Squadron callsigns

[mcmaster]

Anyone know the radio callsigns used in th epast by the A4 squadrons 2 and 75?
I know "Kiwi Red' was the display team and i've heard on the scanner in australia kiwi black, gold etc. when 2 squadron was deployed to Nowra back in the good ol days. Not sure if 75sqn had its own. Also I'm curious when the Aussie hornets (or F111s) are in NZ did they use "aussie" callsign or their usual squadron callsigns Cobra, Shogun etc to name some.

[Kereru]

Call sign for the F-111 at Wanaka this year was "Pig One" as heard on a mates scanner. They do have a strange similarity to a pig at certain angles around the nose cockpit area.

[Calum]

From memory 2 Sqn's call signs in Nowra where Kiwi Gold, Copper Silver, Bronze etc. Barsney will know

[Barnsey]

Standard practice for RNZAF aircraft overseas is to use the Kiwi prefix, and then for formations to use a colour. A set of colours were allocated to each of the squadrons. I think the common one used in Nowra was Kiwi Black.

In NZ, 75 used the Skyhawk prefix and 14 Sqn used Falcon.

[Barnsey]

RAAF aircraft on international flights use the Aussie callsign prefix followed by the flight number. I seem to remember that once the Hornet squadrons got into NZ they used their normal formation prefix - Shogun, Warlock etc.

[Dave Homewood]

Did our strike pilots ever use their nicknames for identification over the radio, like in the films where you see radio chat with "Maverick", "Topper" and "Washout" etc?

I assume in reality our pilots were much more disciplined and used the callsign then a number? Like Skyhawk 1 or whatever rather than "Oz" or "Boss" or whoever?

[FlyNavy]

Perhaps there is a misunderstanding about some aspects of USN callsigns. I don't claim to know after all these years; and I have not seen 'Top Gun' the movie for a long time. Can I explain by using an example:

The RAN Skyhawk pilots used a 'self-selected' callsign for their formation and armament work. The Leader of any formation used his individual personal callsign as the formation name, while no.2 etc used 'callsign two' etc. The individual callsign was used when on Beecroft Armament Range at Jervis Bay. Otherwise in the RAN an individual jet used its aircraft side number as its callsign (882).

Sometimes a generic callsign was used for training flights on Operational Flying School (OFS) such as 'Delta' or when in civil airspace 'Skyhawk'.

Often the RAN 'self-selected' callsigns would be eclectic to say the least. Originally I selected "Sinbad" but had to change it to "Lucifer" when asked (it is a long story). Other pilots had "Wombat" or "Spastic"! It was fun to be 'Spastic Two' in the "Spastics" in formation (led by the Senior Pilot [XO] at that time). These individual callsigns would not be used by any other pilot.

Perhaps the 'Top Gun' movie callsigns were imitating this practice of using individual pilot callsigns. If this is the case (then) the pilots were not being undisciplined for using "Maverick" or whatever. But I don't claim to know the definitive answer for the USN at that time. Certainly in the RAN - and I guess the USN - a pilot would develop (not in his control) a personal nickname that could be meaningful or not. In my case I was first known as "Sergio" and then later "Luig". ?

A surname 'Brown' is always prefixed with "Bomber" in the RAN or 'Clark' is often prefixed with "Knobby". Mostly I cannot remember first names of aircrew but could remember their nicknames (and surnames). I believe in the USN a pilot could develop a nickname that was meaningful; and sometimes never have a nickname. As the Yanks say "go figure".
Phil.

[planeimages]

This is what Wikkipedia says about Randy "Duke" Cunningham. It would seem apparent that the USAF used personal callsigns in the Vietnam era...

Randall Harold "Duke" Cunningham (born December 8, 1941), usually known as Randy or Duke, is a Vietnam flying ace, convicted felon and a former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from California's 50th Congressional District from 1991 to 2005.
After receiving his bachelor's and MBA degrees from the University of Missouri in 1964 and 1965, Cunningham spent a year as a high school swimming coach in Hinsdale, Illinois before joining the United States Navy in 1966.
During his service, Cunningham became the first Navy ace in the Vietnam War, flying an F-4 Phantom from aboard aircraft carriers, and recording five confirmed kills, making him one of two U.S. pilots to "ace" in that war. He was one of the early graduates of the Navy's TOPGUN school that taught dogfighting techniques to F-4 Phantom pilots and RIOs. It has been alleged that Cunningham downed a MiG-17 piloted by Vietnamese fighter ace Col. Nguyen Toon. Although "Col. Toon" was a North Vietnamese manufactured myth the Vietnamese pilot was still a superb dogfighter.[6] Cunningham was reportedly almost court-martialed while still in flight school for breaking into an office to compare his records with those of his colleagues—a charge denied by Cunningham, but supported by two of his superior officers at the time.[7] Regardless of the controversy, there was little doubt about Cunningham's piloting abilities. He was one of the most highly decorated U.S. Navy pilots in the Vietnam War, receiving the Navy Cross once, the Silver Star twice, the Air Medal 15 times, and the Purple Heart for wounds he received under enemy fire.
After returning from Vietnam in 1972, he became an instructor at the Navy's TOPGUN school for fighter pilots at Miramar Naval Air Station in San Diego. Cunningham says many of his real-life experiences in combat and as an instructor were depicted in the popular 1986 movie Top Gun,[8] although the movie's producer says it was not based on any specific aviator.[9]
Cunningham was a commentator on the History Channel program "Dogfights: The Greatest Air Battles", in the Vietnam War segment, where he discussed his experiences as a fighter pilot.

[FlyNavy]

Perhaps without input from USN or USAF pilots from that era we may not know how things were regarding callsigns. I imagine that a lot of 'creative license' was used in the making of "Top Gun".

Regarding callsigns I would believe that pilots used different callsigns for different missions. Usually ACM would be a "formation" flight so in the RAN a personal callsign was used for the formation. "Duke" Cunningham would have used different callsigns depending on the mission. At TopGun - it most likely was "Duke" I guess - however in Vietnam he would have used a 'mission assigned' callsign that may have varied from flight to flight and even varied during the mission. It is a shame that Randall ended up as he did.

When exercising with RAN ships our jets would have their individual callsigns assigned by the codebook in use for that day, similarly the ships had their callsigns varied. These would change at an assigned time of day. The purpose I was told was for minimal intelligence to be gained from 'callsigns'. However there was the problem of the same radio operators from day to day. Woe betide any pilot who did not use the proper callsign of the day. :-)
Phil.

[Barnsey]

Today's doctrine has gone away from a personal callsign, as too much intelligence can be gained/devolved by personally identifying who is flying the aircraft. Individual aircraft are supposed to be addressed only by their formation callsign and number. This is also to cater for the big package scenario, where simply addressing "2, do this" might have a 16 different number 2s reacting. But... in the heat of the fight a quick "Barnsey, break right" cuts through all the other tac com.

When operating with members of your own squadron only, you quickly get to know each other's voice. This certainly helps with any mumble mouth or callsign confusion.