Author

Till Daisd

Till Daisd

Till is an aviation enthusiast blogger who has been writing since 2013. He started out writing about personal readings since expanded his blog to include information and stories about all aspects of aviation. Till's blog is a go-to source for anyone interested in learning more about aviation, whether you're a pilot or just a curious onlooker.

F-15C-Eagle-USAF-Museum-MiG-29-Kills

When the F-15C #86-0156, the only Eagle to score two MiG-29 kills, retired

by Till Daisd February 3, 2024

written by Till Daisd

The only Eagle to record two MiG-29 kills, F-15C #86-0156, was retired to the US Air Force National Museum on April 25, 2023

As seen in the video in this post, on April 25, 2023, F-15C #86-0156—the only Eagle to record two MiG-29 kills—was retired to the US Air Force’s National Museum. Lt. Col. Matthew “Beast” Tanis of the 104th Fighter Wing was the last person to fly the jet (#86-0156) from Barnes Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts to Dayton, according to Alert 5.

The two MiG-29 kills were scored in 1999 During Operation Allied Force. Col. Jeff “Claw” Hwang shot down two Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Air Force (FRYAF) MiG-29s, an accomplishment about which Tanis talked reverently. Flying the iconic fighter plane to what he called the Air Force’s “hall of fame” was an honor, according to Tanis.

“This is like one of those sad things with your favorite car, you’re basically driving it to the garage to never fly it again,” Tanis explained to Dayton 24/7 Now.

Tanis added about flying the F-15C in general:

“There’s not a lot of limits to it; not a lot of things you can’t do and that makes it really, really fun. The F-15C is kind of the last jet created, not fly-by-wire, so it’s bellcranks and pullies, so you’re connected to the stick. It’s obviously hydraulically actuated to move it but you feel it, and all the jets since don’t have that.”

Meghan Anderson, a curator in the Research Division of the museum, predicts that this F-15C will eventually take the place of the F-15A that is now on exhibit. There is no set schedule for when this “MiG Killer” will be on exhibit, according to her. It must first be cleaned and ready for exhibition.

The F-15C fleet of the USAF is about to be retired after 50 years of active service. With a 50-year service life and an exceptional combat record, the Eagle is a spectacular fighter aircraft. The aircraft’s retirement means those days have come to an end.

As previously mentioned, a portion of the retired aircraft are being sent straight to the Israeli Air Force, where they are already in service. This represents the first instance of an aircraft transferring from ramp to ramp.

One was given to NASA to be used in their chase plane program, which will help gather data for their airborne platforms.

The majority of the jets, though, are retiring to Arizona. The Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group also referred to as “the Boneyard,” takes jets and mothballs them in the southwest desert.

Like legions of people of retirement age, Americans enjoy the low humidity and lack of snow or rain in their later years. It’s an environment that helps preserve the aircraft if they should be called back to service.

Photo by Ty Greenlees / National Museum of the U.S. Air Force

February 3, 2024 0 comment

K-314-Kitty-Hawk

When Russian Nuclear Submarine K-314 Rammed USS Kitty Hawk the Americans blamed the Sub Captain for the incident and the Soviets concurred

by Till Daisd February 2, 2024

written by Till Daisd

K-314 Captain Vladimir Evseenko did not agree since the incident had caused no loss of life or the submarine itself. “We even managed to kick out the ‘enemy’ for a long time,” he pointed out

On Mar. 21, 1984, while US Navy Battle Group Bravo sailed southerly courses toward the Tsushima Strait into the Yellow Sea during Exercise Team Spirit 84-1, Soviet submarine K-314, a Victor I-class attack boat, collided with USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) aircraft carrier while surfacing.

According to Naval History and Heritage Command, the collision occurred at 2207, about 150 miles east of Pohang, South Korea, in the Sea of Japan, near 37º3’N, 131º54’E. Captain David N. Rogers, on the bridge, felt a “noticeable shudder, a fairly violent shudder,” and he and the starboard lookout saw the outline of the sub’s sail moving away from Kitty Hawk, the sub failing to display navigation lights.

RADM Richard M. Dunleavy, Director, Carrier (CV) and Air Stations Program, later noted that during the previous three days, the sub was detected by helos launched from Battle Group Bravo “and killed more than 15 times,” the Victor I initially being sighted on the surface 50 nautical miles ahead of the carrier’s intended course before submerging, on Mar. 19.

