In the sweltering heat of a Vietnamese afternoon, the roar of jet engines pierces the humid air as a squadron of US bombers streaks across the cloudless sky. Accompanying them on their daring mission, a lone Grumman TF-9J, the trainer version of the veteran Cougar fighter, assumes the forward air control role, its pilot scanning the verdant landscape below. Down on the jungle floor, Viet Cong guerrillas are hiding amidst the dense foliage, yet camouflaged friendly forces are also patrolling the area. If the Cougar incorrectly identifies the target, the consequences will be tragic.
Suddenly, sensing movement down below, the eagle-eyed pilot spots an armed unit silently making its way through the tropical undergrowth. Dipping low over the treeline to get a better look, his suspicions are confirmed: it’s the Viet Cong.
Eagerly awaiting intelligence, the ground commanders below hear the pilot’s voice come crackling over the radio to reveal the enemy’s position. They give the order to strike. Moments later, the Cougar approaches, and the jungle shakes with the thunderous roar of a bomb attack…
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7:20 Best name ever! 😂
Never put 's' on the end of 'aircraft', it is at once both singular and plural, same as spacecraft, watercraft, etc. The only exception being "arts&crafts".
Beautiful plane. Can’t believe I haven’t seen these before.
Knew about the panther but not the cougar! Good info.
Yes he has inconsistenties but where is your videos? I just chose to enjoy the video for what it gives.
Panther, cougar, mountain lion, puma,—this cat is known by more names than just about any other mammal! But no matter what you call it it's still the same cat,
I always wanted to build a 1/32 scale model of one of these but nobody released one in that scale,only the F-86..
“DARK SKIES” doesn’t employ fact check. They’re often, OFTEN wrong about details.
that was a pretty airplane
reminds me of the Blackburn Buccaneer
Always amusing to hear about American Wunderwaffen used in wars that Washington…..lost.😂😂😂😂😂
@8:28, Im sure that pilot was was to busy cussin' to be terrified.
I have detail an scale book on couger photo recone model it a very insise book😮
Since when were airplanes designed on canvas? I thought they were designed on the back of used envelopes! 😃😄😁😆😅🤣😂🙃
The second word of Da Nang is pronounced with a long A. I find a puzzling how you pronounce words sometimes. It's like you have gaps in your knowledge of standard English words. Your breathless, urgent delivery coupled with your constant mispronunciation of standard English words removes credibility and so nothing you say can be taken as true fact until checked. Checking often does reveal falsehoods in your narration. I am hoping you learn to do better because we need all the good history channels on YouTube that we can get.
1:10 mark you said the Cougar (which first flew in Sept 1951 and introduced Dec 1952) was the first American fighter with a swept wing… ah no. the North American F-86 Sabre which first flew in Oct 1947 and was introduced 1949 holds that distinction as well as being the primary rival of the MIG-15 (first flew Dec 1947 and introduced 1949) in Korea. The Cougar, a redesign of the earlier Panther, to become the first US naval craft to have swept wings. Just beating out their own F-2 Fury which also first flew in Dec 1951, but was not introduced until 1954.
Complimentary algorithm enhancement comment!😊
Charlie don’t surf
First American fighter with a cutting edge swept-wing design? No, that would be the F-86 Sabre.
Those Blue Angel's and their "death defying stunts at air shows…" 🤣
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Maybe he meant to say us Navy’s first sweep wing fighter?
neat jet but as others pointed out the F86 Sabre was the first US swept wing jet in 1947.
Your videos have helped me gain a deeper understanding of complex subjects. Thank you for breaking it down in a digestible way.
It's like the F4's cousin. Kinda kinda.
Videos like this make me sad that this aircraft sucks so bad in War Thunder.
The A-4 Skyhawk. Nary a mention of this iconic, swept wing beauty.
SEMPER FI!!!
The B-52s shown in the first minute (0:07) are armed with the AGM-28 Hound Dog, a supersonic nuclear-armed cruise missile, one under each wing. As the AGM-28 was a nuclear weapon, none were ever deployed, much less used, in the Vietnam War. Showing them in the context of an iron bomb attack on Viet Cong is misleading in the extreme. There is plenty of stock footage of B-52s carrying and dropping iron bombs that really belongs with your story.
This is the crappiest channel about military equipment. It is always flawed.
My brother ejected from aTF9J at China Lake in early 1960ss
I understand that this article is about the Cougar, but (having mentioned the circumstances in Korea requiring it's eventual development) why didn't at least give a nod to the F-86 Sabre, which was more than a match for its Soviet counterpart?
The F-86 predated the Cougar by what? 5 years?
Yet despite all this technology the US lost this war, did they learn from their mistakes? Of cause not, they continued on to lose more wars such as Afghanistan etc.
For those about to rock, a remix in the background or am I trippin?
Your AI needs to do more research.
Thanks, beautifully done.
I always thought it was a beautiful plane.
funny how the US went from fighting communism to exporting communism..
the narrative voice of a serial killer. what a creepy voice
hard to believe the US made the Atom bomb before they knew proper aerodynamics
I would have proposed the Meerkat. Small, fast and fierce
did it need to dive to bomb?
I prefer Cougays.
Was a pretty good looking plane.
The plural of AIRCRAFT IS AIRCRAFT!
5:47 what the hell is a “powered flying tail”?
Just gonna gloss over it?
Being a life long aviation buff I thoroughly enjoy your well researched and succinct themes, often exploring airframes a little bit outside the cadre of the "Usual suspects". But, as a non-Brit, having served penance as a university-trained (= MSc level) person in aeronautical sciences, working in Britain for Inmarsat in the 80s, indulge in a plea: stop referring to people who design aeroplanes as "scientists"! This is a singularly British affliction. Scientists discover stuff and laws of nature that we didn't know existed; engineers translate those discoveries into everyday useful, practical applications! Engineers (anywhere but in Britain) do not repair broken washing machines, technicians are more than able to do that! Otherwise, great channel!