Capt. Dave Dollarhide USN (ret) “Hide” honored us by spending an evening with us talking about his amazing career as a Naval Aviator. Currently the editor of the A-4Ever Skyhawk Journal online at Skyhawk.org, Hide brings us along on his journey from NAvCad in the mid 60s to the horrific day of July 29, 1967 while he was in his A-4 getting ready to launch from the USS Forrestal and a Zuni rocket misfired into the 400 gallon fuel tank of the A-4 parked next to him. When it was all over more than 134 Sailors and Marines had perished and another 167 including him were injured. Hear his first-hand account of that horrific day.
But it doesn’t end there. Hide’s aviation career and excitement was just getting started! Hear about his combat missions in Vietnam, his ejection from another A-4, flying the airshow circuit in A-4s into his 70s and how he survived a mid-air collision in an RV-4 when, sadly, the other pilot was lost.
This is not an episode you want to skip. Buckle in and hang on for a piece of aviation history!
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