Then on Mar. 21, K-314 rose to a depth of just 10 meters after having lost track of USS Kitty Hawk due to bad weather.

Through the periscope, Captain Vladimir Evseenko discovered that the entire USS Kitty Hawk CSG was only 4 to 5 kilometers away. More alarmingly still, the Americans and K-314 were heading towards each other at full throttle.

K-314 — K-314 after having rammed USS Kitty Hawk

Evseenko gave an immediate order to submerge, but it was too late. K-314 and USS Kitty Hawk collided.

“The first thought was that the conning tower had been destroyed and the submarine’s body was cut to pieces,” Evseenko recalled. “We checked the periscope and antennas – they were in order. No leaks were reported, and the mechanisms were ok. Then suddenly another strike! In the starboard side! We checked again – everything was in order…. We were trying to figure out what happened. It became clear that an aircraft carrier had rammed us. The second strike hit the propeller. The first one, most likely, bent the stabilator…”

The only option for K-314 was to surface and showing themselves to the Americans. As its sailors were waiting for emergency tow ships, the Soviet submarine immediately received visit from several U.S. Navy aircraft which inspected K-314 from above.

“We immediately launched two helicopters to see if we could render any assistance to them but the Soviet sub appeared to have suffered no extensive damage,” said Kitty Hawk’s commander, Captain David N. Rogers.

K-314’s propeller was heavily damaged as a result of the collision. Kitty Hawk instead had a huge hole in its bow, causing several thousand tons of jet fuel to leak into the sea; by sheer miracle, it did not explode.

The Day Soviet Nuclear Submarine K-314 Rammed USS Kitty Hawk — A US Navy LTV Corsair II from Attack Squadron 146 Blue Diamonds flying over aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63).

Luckily, nor did the nuclear weapons on board the Soviet and American vessels detonate.

Close escorted by a US Navy frigate for part of the route, the Soviet Submarine was towed to the nearest Soviet naval base.

For USS Kitty Hawk, exercise Team Spirit was over: the aircraft carrier in fact made its way to the port of Subic Bay for repair.

According to Russia Beyond, the Americans blamed the Soviet submarine captain for the incident, and the Soviet Naval command concurred. Vladimir Evseenko was suspended from the post of captain and continued his service on land.

Evseenko could not agree with such verdict, since the incident had caused no loss of life or the submarine itself: “Everybody was lucky. We didn’t sink, no one got burned.”

“We even managed to kick out the ‘enemy’ for a long time,” he pointed out.

Photo by U.S. Navy

As USS Kitty Hawk starts her final voyage to the Scrapyard, US Navy sailors fear there will never be another Aircraft Carrier turned into Museum — USS Kitty Hawk

February 2, 2024 0 comment

The SR-71 engine was first created to power the US Navy’s XF8U-3 Super Crusader

by Till Daisd February 2, 2024

written by Till Daisd

‘It was thought if the Chance Vought XF8U-3 Super Crusader where to have gone into production it would have been powered by a J58,’ Jim Goodall, former Master Sergeant at US Air Force

Operating at speeds of Mach 3+ and altitudes exceeding 80,000 feet, the Lockheed SR-71 high-altitude strategic reconnaissance aircraft and its predecessors, the Lockheed A-12 and YF-12A prototype interceptors, were powered by two of the highly advanced Pratt & Whitney J58 Turbojet engines. The J58 was the first engine to be flight-qualified at Mach 3 for the US Air Force (USAF) and the first engine intended to run with its afterburner for extended periods of time.

It’s commonly forgotten that Pratt & Whitney developed the J58 in the late 1950s in response to US Navy requirements.

‘The then unclassified Pratt & Whitney model J58-2 and J58-4 were both designed as a generic engine for a proposed US Navy Mach 2.7 Fleet Defense Interceptor. It was thought if the Chance Vought XF8U-3 Super Crusader where to have gone into production it would have been powered by a J58,’ says Jim Goodall, former Master Sergeant at US Air Force and author of the book Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird: The Illustrated History of America’s Legendary Mach 3 Spy Plane.

