[cva66snipe]

Thanks for the explanation. It was odd watching them. We were roughly 5 miles or so away from the helo carrier just enough where you could see the plane disappear as it crossed the flighteck. We weren't close enough to watch them land with the naked eye. This was likely among the first sea trials. We heard such a plane was being developed. It was kinda like flying fish you think you saw something but you weren't quite sure LOL.

[A.A. Cunningham]

Sea trials for the Marine Corps Harriers were conducted in the early 70s. VMA-231 embarked 12 AV-8As aboard the FDR, CV-42, some of which are pictured below, on her final cruise as part of CVW-19 in 1976 in the med.