Dogfights: Last Gunfighter : Dick Schaffert - Part 1 of 2

[luvchoclabs]

Reminds me of James Howard in 1944 flying a Mustang. He jumped on 30 enemy aircraft all by himself and shot down 6. That's how a real Americans roll. And don't forget the story of Taffy 3 in the pacific. Pure Valor

[16rumpole]

For all you tough guy wannabees, look carefully at this old man: he had no guns, no missiles but just imposed his will on that mig pilot. I hope he's still with us a while, I would love to shake his hand

[010bobby]

you guy see why USA is the best! Our fighter pilots always go in to fight no matter how many the enemies are...This guy has balls! 4 against 1 and he lived to tell his story...the Migs are dead and silent..

[0yeah1mFkU]

LOL top flight: MIG-17 - 01/1950 F-8 - 03/1955 a difference of almost 5 years, TWO generations of MIG!!! removed from service: MIG-17 - 1970 (40 years XDDD !!!) F-8 - 1999 top flight: MIG-19 - 05/1952 MIG-21 - 06/1956 do not compare with the old! compare the equivalent - MIG-21 !!!

[smokingmypot657]

can i ask why did the mig-21 come fire rockets that was not on a lock and then hottailed it out of there ?? surely if there planes was better then the older migs they would have took over the fight but glad the crusader guy was a good pilot and made it out alive

[mossmusic]

i can watch this forever. schaffert is the man!

[sbilfer]

At one point North Vietnam had only 7 MIG 21's, so all they did was streak in fire missiles and bug out, protecting the MIG 21's was the top priority.

[Knowwon249]

I love how ev

[Dolpsgrenadier]

this guy has balls of steel

[ethanreipold88]

The main problem we had in vietnam was a dependance on misslies they were highly unrealable and usally never hit there target they should have incroporated guns in the first place and not just the "BOMBER" belif of misslies out do guns they should be used together and in the right skill training and you with have an unstopable force.

[shaheer09shaheer]

amirica always picks on a weaker person a contrie that it noes he can beat

[ethanreipold88]

@shaheer09shaheer we did not beat the North Vietnamise buddy the conflict was a draw nether side won so get facts and learn how to spell

"Country" "America".

[n8bolton]

@ethanreipold88 it wasnt exactly a draw, but it wasnt a loss either. we straightened things out over there. we acted as the handyman fix-it guy. and to you shaheer09shaheer. we helped fix what the North Vietnamese were incapable and incompitent in fixing themselves. the U.S. was a moderator ya iggnorant prick

[kdraper2007]

@ethanreipold88 The war was won militarily, & even politically. it was lost when the idiot politicians refused to respond to the North Viettnamease invasion which broke the peace treaty in 1975. when the U.S. left Vietnam, the north was militarily unable to do much of anything. of course now they are dependent on the U.S. so in the end the U.S. won the whole thing anyway.

[kdraper2007]

@shaheer09shaheer Really? Imperial Japan, weak? Nazi Germany? funny how the weaker country is always "Picking on" a weaker country itself when the U.S. gets involved. after all the North Vietnamease were trying to take over the much weaker south Vietnam. before that it was the North Korean's invading the agrarian south Korea. take your soviet era propaganda & stuff it.

[Dustfinger43]

i can never find this show on anywhere

[MiGKillerInACrusader]

Beautiful work by a fellow 8 pilot. Glad to see that he made it out, as so many others didn't.

[penguinskywalker]

@MiGKillerInACrusader Did you see many engagements, Sir?

[0yeah1mFkU]

@MiGKillerInACrusader LOL R U STUPID )))

[sureshot649]

a true testament to the F8 Crusader and Dick Schaffert.

[yakovlev3a]

I dont understand why A4 skyhawk runs away.......A-4 is very maneuverable. That combined with the Boom Zoom capability of the F-8 should be enough to fight the migs. Did A4 not have gun on it?

[kdraper2007]

A-4 had 2 20MM cannons mounted in the fuselage near the wing roots. I believe the A-4 ran because the pilots were not trained for dogfighting. The A-4 was fully capable of dogfighting, it's that most A-4 pilots didn't have the fighter pilot mindset.

[yakovlev3a]

ohhh

[kdraper2007]

I just reread "Migmaster- The F-8 Crusader" in the book they describe this action. appearently the A-4 did reengage one of the migs & kept it occupied till other Crusaders showed up.

[humpingbird]

The A4 was configured for a bomb run. It will turn like a pregnant cow.

[yakovlev3a]

If that is true, why does the us navy "top gun" instructors use them to symbolize enemy fighters such as MiG-17? The A4 is actually more maneuverable than most fighters. It is just very slow by the standards of a fighter aircraft (thus relegating it to bombing).

[humpingbird]

I meant that in that mission, the A4 was configured for bombing.