Did you know the SR-71 engine was originally developed to power US Navy XF8U-3 Super Crusader? World renowned expert on the Blackbird unveils some unique facts about J58 turboramjet — The first of two U.S. Navy Vought F8U-3 Crusader III (BuNo 147085) taxiing. This aircraft was transferred to NASA as “225” in June 1959.

‘When Kelly Johnson went looking for a motor for Project Oxcart he felt that this Navy motor had all of the key components needed as a baseline engine for the Blackbird. A lot of testing went into making it work. As for the inlet, that is the key to Mach 3.2 flight. At speed and altitude, the engine only supplies 18% of the thrust; the Lockheed-designed inlet and exhaust ejector provided the balance of the 83% of the thrust needed to reach Mach 3.24 and above.*

‘The only Mach 3-certified engine ever to put onto an operational aircraft is the J58 Model K. It is one amazing engine. At speed and altitude, the -70-degree air enters the inlet lip. The Blackbird is traveling through the air at about 3400 feet per second, or three miles every two seconds.’

Goodall continues;

Did you know the SR-71 engine was originally developed to power US Navy XF8U-3 Super Crusader? World renowned expert on the Blackbird unveils some unique facts about J58 turboramjet — SR-71A with J58 Jet Engine.

‘In the 20 feet from the lip of the inlet to the face of the J58, the air has risen to about 830 degrees or a 900-degree rise in air temperature in the distance of 20 feet. Once it enters the engine, by the time it hits the fourth stage, the temperature is about 1200 degrees. Once it is in the afterburner, that internal temperature is now about 3200 degrees.

‘With the extreme operating temps, the J58 grows about six inches in length and about 2.5 inches in diameter. The skin on the afterburner is a mere 0.030” and is made of a very special watch spring material supplied by the Elgin Watch Company, it is called Elginoy (not too sure of the spelling). Up to that point in time, Elginoy was only available in sheets that measure 3×3 inches. So, they have to develop the skills necessary to make larger sheets, and then P&W had to figure out how to weld a metal that can withstand temp of 3200 degrees and higher.’

Goodall concludes;

Impressive video shows SR-71 Blackbird J58 Engine tested at Max Afterburner Power — ‘Even with ear protection, the mighty Pratt & Whitney J58 is so loud that it hurts your entire body if you were to be anywhere near the rear end of the J58,’ says Goodall.

‘Even with ear protection, the mighty Pratt & Whitney J58 is so loud that it hurts your entire body if you were to be anywhere near the rear end of the J58.’

* ‘The J58 only supplies 18% of the thrust, with the inlet and the exhaust ejector providing the rest. How can that be? ‘

At design speed, a majority of the inlet air bypasses the engines entirely, with that air being directed into the afterburner. Same with the six bypass tubes coming off the ninth stage of the J58. In essence, the inlet and engine nacelle act as a ramjet, and using the same principles as a ramjet.

‘Back in the late 1970s, NASA took the design of the Blackbird entire inlet to see, as an exercise if two CDC Mk 205 supercomputers could design a more efficient inlet; and still utilizing the same engine nacelle external mold lines and exhaust ejector.

‘The main reason for this exercise, the Blackbird’s inlet was designed by a guy that I was told, might have had no more than a 9th-grade education, but could visualize airflow at any Reynolds number. And all they had for computers were slip sticks, also known as slide rules (pre-computers, pre-calculators, except mechanical ones; designed when we only had three TV channels!) ‘

After fifteen months of using two of the most powerful supercomputers of the age (your iPhone 10 has more computing power than all the computers in the free world in the late 1970s), their only recommendation if they were to design one from scratch, use better materials in some of the seals… That was it.’

Photo by U.S. Navy, Clemens Vasters from Viersen, Germany, and Steve Riggins via Wikipedia

February 2, 2024 0 comment

F-14A Tomcat Pilot tells the story of the real-life Goose and explains how Nick Bradshaw could have survived the flat spin featured in Top Gun Movie

by Till Daisd February 1, 2024

written by Till Daisd

‘The real RIO was Lt. David J. “Goose” Lortscher. His callsign Goose later became part of the movie,’ John Chesire, former US Navy F-14A Tomcat pilot.

We are all familiar with the scene from the movie Top Gun, the one where Pete “Maverick” Mitchell and Nick “Goose” Bradshaw enter an unrecoverable flat spin and have to eject.

