Hobby Master Archive

In 1942 the 214 Marine Fighter Squadron was commissioned at Ewa Airfield on Oahu, Hawaii. It started out full of misfits under the command of legendary Major Gregory “Pappy” Boyington who had just finished flying with the AVG Flying Tigers. Considering the demeanor of the crew the name “Blacksheep” seemed very appropriate so the 214 decided to use it as the name for the new group. The bar sinister black shield of illegitimacy with a black sheep, a Corsair and a circle of stars their status and the manner in which they were established. Pappy shaped his men into one of the most deadly fighter team of the Pacific in WWII. The 214 was decommissioned for a short time after WWII but was re-commissioned in 1948. The squadron fought in Korea where they played a major part during the landings at Inchon. They also showed the same excellence as the original team while in combat in Vietnam. The squadron flew 3971 combat sorties and 5274 combat flight hours in the first eight months of their tour of duty in Vietnam. For the next several years the 214 were relocated several times and flew several different aircraft types. From 1971 to 1979 the 214 were stationed at 4 different locations, one being Iwakuni Japan. The aircraft they flew during these years was the McDonnell Douglas A-4M Skyhawk. It wasn’t until June 1989 that the Blacksheep retired the A-4M for the new AV-8 Night Attack Harrier.

The deployment of this aircraft: Built as BuNo. 159489 C/N 14430 the aircraft was delivered to VMA-214 on August 3 1977 at MCAS Iwanuki, Japan. May 16 1980 to VMA-211 June 5 1987 to VMA-214 July 24 1987 to VMA-311 July 31 1988 to VMA-214 June 13 1989 to VMA-211 January 1 1990 to MAG-42 (Marine Aircraft Group - Marine Reserves) Alameda NAS June 30 1992 to MAG-42 that was re-designated MAG-46 Det B (Detachment Bravo) Alameda NAS August 7 1992 to MAG-49 Willow Grove NAS in Pennsylvania June 7 1994 the aircraft was transferred as 3A0781 to AMARC (Aerospace Maintenance And Regeneration Center) in Tucson Arizona. Here it was registered as AN3A0781. The aircraft is listed as “Departed AMARC” so it could have gone for scrap or sent to a museum or private collection.