After the termination of the "police action" in Korea in 1953, the Navy Department in all their wisdom decided to allow VC-35 to send a Team on a "Med" cruise. After all, VC-35 had only furnished some 22 of the 24 VAN Teams sent to Korea during the period of active combat and it was only right that some West Coast sailors be allowed to serve with the Atlantic Fleet.

Thus, in the summer of 1953 Team FOXTROT was formed with LCDR Joe Knosp designated as "leader". Needless to say, there was considerable maneuvering among the officers and men trying to get assigned to this team, each with visions of fantastic liberty in the fabled "Med" ports-of-call. Not one person gave any thought to the work or inconvenience involved in transporting an entire Team all the way across country to Norfolk, Virginia to load aboard a carrier, in this case, the USS RANDOLPH. However, like every cruise, surprises were in store.

Team FOXTROT received the usual allotment of aircraft, 2 AD-4N and 2 AD-4NL. The AD-4NL's were equipped with "boots" on the wing, the horizontal and vertical stabilizer leading edges to cope with icing conditions.

One of these 4NL's developed a leaking seal in the vacuum pump. This allowed engine oil to fill the de-icer system and pump engine oil "over the side". (There were no replacement seals or pumps aboard ship). The oil vented under the lower fuselage armor plate and eventually dripped off the tail hook. It also came up in the flare drop between the crewman. This caused quite a bit of concern to the crewmen and ultimately became the proverbial "straw that broke the camel's back". The maintenance gang got together, worked a day and most of a night to remove the entire system, boots and all, and blank-off the pump mount. Now the aircraft was all set for the rest of the cruise!

Fortunately, no operations were scheduled the next day, but an "intrepid Naval Aviator", LT. Warren, came along and used this same AD to go to Sicily to help start two "mechanized stove pipes" -jets- that were stranded at a small airfield without power. (AD's have two large generators and can jump-start the "glory boys".)

Now, for the rest of the story.

March 31,1954 was a beautiful clear, sunny day with not a cloud in the sky. Two Aviation Electricians from one of the fighter squadron put their cables in the rear compartment of NR81 and climbed aboard. Neither had ever been in an AD before or made a carrier landing.

The trip to Sicily was uneventful, the airfield located and a landing made without incident. The two jets were started and all headed back to the ship. On such a beautiful day, a carrier landing should be "a piece of cake". Right? WRONG!

LT. Warren had things going his way; sun shining, smooth sea, air speed on 85 knots, steady altitude. Now, "CUT". Beautiful, right in the center of the deck. OH-OH we aren't stopping! CRASH!! Right into the barrier and up on the nose! NR81 tips over on the left wing tip and the force cracks the main spar. The fuselage settled back and no more than hit deck when the two rear doors flew open and the two passengers disappeared into the catwalk, never to be seen again.

The reward for the Maintenance gang for working all night? A major overhaul and a "Hangar Deck Queen". (You can't trust these Naval Aviators. He said the hook failed. Talk about your "sea stories".)

In the days of the straight deck carriers, the saying was there were three kinds of Naval Aviators. Those that had not yet had a barrier crash, those that were going to have a barrier crash and those that had suffered a barrier crash!