But what actually happened to Goose during the ejection? Why does he collide with the canopy whereas Maverick does not?

‘Upon ejection, the crew is ejected not simultaneously but with a short interval. Moreover, they are ejected at slightly different angles,’ explains John Chesire, former US Navy F-14A Tomcat pilot on Quora.

According to the F-14 Tomcat Naval Air Training and Operating Procedures Standardization (NATOPS) flight manual:

“The aircraft is equipped with an automatic electronically sequenced command escape system incorporating two Navy aircrew common ejection seat (SJU-17(V) 3/A (pilot) and SJU-17(V) 4/A (RIO)) rocket-assisted ejection seats.

“Both seats are identical in operation and differ only in the nozzle direction of their lateral thrust motors, which provide a divergent ejection trajectory away from the aircraft path.

“When either crewmember initiates the command escape system, the canopy is ballistically jettisoned and each crewmember is ejected in a preset-time sequence. The RIO is ejected to the left and the pilot to the right.

“Safe escape is provided for most combinations of aircraft altitude, speed, attitude and flightpath within an envelope from zero airspeeds, zero altitudes in a substantially level attitude to a maximum speed of 600 KCAS.”

Chesire continues;

‘Normally, within the ejection sequence, the canopy will automatically be blown off before the crew’s ejection seats fire. With forward airspeed, the canopy will always be well behind the aircraft when the RIO’s ejection seat fires.

‘However, a flat spin provides a peculiar problem. Because there is no significant forward airspeed in the spin, the canopy is not blown behind the aircraft. Worse, there exists a partial vacuum just above a flat spin aircraft that can capture and hold a canopy in place above the aircraft. So when the RIO ejects, there is a strong chance he will impact the canopy hovering above. This has actually happened in real life.

‘To solve this problem, aircrews were advised to jettison the canopy early, and not wait for it in the ejection sequence. This would give a little more time for the canopy to move beyond the aircraft. There was a handle if pulled, which would automatically jettison the canopy. This was totally separate from the seat ejection system.’

Also, there was a real-life Goose RIO who was killed during an ejection accident too.

‘But that real-life Goose died upon ejection from a different cause,’ Chesire recalls.

‘The real RIO in question was Lt. David J. “Goose” Lortscher. His callsign Goose later became part of the movie.

‘I knew him in the F-14 RAG, VF-124 although I don’t think I ever flew with him. He already had a couple of ejections and we used to laugh that we did not want to fly with him because he was, “bad luck”.

‘Nevertheless, he was a highly respected officer and RIO, and no one actually avoided flying with him. He was a big guy, and easygoing.’

Chesire concludes;

‘He ended up with five total ejections, the last one proved to be fatal. But that last one was different than the movie.’

Photo by Paramount

February 1, 2024 0 comment

F-16-Thunderbirds

In 2019 Thunderbirds called in 15 former team commanders for brutal and honest input to help improve the Squadron

by Till Daisd February 1, 2024

written by Till Daisd

By the end of 2019, Col. John Caldwell, Thunderbird’s commander, and No. 1 pilot called in 15 former Thunderbirds for their brutal and honest input on the team since there were parts of the squadron that needed work and improvement.

The first overhauled performance in about 38 years will be included in the US Air Force Thunderbirds’ 2021 airshow season. It also marks the beginning of a culture change for a team that in recent years has seen some of its lowest points.

Col. John Caldwell, Thunderbirds commander and No. 1 pilot, took command in 2018. As reported by Air Force Magazine, at the time the team was coming out of a couple of tumultuous years that included a fatal crash, along with multiple other serious mishaps and the firing of a commander. With a new commander and new team, Caldwell led the team through a 2019 season looking to “stabilize the system.” The Thunderbirds in fact didn’t push the envelope and instead focused on flying safely and getting through the season by executing the basics.

By the end of 2019, Caldwell called in 15 former Thunderbirds for their brutal and honest input on the team since there were parts of the squadron that needed work and improvement.

“Everything was on the table, which requires you to assume a little bit of humility there when you’re inviting 15 folks who previously have done your job to come here and critique you on how you’re doing,” Caldwell said. “But we didn’t have a forum like that in the past—we didn’t have the ability, in a productive way, where these folks could provide critiques.”

