews perspective, there is a book written by an American author Edwin Leigh Armistead called "AWACS and Hawkeyes" which is very good at describing the development of the aircraft as an aerial AEW platform from the Navy perspective but doesn't have any input from the aircrews themselves or any detail on the operational deployments. The marvellous thing about your website is that it has personal accounts from Aircrew who actually flew the missions. Sergio and I are hoping that some of the contributors above who actually flew missions on the Willy Fudd would be willing to let us use their accounts in our book as examples from the Aircrew of their own stories. Of course any contributor to the book will be fully credited in the Acknowledgements section and in the Chapter itself. So we would be grateful if you could consider our request and if any you agree to contribute then please send us a written e-mail back with your accounts and if you have any your personal photographs of your aircraft if any are available and you are willing for us to use them. We both thank you in advance and hope to hear from you soon. Ian Shaw - ian.shaw1@btinternet.com reply

Gene Wood, e-mail, 07.12.2012 23:30 I was in RVAW-120 (Norfolk)from '70-'72 in airframes shop working hydraulics, mostly at night. Great bunch of guys, great fun till Bruce signaled fold wings on me and caught my face and hand in the jury strut door on an E2. Went on just about every carrier during that time for qualifying. Loved the flight deck work. Grant Brower was the best bud a guy could have. reply

pete peters AK3rd class, e-mail, 14.10.2012 18:12 my frist station in 1967 until 1971.vaw 121 had just began i was trained as plane captian, gas station attendant.i was with giddings,curtis,brehmer,kain,as plain capt.i was on the randolph,shangrala,york town,wasp,i once hopped a flight from nas to new orleans. 18 hrs of pleasent flight. reply

Pete, e-mail, 11.03.2012 02:01 I think I'm the last active duty guy to ever qualify as an FT on the Fudd. VAW-78 at NAS Norfolk, 1977. (yep that was a reserve unit). Not really a platform story but...Our call sign was Alpha Foxtrot and side number. Close Encounters of the Third Kind had just opened at the theaters and in the opening scene some airline pilots are reporting a UFO. The scene is in LA Center and in the background chatter I hear a controller say "Alpha Foxtrot 703 turn right to heading 340 and maintain altitude". I about went nuts. The rest of the audience was wondering what I was so excited about. Only trained aircrew could have picked that out of a whole bunch of background. I wish I could still hear that well, we soon transitioned to E2s and my hearing was never the same since. (AT1 USNR Ret.) reply

Jerry Furr, e-mail, 31.12.2011 22:36 I too served in VAW-121 as a Plane Captain on the E-1. Was assigned to Det-18 on the USS Wasp in late '67 thru 1968. Made the cruise to GITMO in '68. Left the squadron for AD "A" school just before the Detachment deployed to the North Atlantic. Was sorry to leave behind a lot of good people. reply

mike fairfax [FAX], e-mail, 06.07.2011 23:17 served in vaw 111 det 6 then to rvaw 110 det 6 from 1972 to1975 on the USS ORISKANY WOULD LOVE TO HERE FROM ANY FELLOW FUDD MATES FROM THIS TIME reply

Tom Ward, e-mail, 01.06.2011 19:08 I was also in VAW 121 and on the Wasp when Godfrey and Kane took the barricade. I was up on the island when the plane landed. I have an 8m movie of it. I was an ATR2 aircrewman and a flight deck troubleshooter. I was in VAW-121 Det 18 (Wasp) from 67-69. reply

Fred Buerman, e-mail, 24.03.2011 02:47 I wasd in VAW12 in the early 60s then went to VAW11 in 64 and we had AD5Ws and E1Bs.In early 1964 we got our first E2As.I stayed in VAW11 until 1978 when the squadron broke up into about SIX different squadrons.I STAYED IN RVAW 110 UNTIL EARLY 1968.Then i went to VAw111 AND MADE two VietNam cruises with the the USS Hancock CVW21. The rest is history. reply

Wayne Duncan, e-mail, 15.03.2011 11:41 After graduating from ADR "A" school, I was assigned to VAW 121 in Norfolk in 1971. One of my first jobs given to me was to go over to RVAW 120 and get a bucket of "Prop Wash" so we could clean the props. Boy was I easy. One of the other new guys was sent all over the base to get a replacement "Key" so we could start the damn thing. They told him the Squadron lost the original. We had a lot of fun and I sure enjoyed working on those engines. I still remember replacing that damn CSD gearbox. What a pain in the ass that was. I was only with VAW 121 for a short time due to our Decommissioning, but I sure had great memories. Unfortunately I not only got to have my Squadron Decomissioned but also got to take the last cruise on the USS Wasp. It didn't last very long. If anyone from VAW 121 has any pictures, please contact me. I don't have any and would love to have some to add to my photo album of my Naval Career. reply

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