316

UNITED STATES NAVAL AVIATION 1910-1995

1976-Contin ued

minutes after it was released from the wing of a

Pacific Missile Test Center, Patuxent River, Md., A-6

Intruder aircraft at an altitude of 11,500 feet. This was

the first in a series of flights intended to test the func-

tional operation of the test vehicle's capability to per-

form navigation, guidance updates, and low-terrain

following maneuvers. It was also the first test flight

using a turbofan engine, previous tests had utilized the

turbojet engine.

6 June An A-6 Intruder successfully test fired the

tactical version of the Tomahawk cruise missile using

the TERCOM navigation system. The Tomahawk was

designed as a long-range weapons system with strate-

gic and tactical application which could be launched

from tactical and strategic aircraft, surface ships, sub-

marines and land platforms.

24 June The Navy accepted its first T-34C Mentor

aircraft. The new aircraft would replace the aging T-

34B and T-28B/C used in primary and basic flight

training. It would be the first training command air-

craft to have maintenance and supply support provid-

ed by civilian contractors.

24 June The Navy's Air-Launched Low Volume

Ramjet (ALVRJ) set a new distance record traveling

over 100 nautical miles at sustained speeds of over

1,700 miles per hour. This was the fifth flight for the

ramjet at the Navy's Pacific Missile Test Center at Point

Mugu, Calif.

30 June A new eight-inch laser-guided projectile,

developed jointly by the Navy and Marine Corps, was

fired successfully from the new major caliber light

weight gun mounted in Hull (DD 945).

30 June A Naval Aviation tradition came to an end

when brown shoes were stricken from the officers'

and chiefs' uniforms. The tradition initially distin-

guished the Brown Shoe Navy of the aviators from the

black shoes of the surface officers.

1 July The Navy's Sea-Air Operations Gallery, part of

the new National Air and Space Museum of the

Smithsonian Institution, was opened to the public. The

Sea-Air Operations Gallery presented a "you are there"

mock-up of an aircraft carrier's hangar deck, bridge

and preflight operations room. Audio/visual presenta-

tions of take-offs and landings from a carrier were pre-

sented in the bridge areas. The hangar deck included

Navy aircraft past and present. Famous events in Naval

Aviation history were depicted throughout the gallery.

6 July Coral Sea was presented the Meritorious Unit

Commendation for her actions during the Mayaguez

crisis in May 1975. Coral Sea played a major role in

the return of SS Mayaguez after Cambodian gunboats

seized the merchant ship on the high seas off the

coast of Cambodia. Coral Sea provided air support to

the landing of Marines at Koh Tang Island as CVW-15

conducted strikes on specified military targets.

9 July The CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter's effective-

ness and life were extended with the delivery of the

first two CH-46E prototypes. The major modifications

to the CH-46E helicopters were new T-58-GE-16

engines, an Omega-Doppler navigation system, new

crashworthy pilot and copilot seats, a combat crash-

worthy fuel system, a new rescue hoist and an infrared

suppressor for engine exhaust.

12 July Ranger and her escort ships of Task Force

77.7 entered the Indian Ocean and were assigned to

operate off the coast of Kenya in response to a threat

of military action in Kenya by Ugandan forces. A VP-

17 P-3 aircraft visiting Nairobi and a U.S. Middle East

Force ship visiting Mombassa further demonstrated

U.S. friendly ties and support for Kenya during her cri-

sis with Uganda.

12 July The Navy phased out the last C-117

(Douglas DC-3), perhaps the most famous transport

plane of all time. The last C-117 was flown from

Pensacola, Fla, to Davis Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz.,

the boneyard for obsolete military aircraft.

27 July America and other elements of Task Force

61, with Nimitz standing by, supported the evacuation

of 160 Americans and 148 other nationals from Beirut,

Lebanon. The amphibious transport ship Coronado

(LPD 11) removed the evacuees from Lebanon and

arrived in Athens on 29 July. During January through

July 1976 the contingency evacuation force for the

"Lebanon Civil War Crisis" involved, at different inter-

vals, the support of America, Nimitz, Iwo Jima,

Independence, Guadalcanal and Saratoga.

27 July The first phase of a program to develop the

AV-8B Harrier, a version of the current AV-8A with

improved payload and range, was approved by the

Department of Defense.

13 August An HU-16 Albatross, the Navy's last

operational seaplane made its final water landing in

Pensacola Bay, Fla. After two-touch-and-go landings

the aircraft was flown to Sherman Field where it was

turned over to the Naval Aviation Museum in

Pensacola.