The former commanders came to the team’s home at Nellis Air Force Base (AFB), Nev., to watch the “combat acceptance show” when the head of Air Combat Command watched the team’s performance and approves them to start the show season.

The 15 commanders watched Caldwell fly, sat in the pre-flight briefing and debrief, and ultimately gave some strong feedback.

“It was pretty eye-opening, some of the critiques we received and some of the information we got from that group,” he said. “It was enough to where we realized there was some serious work that we needed to execute, to get this team back to where we wanted it to be in precision formation flying and precision air show demonstration.”

Following this, the Thunderbirds “committed ourselves to that idea that we were going to work on trying to recapture some of … these versions of the team we had in the past” and push to improve.

Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit and the team spent 2020 developing the “America Strong” flyovers with the US Navy’s Blue Angels and flying “basic air shows,” when the season ended, they decided to take a deep look at their performance and overall operations to find ways to reinvent and improve.

The result was 59 separate initiatives for the team to address, ranging from individual maneuvers in the sky to the equipment they use to cameras and tracking devices to “police” their flying and find ways to improve.

Caldwell said the team’s performance over the years had become a “hodgepodge” of individual tweaks, none of which came together to give it an overall theme.

The 2021 show includes eight types of new maneuvers, a changed sequence, new music and narration, changes to the ground show, and the shutdown. The team rewrote its operations manual and installed things like GoPros in the cockpits, GPS trackers to show the exact lines pilots flew, and a new digital video recorder system. These changes “eliminated all the subjectiveness from it. It is cold, hard data that we can look at. And it’s very unemotional: You either did it right or did it wrong, and we have the data here to prove it. And that’s what really made the team, I think, more effective and better.”

This year’s season includes at least 28 shows, with more to be added to the schedule.

A Thunderbirds air demonstration is a mix of formation flying and solo routines. The four-aircraft diamond formation demonstrates the training and precision of Air Force pilots, while the solo aircraft highlight the maximum capabilities of the F-16 Fighting Falcon.

The pilots perform approximately 30 maneuvers in a demonstration. The entire show, including ground and air, runs about an hour and fifteen minutes. The season lasts from March to November, with the winter months used to train new members.

For more interesting news and info about US Air Force Thunderbirds and other display teams check out the Aerobatic Display Teams website.

Photo by dbking via Wikipedia

February 1, 2024 0 comment

Former Boeing 737 pilot tells the story of an odd UFO sighting he had in the skies above Los Angeles

by Till Daisd February 1, 2024

written by Till Daisd

‘Those bright lights we thought were from an aircraft on approach suddenly and almost instantaneously moved horizontally across the night sky by maybe 35 to 40 degrees and at a considerable distance! Nothing could move that fast!,’ John Chesire, former Boeing 737 pilot.

Ever wonder what kinds of unusual objects pilots see from the air?

With a truly unique vantage point, they’ve reported a range of strange sightings, including geoglyphs, drones, and… UFOs.

Pilots have claimed to see UFOs (unidentified flying objects) for decades – sightings usually involve objects flying in a formation or bright lights, as John Chesire, former US Navy fighter pilot and Former Captain, First Officer, and Flight Engineer for a few US airlines, says on Quora.

‘I saw one (UFO) many years ago. However, before I explain that one sighting, let me preface it by saying that over my four decades of flying for both the military and the airlines, I have indeed seen quite a number of Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs). Nevertheless, every one of these UFO sightings was soon quickly identified by me or by others later as something easily explainable and mundane, and thus no longer “unidentified”… except this singular one I now describe:

‘I was a captain flying a B-737 late at night on a very short leg from Las Vegas (LAS) to Los Angeles (LAX). This was sometime in the 1990s. It was late at night and the more normal heavy air traffic around LAX was greatly reduced at this late hour.’

‘At the time we were early into our descent into LAX via the old Civet Arrival. It was a clear night and a smooth and comfortable flight. Passing through 18,000 feet/5486m we noticed what we thought was another aircraft well off to our left and high above us. We had no other traffic to observe than this one. While we were on perhaps a 30-degree intercept to the final arrival course, this aircraft high and to our left appeared to be on the normal, straight-in course to LAX. We decided this approaching aircraft would not even be close to being a conflict for us since it was well off in the distance. We would intercept the final inbound course well ahead of him. Since he was not a conflict Approach Control never mentioned him to us either.’