[yakovlev3a]

that is true though

[YakAV8R]

The Skyhawk depicted didn't really exist at the time of this engagment (OA-4M) but it may well have been an A-4E. Whatever the case..he could have dropped external stores and got into the mix. Would it have been wise? Probably not, but going offensive and merging with the MiG's would have been most unexpected and just enough of a distraction for the F-8 end it sooner. Anyway..RTB and leaving it a 4 vs.1 fight is uncool.

[jasondr66]

Dr. Schaffert came to our Aerospace Museum today and spoke. He has such an amazing story to tell. He has to be one of the best jet fighter pilots of all time. He was also an Operations Officer f the squadron where TOPGUN was born.

[shadowfang7845]

Whats the name of this episode?

[look8u]

A general question: What happens with a missle that doesn't hit the target; has it potential harm for the population below?

[driftkingz109]

no, it just explodes in the air like flak

[humanrotiemuncher]

No, no it does not. It simply falls to earth and falls dead after a certain altitude, and becomes a "dead" ordinance, unable to explode on its own.

[Stover36]

Only Radar gided (bad spelling?) missiles explode like flak when miss.

[kdraper2007]

Actually sidewinders have a proximity fuze also. the fuze failed on this occasion. this early in the missile era, no one had considered that a missile might make several flights on an aircraft before being fired. the shock of catapult launches & arrested landings were a leading cause of Missile failure. as was humidity. modern missiles are designed with this criteria in mind & are much more effective.

[mdk124]

what a good pilot

[CorsairAce214]

F-8 is one Badass bird

[DarkFalconX]

Oh yeah!

Have you seen an F-8 Crusader in person? I have. They have one being restored at the Pacific Coast Air Museum in Santa Rosa, CA.

[HalcyonSkies]

I really don't know why, but the Crusader is my favorite jet of all time. I just love it. Wish I had this full episode.

[DarkFalconX]

You can get the full series on DVD at Amazon.

As for the F-8 Crusader, I can't help but admit I've taken a liking to that legendary warbird as well.

They have one being restored at the Pacific Coast Air Museum in Santa Rosa, California.

[kdraper2007]

You can get it on Itunes.

[gothenburgmark]

because the F8 Crusader was the last US fighter designed with guns as its primary weapon.

[privatesteverogers]

I was wondering if anyone had the rest of the epidose to post.

[noblepuker]

love the tough look of the crusader.

[THUD086]

Why is the F-8 called "the last of the gunfighters?"

[ilotitto]

Because it was the last USAF fighter designed to be just a gunfighter, the addition of missiles came in later designs

[THUD086]

Okay, thanks ilotitto, I get it now. Although it was a Navy plane, not Air Force. Thanks again.

[heretic112]

Im Pretty Sure They Where The Last Ones That Did Not Have Missiles

[THUD086]

Okay, thanks, heretic112. ilottito mentioned below that the plane was modified to carry missiles after the the plane was built. The reason I even brought it up is because the F-105 shot down 25 of its 27 kills with a gun, whereas the F-8 had 19 kills, very few of those were with a gun.

[BashProductions123]

wtf did you think he under his plane? and he ends up firing em.

[kdraper2007]

F-8's had four launch rails for sidewinders mounted on either side of the fuselage just forward of the leading edge of the wing. 2 missiles per side directly behind the 20MM cannon bay & beneath the air/air refueling probe bay.

[BashProductions123]

Because it was the last time a Fighter had been using a gun as its primary weapon. :)

[ME262MKI]

The F-8 crusader was the best and the last gunfighter

[markbart7]

Not the best plane in the world, but Vought did very well with the crusader.

[blazersoccer14]

richered shafter or dick? 4;12

[RexNunc]

this is great.

Watching this on the History channel is brutal, with all the commercials.

[markbart7]

TiVo is great...

[1greenMitsi]

haha lucky those mig21's didnt shoot him down or this dogfight would have neever been aired

[cas343]

How the hell would they have gotten the info then genius? Ask the wreckage?

[Jayzasianstyle]

1greenMitsi is a lol retard

[Dogmeat7]

umm what the hell does that mean? they have shown pilot shootign down planes then being shot down.

[Dogmeat7]

what!!? there a great plane. dumbass

[DeutschAutos]

i wonder why the mig 21s left

[YouT00ber]

I cut this explanatory bit from the video for time, but apparently, they didn't have many mig 21s & it was standard practice to bug out rahter than risk losing them, plus the command structure was such that guys back @ command (& not the pilots) made the decisions in the air, so even tho it's just one guy they wouldn't of had permission to engage, most likely.

[wichitashocker]

they probably left because N.Vietnam didn't wanna risk losing them. im assuming the other (cheaper) migs were the only one's with the sidewinder like missles. The bastards either thought 4 should take one...or they may have thought 1 could take four, let's not loose six!haha, either way, our pilot is still able to do this show!!! kick ass!!!

[BashProductions123]

The bit was cut out as he said they has very little of them and were only mainly seen in dogfights they were more of a hit n run.

[Stani1010]

@DeutschAutos

die Serie hat nicht sonderlich viel mit der Realität zu tun

[markvinas31]

we have f-8s here in the Philippines but they no longer fly.

