VF-41 Black Aces 1971 F-4j Model Relive flying with the VF-41 Black Aces in a hand crafted wood model. This is 18 inch model is meticulously painted and carved and will provide you a piece you will love displaying. Squadron History Deep in the desert of Arizona is an aircraft graveyard, known as the "Boneyard." Relics of past eras of aviation sit row upon row for literally as far as the eye can see. The progression of Naval Aviation, and the material history of squadrons like the Black Aces of Strike Fighter Squadron 41, stands amidst both the civilian and military remnants contained within these acres of storied history. In one section sit rusting, prop-driven, gull-winged F4U Corsairs, of the type first used by then VF-41 during their maiden cruises following World War II. In another, F-4 Phantoms used by the Black Aces in Vietnam recall their missions over dense jungle and against wily adversaries. And in still another, the majestic F-14 Tomcat, perhaps the fighter best associated with the Ace of Spades, has joined her steel sisters in much deserved rest. To represent them all, an entire continent away, a VF-41 Black Ace Tomcat sits proudly perched, alone, in front of the Museum of Naval Aviation History in Pensacola, FL. Yet while these marvels of flight are the physical manifestation of a fighter squadron, the men and women who flew and maintained them are the true source of the warrior spirit that has pervaded VFA-41 since its initial inception. Their backgrounds were and continue to be a microcosm of America herself, but one and all, they are warriors who, in the words of Robert Heinlein, "voluntarily stood between the desolation of war and civilization" time and again. Though the decades passed and innovations evolved, the daring spirit of the men (and in modern times, women) has remained the same regardless of the technological changes around them. Even though 63 years have passed since the Black Aces were first commissioned on the green fields of a long-since forgotten Naval Air Station in Virginia, and her aircraft and duty stations have changed innumerable times, the men and women who flew and fought these marvels of engineering have all held to the ethos that has transcended time and space, and one that History has validated time and again: "FIRST TO FIGHT; FIRST TO STRIKE." The Black Aces began their journey on June 1st, 1945, at Air Station, Chincoteague, Virginia when they were commissioned as an F4U Corsair squadron. This late commissioning precluded them from seeing enemy action as World War II wound down, but by the time of their first aircraft transition, VF-41 had made numerous cruises to the Mediterranean as the Cold War began and the Soviet Union challenged the United States for supremacy in Europe. In the midst of the Korean War, the Black Aces entered the jet age, with aircrew and maintainers welcoming the F2-H Banshee. Once again, the Aces did not see enemy combat, but instead were charged with patrolling the seas of the Mediterranian against the rising Soviet threat. By the end of that decade, VFA-41 received new jets in the form F3H-2 Demon, the first such aircraft to possess radar guided air-to-air missiles. The Demon was short lived, but provided the foundation for the next Black Ace aircraft, the venerable F-4 Phantom. Soon after receiving the Phantom in 1962, the Black Aces were called upon to deploy just miles from the U.S. coast near Key West Florida during the Cuban Missile Crisis. VF-41 was instrumental in ensuring the blockade of Soviet flagged merchant vessels was successfully executed, stopping further nuclear missiles from reaching Fidel Castro. The Black Aces literally saw "the other guy blink." World events did not abandon the Aces, as less than three years later in 1965, the Black Aces and their Phantoms began patrols off the coast of the then-little known country of Vietnam. Their time at sea was punctuated by providing primary fighter escort for massive air strikes against North Vie