‘Although this traffic off to our left was on the normally expected radial and altitude for the LAX arrival, one thing caught both my First Officer as odd. We were passing below 18,000 feet in our descent. This is the time and altitude that airliners will normally turn on their landing lights for a “see-and-be-seen” standard collision avoidance procedure. However, although this other aircraft was still well above us, he already had all his bright landing lights on. Quietly I wondered to myself why his lights were on so very early. It seemed very odd and I wondered to myself if there was a reason for this.’

He continues;

‘Switching our radios from Center to LAX Approach Control we turned our attention away from that strange aircraft and concentrated on our approach at hand. Nevertheless, I naturally and briefly glanced a few times at our unusual inbound traffic.

Former Boeing 737 pilot tells the story of an odd UFO sighting he had in the skies above Los Angeles — UFO sightings usually involve bright lights

‘Right before we made the right turn to intercept the final approach course, I once again glanced up at our traffic. What I saw I would never forget! Those bright lights we thought were from an aircraft on approach suddenly and almost instantaneously moved horizontally across the night sky by maybe 35 to 40 degrees and at a considerable distance! Nothing could move that fast! It defied physics. I turned to my First Officer and asked, “Did you see that?” His eyes were as big as saucers as he said, “I sure did!”

‘There was no craft that I knew of or anything I could ever imagine moving that far and that fast across the sky, and then stopping instantly without any apparent slowing, dead in space. Moreover, there is no man or beast that could ever survive the amount of G-forces both from that extreme acceleration or the almost instantaneous stop. There was no logical explanation for what we had witnessed. There was even no illogical explanation either. To this day decades later I cannot explain what exactly we saw.

‘A few seconds after it had made this astonishing move, it made another much shorter and very quick jump a couple of degrees downward. By this time, we were almost passing through the localizer and we had to turn away from this ‘thing’. As I looked back over my shoulder, I saw it move again horizontally toward its earlier position rapidly, but nowhere near the almost instantaneous movement across the great span we saw earlier. I later wondered if maybe it was the reflection from some kind of searchlight, but it was a clear night with no clouds to reflect upon. Also, it had multiple and distinguishable lights, just like an airliner’s.

‘We never reported this incident although I have thought about it over the years many times. Really what could we say? Besides people look at you funny when you say you “saw something” but don’t know what. It also involves a lot of paperwork too, we assumed. So, we kept quiet. Curiously I do not even remember my First Officer and I ever talking about it later. It was just one of those unexplained things that we could not explain and did not even want to try.’

Chesire concludes;

‘Ironically the following week I flew the same flight at the same time but we thankfully saw no UFOs this time. What was very curious though was when we switched frequencies, there was a lot of chatter – something unusual for that usually slow time of night. All we could tell from the chatter was that one or more crews “had seen something.” There were transmissions from several aircraft that said, “Yeah we saw it too.” Then Center or Approach came up and asked each aircraft if they wanted to make a report. In rapid sequence, they all said: “negative.” I never did either.’

Former Boeing 737 pilot tells the story of an odd UFO sighting he had in the skies above Los Angeles — Boeing 737

Photo by Aero Icarus from Zürich, Switzerland via Wikipedia and Unknown

February 1, 2024 0 comment

P-3-Tu-95-1200x865-1

An ex-P-3 NFO tells how his Orion intercepted a Soviet Tu-95 Bear strategic bomber

by Till Daisd February 1, 2024

written by Till Daisd

‘We had been conducting operations at low level (200–300 feet) in the Norwegian Sea when we received a message over our broadcast that Bears would be transiting our area from the Murmansk region,’ said Ross Hall, former P-3 Orion NFO.

Sometime after 2040, the Russian Air Force will decommission its fleet of Tupolev Tu-95 (NATO reporting name: Bear) strategic bombers, marking the end of the gigantic aircraft’s nearly 100-year service life.

With four engines and a length of 164 feet, the Tu-95 is a turbo-prop bomber that is capable of flying over 8,000 miles without refueling.

The Tu-95 may be the loudest aircraft on the planet since each of the Bear’s eight four-blade propellers breaks the sound barrier when they rotate, according to Military History Now. Fighter pilots dispatched to intercept Bears have stated that they can clearly hear the planes’ distinctive drone above the noise of their own aircraft. Because bears make such a lot of noise, US submarines and underwater sonar systems can identify them.

