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bob mack
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Hasegawa 1/48 A-4F Skyhawk “Lady Jessie”

July 29, 2018 · in Aviation · · 25 · 4.2K

Jessie Beck ran the keno concession at Harolds Club in Reno in 1957

that's where she met a young part-time dealer named Dick Perry who longed to become a Navy pilot

Dick was accepted as a Naval officer and within two years earned his wings

with NAS Fallon just next door Jessie would supply the local flyboys with dice cards cookies and cakes

Dick was assigned to VA-164...the amazing Ghostriders and then deployed to West Pac...Yankee Station {north}

by 1967 he had become the lead pilot

one morning he flew off to Haiphong Harbor from the U.S.S. Oriskany... deep into his second tour in Vietnam

that morning he took a direct devasting hit from a SAM...he then ran for the Gulf of Tonkin got about a mile in then had to bail...helos attempted a rescue of his lifeless body but shore gunners made the area so hot the rescue was called off...he'd been hit badly in the chest when the SAM hit

a local fisherman retrieved his body and in 1987 Vietnam returned his remains

Jessie attended his funeral...most of his buddies who attended held Flag rank which he too probably would have been also as he was in the fast track to promotion...you are not forgotten sir...slow hand salute

Jessie sported the avionics hump on the spine...6 Mk. 82 Snakeyes and two AGM-12 "Bullpup" air to ground pilot guided [by joy stick] missiles

Reader reactions:
13  Awesome

25 responses

  1. Excellent rendition of one of my favorites. Nice job.

  2. a tribute to an American hero

  3. Excellent job Bob, great background story as well. And who doesn't like the looks of a Scooter.

  4. 1st Love the Skyhawk and your model of the A-4. They always get my attention. 2nd. I always love this particular aircraft but never knew the story. Thanx for sharing it!

  5. Ready two! A fine tribute, a fine build, sir.

  6. Hello Bob...My compliments on an outstanding Skyhawk build and a sad but excellent story to go along with it...well done.

  7. a really well-done Skyhawk - love everything about it. Great job Bob, and thanks for the back-story - I don't remember hearing that one before.

  8. Very well done. Appreciate the back-story.

  9. Always liked this particular scooter, now I really like it, knowing the story.

    • wow...thank you Tom...you actually had a hand in this model...i read your comment to somebody about ship decks fading in the Pacific and kept that in mind while I applied the wear & tear

  10. That turned out great, Bob. Nice job. Just the right amount of weathering.

  11. Love the Scooter. I've always wondered how hard it was for a pilot in a single seat jet to use the Bullpup. I'd imagine it would be like trying to land an RC plane while you're flying a real one.

    • it was quite dangerous... it gave the pilots' position away...they used them against hardened targets like bridges due to the inaccuracy of those types of raids in Korea but remember we were still fighting WW11 at this stage mentally and pretty much technically...a lot of Bullpup attacks ended badly for the pilot...I'm sure that's where the RIO came from because it would be his job to fire and guide that

  12. An old favorite, and you have done it justice
    Lovely build

  13. Amazing build! And so good to see Dick Perry's story being shared here.
    I just read "Dead Men Flying" by Mike Mullane, who was Dick Perry's wingman when these events took place. The story of "Lady Jesse" is well covered in the book as well. Mr. Mullane praises so much the leadership of Dick Perry, all that he learned from him and of course has to live through his devastating loss. I highly recommend the book for a complete perspective of an A-4 pilot in Vietnam and the Ghostriders.
    From the book and photos in it, I understand the original "Lady Jessie" airplane was an A-4E (without the hump) and, as said here, in the Ghostriders (VA-164) of USS Oriskany - Has anyone seen a set of aftermarket decals to build that version?

    PS: sharing photo evidence of my fanatism for the A-4, all my builds so-far of the Argentine air war in Malvinas/Falklands. Can't claim any quality compared to this post's build though 🙂

    1 attached image. Click to enlarge.

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