page_title: Edward L. Feightner
section_title: VF-8
hierarchical_section_title: Edward L. Feightner / World War II service / VF-8
caption_attribution_description: English: Fighter plane contrails mark the sky over Task Force 58, during the "Great Marianas Turkey Shoot" phase of the battle, 19 June 1944. Photographed from on board USS Birmingham (CL-62). (Battle of the Philippine Sea, June 1944) Deutsch: Kondensstreifen am Himmel während des Pazifikkriegs am 19. Juni 1944 bei der Schlacht in der philippinischen See (siehe "Truthahnschießen")
context_page_description: Rear Admiral Edward Lewis Feightner was a United States Navy officer who fought in a number of significant battles in the World War II Pacific Theater of Operations. During two combat tours, he shot down nine enemy aircraft to become a flying ace.
  He was an early member of the Blue Angels flight demonstration squadron and flew the lead "solo" position. His work as a test pilot included aircraft, electronic systems, and operational tactics such as developing techniques for delivering nuclear weapons from small fighter aircraft. He commanded increasingly larger air units including VF-11 and Carrier Air Group Ten as well as training organizations that helped the Navy transition from propeller to jet aircraft. He commanded two Navy ships, served as the head of Navy Fighter Design, and was a key contributor to fighter studies that resulted in the development of jet aircraft that as of 2015 are still in active service.
  Feightner was the only pilot to land the dash-1 variant of the Vought F7U Cutlass aboard a carrier. He led VF-11 to become the first Atlantic fleet unit in which every pilot received the coveted "E" award in a single exercise.
context_section_description: In May 1943, Feightner received orders to VF-8 flying the Grumman F6F Hellcat at Naval Auxiliary Air Station Pungo—a satellite airfield near Naval Station Norfolk. This second squadron to be designated VF-8 was established on June 1, 1943 and led by Lt Cdr William M. Collins Jr. who would himself become a nine-victory ace. Fighting Eight was initially assigned to the new carrier USS Intrepid (CV-11) that had been launched just weeks prior. During Intrepid's sea trials in the fall of 1943, Feightner performed initial takeoffs, landings, and catapult shots flying the F6F.
  In March 1944, Carrier Air Wing Eight began operations from USS Bunker Hill (CV-17). Part of the Fast Carrier Task Force TF 58 commanded by Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher, Bunker Hill participated in a series of attacks against Japanese positions in the Pacific Theater of Operations. VF-8 saw their first combat during a two-day strike on Palau. On the first day of the raid, March 30, 1944, Feightner became an ace when he shot down a Mitsubishi A6M "Zeke" over the island of Peleliu. The Palau battle also marked the first combat use of the 'Berger' Gradient Pressure Suit—an air inflatable G-suit that allowed a pilot to maneuver his aircraft more aggressively without blacking out. The "Z-suit" proved so successful that all but three of the VF-8 pilots chose to wear the equipment.
  As TF 58 followed the U.S. strategy of leapfrogging toward Japan, Feightner participated in strikes at the Yap coral atoll of Woleai helping to isolate the Japanese garrison there. At the end of April, the task force returned to Truk in the Caroline Islands. Once a major Japanese stronghold, Truk had been badly damaged during Operation Hailstone earlier that year, but the Japanese had since reinforced the island with aircraft from Rabaul. On April 29, 1944, Feightner shot down a Zeke over Truk, raising his total to six aircraft destroyed.
  In June 1944, the U.S. initiated the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign. Feightner flew during the Battle of the Philippine Sea that was better known to American pilots as the 'Great Marianas Turkey Shoot' due to the overwhelming losses inflicted upon the naval air forces of Japan. He fought in a series of actions over the next few months including the Battle of Saipan, the Battle of Guam, strikes on Okinawa, and the Battle of Tinian.
  As U.S. forces pushed toward the Philippines, the fast carriers of Task Force 38 (TF 38) moved to subdue Japanese air power on the island of Formosa—known today as Taiwan. During the Aerial Battle of Taiwan–Okinawa, VF-8 destroyed thirty aircraft near Taien Airfield. Flying in this battle on October 12, 1944, Feightner shot down three Zekes (although at least one source states the aircraft were "Oscars") bringing his total to nine aircraft destroyed. Feightner continued to fly missions with VF-8 until Bunker Hill returned to the United States for an overhaul in November 1944.
caption: Fighter aircraft contrails mark the sky over Task Force 58 on June 19, 1944
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