‘Bears could be detected by SOSUS [SOund SUrveillance System that provides deep-water long-range detection capability. SOSUS enjoyed tremendous success during the Cold War tracking submarines with their faint acoustic signals. SOSUS consists of high-gain long fixed arrays in the deep ocean basins],’ Ross Hall, former Naval Flight Officer (NFO) on P-3 Orion anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft, says on Quora.

‘We even had the pleasure of intercepting a Bear in our trusty P-3.

‘The older P-3s had a service ceiling of 36,000 feet. Our relatively new P-3C (at least it was new at that time) had a service ceiling of 39,000 feet.’

Hall continues;

‘We had been conducting operations at a low level (200–300 feet) in the Norwegian Sea when we received a message over our broadcast that Bears would be transiting our area from the Murmansk region.

‘We did some quick calculations and decided we had a shot of intercepting them. We climbed from 300 feet to our service ceiling of 39,000 feet, and we estimated we were in front of the Bears. Our speed was probably in the vicinity of 330–350 knots.

‘Sure enough, our observers spotted the Bears behind and above us. They passed us fairly quickly. We estimated they were probably around 42,000 feet and probably in excess of 400 knots.’

Hall concludes;

‘In terms of noise… it was even noisy enough in our P-3, that I routinely wore earplugs under our headset. As I recall, the ambient noise at my station was approximately 95 dB. Over the course of a 9–12 hour flight, that can be quite a problem. I imagine the noise inside the Bear would be significantly worse.’

Photo by U.S. Navy

February 1, 2024 0 comment

Why the SR-71 had to light one afterburner during aerial refueling

by Till Daisd January 31, 2024

written by Till Daisd

“In military power, we would start to fall off the boom. The solution was to light one afterburner with careful finesse,’ Brian Shul, former SR-71 Blackbird pilot

The Lockheed A-12 and YF-12A aircraft served as the foundation for the development of the SR-71, also referred to as the “Blackbird” a long-range, advanced strategic reconnaissance aircraft. The 4200th (later 9th) Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Beale Air Force Base, California, received the first SR-71 to begin service in January 1966. The first SR-71 flight occurred on December 22, 1964. On January 26, 1990, the US Air Force deactivated its entire SR-71 fleet.

For over twenty years, the SR-71 held the record for being the fastest and highest-flying operational aircraft in the world. It could cover 100,000 square miles of the Earth’s surface per hour from 80,000 feet.

If it weren’t for aerial refueling, the Blackbird’s range would be limited to about 2,000 nautical miles. The aircraft’s range was increased by several air refuelings to the crew’s maximum endurance. A few missions have gone above 12,000 NM. The SR-71 and tankers’ forward basing allowed for increased overall efficiency, shorter missions with shorter ranges, and fewer air refuelings.

The story of the SR-71 Blackbird that pitched up and collided with a KC-135Q tanker during an air refueling over El Paso

However, once the fuel load became too heavy, the SR-71’s J58 turbo-ramjets could not generate enough thrust to stay with the tanker even at 100% thrust. To allow it to stay connected and receive all 80,000 lbs of fuel, the pilot had to light one afterburner, the asymmetric thrust of which made the plane fly slightly sideways.

As told by Brian Shul in his book Sled Driver, that was standard operating procedure. The J58 engine did not appreciate subsonic flight.

“I was accustomed to being on the boom for just a few minutes to top off in fighters. In contrast, SR-71 refueling took fifteen minutes or more, which could seem like an eternity. This time was needed because the airplane took on an incredible amount of fuel. During a normal refueling, we usually received over 11,000 gallons. This changed our gross weight by 70,000 pounds and caused a corresponding change in the center of gravity of our aircraft. At the slow 300-knot range in which we were flying to refuel, the feel of the jet became sluggish as the SR filled with fuel. At these gross weights and slower airspeeds, the SR-71 became thrust-limited during the last few minutes of refueling.

“In military power, we would start to fall off the boom. A disconnect was highly undesirable since the jet was less responsive now and to reconnect was more difficult. It also meant wasting time on the refueling track, and this could affect our overall mission timing. The solution was to light one afterburner with careful finesse. The fine art of pulling the throttle ever so slightly up and just into the minimum burner range was handed down from one generation of SR pilots to the next. The SR is the only airplane I know that required the use of afterburner to stay on the boom.

