N12152333 —

The RAN ended up with a total of 32 Trackers - one S-2a, 15 S-2E, 16 S-2G and had been replacements for their Fairey Gannets. 9 Trackers had been destroyed in a hangar fire at HMAS Albatross in December 1976.

The S-2Gs were acquired in March 1977 from storage at Davis Monthan where they were refurbished and flown to San Diego then shipped to Australia aboard the aircraft carrier, HMAS Melbourne.

All Trackers retained their US serials but were prefixed by N12 in RAN service.

Harks me back to Vietnam War carrier days. We had daily C-1 COD runs. The 1820's on an S2 have their own sound and when you heard one you didn't have to look up to know what it was. Great shot and thanks for posting.

Thank you Don.

Gavin.........

Love those big radial engines.

Great Shot / Have a super Weekend.

I remember as a young lad in the 60's the Canadian Armed forces would park one of these every summer at their display at the Canadian National Exhibition
I was soooooo impressed . They would let you sit in the cockpit

Thanks Ken. Big radials, big noise - beautiful.

Huge "thanks" to Gavin Hughes for the awesome historical information!

You're welcome Robert.

Excellent picture GAvin ... I prefer the radial one instead of prop.. 5*

Thank you Serge.

Oz Gman - great angle and capture! 5x

Oh wow! I remember the C-1 in Misawa Japan when I was first stationed there in 1985. I remember her also when I was on the Independence as a COD bird. Beautiful Lady! Yep, the R1820 was a wonderful engine. My Lt. told me one day while he was ready to take off with me in it going to Atsugi that he could do a vertical. Hmmm, while the engine started and oil sprayed onto the windows, I wondered to myself, is he crazy? Well, we hit the runway and in a few seconds we were in the air and headed almost (Almost) straight up but he didn't go vertical. Crazy Lieutenants. We still had a great time. These carried the spooks up to Wakkanai on the island of Hokkaido when I was stationed in Misawa. Miss them dearly. Great shot by the way. Thank you for the memories.

Tom and Mark - thank you guys. (Not looking at FA much lately therefore late reply - apologies).

Grumman produced 3 aircraft from the same air frame for the US Navy. C-1A Trader, S-2 Tracker and the E-1 Tracer. All workhorses for the Navy for many years. I was enlisted aircrew on USS Ranger COD crew (carrier onboard delivery)for 3 years. These were the last aircraft to run the deck to launch, no catapult needed. Gavin, thanks for the wonderful photo that evoked some nice memories.

Thank you iffmode4 and you're welcome.