VF-17 - The Jolly Rogers

[Kernel Potter]

Here's a docmentary of a great story about an early deployment of Corsair F4Us in the Solomon Islands starting in late 1943.

https://tubitv.com/movies/606418/fighting-17-the-jolly-rogers?start=true

 

[Astro14]

I’ve got Tom Blackburn’s book.

Obligatory reading for a Jolly Roger!

 

[RooflessVW]

I saw a move about this. One of the Jolly Rogers trained a young crop duster to race

 

[y_p_w]

I saw a move about this. One of the Jolly Rogers trained a young crop duster to race

Not exactly. But it was VF-17. The director got access to the USS Carl Vinson too, and some of the lines in the movie were suggested by the XO.

 

[Astro14]

Not exactly. But it was VF-17. The director got access to the USS Carl Vinson too, and some of the lines in the movie were suggested by the XO.

Pretty sure that "Skipper" was in the Jolly Wrenches. He's got the Jolly Wrench on his cowl, just like a VF-17 Corsair.

 

[y_p_w]

Pretty sure that "Skipper" was in the Jolly Wrenches. He's got the Jolly Wrench on his cowl, just like a VF-17 Corsair.

Sure. My kid loves Pixar's Cars and by extension Disney's Planes. And it basically turned into a big exercise in merchandising. Can you imagine how many variations there are for the same character that can be sold as toys?

The Jolly Wrenches with the piston head and crossed wrenches made to look like a skull and crossbones is one heck of a sight gag though. And the pun on top of that. Looks a little too much like The Punisher though.

And I don’t know how many kids who knew that Echo and Bravo were Val Kilmer and Anthony Edwards.

 

[Kernel Potter]

I sent the link to a buddy of mine and he said he sure liked the documentary. I learned a lot from it, that's for sure.

I didn't know there was such a large Island/land based deployment of fighters that were vying for air superiority in the Pacific theatre. Especially in late '43 and early '44. By then I thought Japanese air power was more than less operating in a defensive nature.

But I guess that after the Jolly Rogers were done with them and the Japanese retreated, that was essentially the situation.

I also didn't realize the Corsairs deployment came that late in the war.

I'm going to check into Tom Blackburn's book too. Thanks for the tip.

 

[y_p_w]

I also didn't realize the Corsairs deployment came that late in the war.

Didn't it have a lot of teething pains with carrier operations? I thought the Marines had more success with them as a land-based fighter during WWII.

 

[Kernel Potter]

Didn't it have a lot of teething pains with carrier operations? I thought the Marines had more success with them as a land-based fighter during WWII.

I'm not really sure but I'll internet search it later. One interesting thing that comes to mind regarding that, there's another documentary on the intact WWII planes in Lake Michigan. They're the planes that crashed or ditched when they were training of out Great Lakes off the make-shift carriers made just for that purpose.

Good news is there's a lot of planes pulled and restored already. Bad news is the Zebra mussels are causing them to deteriorate much faster. BUT... an intact Corsair with a framed canopy was pulled from the lake and restored. I think they said it's the only example of a non-bubble canopy Corsair that exists. Keep in mind they said you can find other restored framed canopy Corsairs. But they were modified from a bubble canopy plane.

 

[y_p_w]

I'm not really sure but I'll internet search it later. One interesting thing that comes to mind regarding that, there's another documentary on the intact WWII planes in Lake Michigan. They're the planes that crashed or ditched when they were training of out Great Lakes off the make-shift carriers made just for that purpose.

Good news is there's a lot of planes pulled and restored already. Bad news is the Zebra mussels are causing them to deteriorate much faster. BUT... an intact Corsair with a framed canopy was pulled from the lake and restored. I think they said it's the only example of a non-bubble canopy Corsair that exists. Keep in mind they said you can find other restored framed canopy Corsairs. But they were modified from a bubble canopy plane.

Like this one?

 

[wpod]

I saw a move about this. One of the Jolly Rogers trained a young crop duster to race

Crop duster pilots can really fly . I love to watch them . It is like watching the tanker pilots that fight fires. Fighter pilot are bad to the bone brave and have huge huevos. Crop duster pilots ,, Loons they do crazy flying for a living. The guy up the street fly a crop duster, I occasionally visit with him.

 

[y_p_w]

Crop duster pilots can really fly . I love to watch them . It is like watching the tanker pilots that fight fires. Fighter pilot are bad to the bone brave and have huge huevos. Crop duster pilots ,, Loons they do crazy flying for a living. The guy up the street fly a crop duster, I occasionally visit with him.

I'm pretty sure the reference was to Disney's Planes, where an anthropomorphic crop duster goes on to win a worldwide race after getting racing training from an old Navy Corsair. The story gets rather convoluted, because his trainer claims to have been in the famed "Jolly Wrenches" (a clear nod to the original VF-17 Jolly Rogers) and somehow during this worldwide race he ends up landing on an aircraft carrier when he's low on fuel. He then finds a wall of fame with every plane that's been on a mission with the Jolly Wrenches, and finds out that his skipper has lied about his exploits, where he had a single, disastrous mission where he was the instructor.



I know it's just a kid's movie, but it does get a little bit odd. There's a clear demarkation of jobs based on the type of vehicle. Mechanics and deck personnel are almost universally forklifts. It's really weird too as the landing signal officer and commanding officers are a forklifts, when in the US Navy they're going to be pilots (which in the movie would ostensibly be planes). They also go heavy on the puns, such as the Jolly Wrenches and the USS Dwight D. Flysenhower (which has its face at the control tower).

They also had a sequel that had a convoluted story, but where he retires from racing due to an "unrepairable" transmission, and then trains as a wilderness single engine air tanker at a fictional national park.

 

[Astro14]

I thought "Planes" was original and fun. My kids and I saw it when it came out. There is enough Jolly Roger squadron memorabilia around my house that they instantly recognized the crossed wrenches and piston as the Jolly Rogers.

When Dusty (the protagonist, a crop duster who dreams of being a racing plane) is lost at sea and Bravo and Echo intercept him and take up parade formation on both sides, it is a great "Deus ex Machina" moment.

Loved it!

 

[y_p_w]

I thought "Planes" was original and fun. My kids and I saw it when it came out. There is enough Jolly Roger squadron memorabilia around my house that they instantly recognized the crossed wrenches and piston as the Jolly Rogers.

When Dusty (the protagonist, a crop duster who dreams of being a racing plane) is lost at sea and Bravo and Echo intercept him and take up parade formation on both sides, it is a great "Deus ex Machina" moment.

Loved it!

Again, Val Kilmer (before his larynx was removed) and Anthony Edwards. They certainly cast these movies with a lot of voice talent. Even the sequel had a lot of talent. I'm seeing Ed Harris, Regina King, Jerry Stiller, Erik Estrada, Barry Corbin, Hal Holbrook, Patrick Warburton, and Brad Paisley.

 

[Danh]

Didn't it have a lot of teething pains with carrier operations? I thought the Marines had more success with them as a land-based fighter during WWII.

I think the issue with carrier operations was visibility when landing because of the location of the cockpit and rather long nose. Plus the Navy was happy with its existing Hellcats. The British were able to figure out how to operate the Corsair from carriers and we eventually took advantage of their experience.