[Ratherfish90]

50,000 views perfect, and this vid still kicks ass.

[komepollass]

F-8 returned a higher kill to losses ratio than F-4. US Navy pilots probably better trained, however, F-4 could not make full use of its BVR capability because ROE and Navy's Sidewinders were miles better.

[BashProductions123]

Yes i saw this one to i reckon its BS thats so unfair but i guess its life :)

[thedreamdealer]

This happened 40 years ago today!!!!!!

[wb678]

I know but, I was saying that it was missing shots even in the Gulf War. USAF pilots used to fire at low altitude and it would just fly straight into a void.

Piece of crap, really. Couldn't compare to the Russian R-73 (made in mid-80's) until 2006.

[072622001]

F-8 rules!!

[mossmusic]

OMG this guy is awesome!!

[chemicalreactio]

oya i saw that 1 on tv

[alielhaddad]

Every one check the Dogfights that i have, click my name and see the best Duel between USAF F-4 and vietnameese MiG-17

[racinglad]

Duke Cunninham´s fight. Yeap, I´ve seen that one before several times.

[Poseidon500]

No wonder the Atoll missile missed all the time. It was baised on a Sidewinder that obviously missed all the time as well.

[wb678]

The Sidewinder was missing shots even in 1991...

[FOOSAG]

American-made equipment = American "ingenuity"

[blackboltthunder]

i thought they where mig-19's???

[Crimmond]

19s had further swept wings.

[kevinmann]

f-8 crusader my favorite jet

[MokomaSusi]

Sadly a jet whats not mentionet that much. Good fighter but F-4 gets all the attention always.

[vorgps]

Also onoz11, America did scramble to buy as many of the Avro Arrows as possible before they were all destroyed, but the Canadian government stopped it.

[swaterik1986]

Maaan this must be the coolest dog fight ever with jet planes. GIVE ME MORE!

[DarthSithari]

Best dogfight I've seen on the show, although Robbie Risner and the honcho comes close.

[onoz11]

Great fight. If only the US bought the Avro Arrow, he would have knocked out all the MIGs within a minute. But no, Americans don't want anything better than something they have.

[SilverScar1992]

it is not the jet its the pilot...

[Max8Jizzy]

The Canadaians ended the Avro Arrow in 1959, so how whould the Americans buy something that's already gone? Avro Arrow is not a dogfighter.

[Crimmond]

Gotta love these little jabs to start flame wars.

[flyboyII]

ah, yes. 60's american weapons. guns that don't do much but jam and missiled that couldn't track a blimp on a sunny day. At least the americans made good planes and engines.

[jlwillsey]

during WWII the germans had a jet that looked a lot like the mig 21. i wonder if that started the counstuction of the mig.......

[flyboyII]

no, the MiG-21 was a farly original design. Mikoyan followed all the rules of building a good fighter, and added delta wings to give it better speed, compared to the swept popsicle wings of earlier MiGs. Besides, if it was copied from the nazis, it'd be made of plywood n would run on extract of Jew.(sorry)

[pannono]

WRONG! It was the Focke-Wulf Ta-183. It looked like the MiG 15. The Soviets captured blueprints so that explains it. Ta-183 didn't see service, MiG 15 did

[Iamnottheyeti]

man this video shows the flaws of fixed wingman tactic.

although he faces 4 migs, he's actually fighting 2 opponent since the vietnamese wingmans where not allowed to detach from there leader. if the vietnamese pilots in this occasion had any training in using loose deuce I believe they would have gotten schaeffert.

[Hansinator5000]

unless of course the leader told the wingman to break off.

[Hansinator5000]

and one of his opponents did have experience. this guy was pure skill and mastery, he would have gotten them if his weapons hadn't jammed.

[gengrant1]

Dick Schaffert kick's ass

[nakazatoGTR]

oh crap, right near the end of this video, the mig-21 were utterly scared or was ordered to bring back the mig-21 in ne piece.

if they were scared, the had no balls what so ever.

if they had other intents, they just busted their chance of a kill.

[YouT00ber]

I had to cut a 30second clip from this video for space that went into that a bit. Basically they didn't have many Mig21s in stock, & rather than risk losing them to US pilots it was a standard tactic to do this. Even tho they outnumbered the US pilot in this case, I think their Top-down command structure meant the pilot in the field couldn't make the decision to engage based on conditions @ the scene.

[nakazatoGTR]

way to go schaffert!

if he could read this now, he is now one of my "Winged Heroes"

i'll remember this tactic when flying in Wings over Vietnam.

[RingSight91]

Funny how the animators keep missing the sequence of his missile shots. One minute they're there, the next they're gone, then they're back again.

[spazquester]

I can't fathom how anyone performs like this.

[gengrant1]

I agree with you thoose guy's are really something

[pdumas3]

Love that barrel-roll missle-lock maneuver.

[SmiertSpionem]

That F-8 was in another league!