Essex Association McWhorter

Me in F2H-2 on flight deck of FDRoosevelt( CVA 42). Back in 1953. I was CO of VF 12, a Banshee squadron, and we were deployed to the Mediterranean. We had manned our planes and were waiting the signal to startup and go on a flight. My regular plane was number 201, but this one happened to be spotted in the front (After all, getting to be catapulted first was one of the perks of being the Skipper). The FDR was still a straight deck carrier back then and the nylon straps you see in back of my plane are part of the barricade that was raised to prevent a plane from plowing into the planes parked on the bow if a landing plane's tail hook missed the arresting wires. Those were the good old days! Mac

Hamilton McWhorter

Naval Aircraft Factory SON-1 Seagull - McWhorter

This is the first picture of the Naval Aircraft Factory SON-1 Seagull that I have found. Way, way back in May 1942 I was one of the pilots that ferried 16 F4Fs from the Grumman plant at Beth Page NY to San Diego- only took 4 days and 16 flight hours. The next morning after we had arrived in San Diego, I was told to report to flight operations where they handed me a SON-1 pilots operation manual and a bunch of maps, pointed to a plane on the ramp and said take this one back to Norfolk! I had about 300 hours total flight time at the time and had never seen a SON-1 before or flown cross country more that 300/400 miles. Some kind soul gave me a cockpit checkout and I filed my flight plan and headed for Norfolk. The SON-1 was not very speedy- it could blaze along at about 100/110 kts and it only took me five days and 25 flying hours, but somehow I made it back to Norfolk. Mac

P.S. SON stands for Scout Observation plane built by the Naval Aircraft Factory

Click here: Naval Aircraft Factory SON-1 Seagull