“Using one afterburner caused another problem: asymmetrical thrust. Some pilots used a little rudder to handle the yaw. Others left the rudders alone, flew sideways, and looked out the front quarter panel to see forward. The quarter panels were located on either side of the windshield. Only the left quarter panel was wired for defogging, so we always lit the left burner to yaw right so we could use this feature if needed.

“The most exciting moments on the refueling track were normally reserved for those final few minutes in afterburner on the boom with a very heavy jet. Once I selected min AB and the TEB dumped in, there was a pause, then the airplane lunged sideways and started to charge up the boom. With the left burner stabilized in min AB, I controlled our fore and aft position with right throttle.

“With this method, the pilot controlled the airplane by leading the power inputs. It was like flying a freight train because the airplane’s inertia caused a lag between throttle input and aircraft response. It wasn’t uncommon at this point for the director lights to resemble a pinball game, flashing from end to end as the fore and aft movements of the jet caused continual changes in relative position. I had to ignore the director lights, grit my teeth, and call on every bit of my experience to get to the end of the refueling track with a full tank.”

Photo by U.S. Air Force and Tony Landis Lockheed

January 31, 2024 0 comment

USS-Nimitz-Class-aircraft-carriers

US Navy to Decommission USS Nimitz in 2026, USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in 2027, 2 Independence-class LCS Set for Foreign Sales, according Long-Range Shipbuilding Plan

by Till Daisd January 30, 2024

written by Till Daisd

The US Navy will decommission two nuclear aircraft carriers back-to-back and two Independence-class Littoral Combat Ships will go up for foreign military sale

According to the US Navy’s latest long-range shipbuilding plan, the service will decommission two nuclear aircraft carriers back-to-back and two Independence-class Littoral Combat Ships will go up for foreign military sale.

The 48-year-old USS Nimitz (CVN-68) will leave service in 2026, one year later than last year’s plan. Nimitz was commissioned in 1975 and built for a 50-year service and after a planned 13-month service life extension will squeeze at least one more deployment from the first-in-class carrier.

The US Navy said its plan to extend Nimitz is part of a five-and-a-half-month maintenance availability that will carry the carrier into May 2026, the service said in an Apr. 18, 2023 statement to USNI News.

USS-Nimitz-Class-aircraft-carriers — USSCarlVinson (CVN 70) and USSNimitz (CVN 68) transit the Pacific Ocean, Feb. 13, 2022.

Breaking Defense told last week that Nimitz will travel to Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII)’s Newport News Shipbuilding to begin the deactivation process at the Virginia shipyard after its last deployment.

Nimitz‘s decommissioning will follow the former USS Enterprise (CVN-65), which was decommissioned in 2012.

USS Nimitz was ordered in 1967 as a development of the ten-year-old USS Enterprise, the world’s first nuclear powered aircraft carrier. Although dimensionally smaller than the Enterprise, the Nimitz Class use fewer but more powerful nuclear reactors, have a higher displacement, and operate roughly the same number of aircraft. Like the Enterprise, the use of nuclear reactors allowed the carriers’ superstructure to be much smaller, with no need for large funnels, allowing greater space on the flight deck. USS Nimitz was launched in May 1972 and, after extensive trials, commissioned in May 1975. USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) and USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) both followed within five years. As told by RAF Museum, originally, they were classified as attack carriers, but with the commission of the Carl Vinson this changed to a combined attack and anti-submarine role.

As told by USNI News, according to the plan Nimitz will remove a year-long buffer between Nimitz and the decommissioning of carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower.

USS IKE — USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69)

If Ike will not undergo a similar service life extension, it will leave the fleet in 2027 and likely join Nimitz at Newport News, along with at least one, if not two carriers in overhaul and new carriers Enterprise (CVN-80) and Doris Miller (CVN-81) that are under construction at the Virginia yard.

The US Navy also said that according to the long-range shipbuilding plan it wants to retire two Independence-class Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) ahead of their 25-year expected service lives.

USS Jackson (LCS-6) and USS Montgomery (LCS-8), commissioned in 2015 and 2016, respectively, are now marked for foreign military sales as part of the decommissioning plan.

Since the Navy is focusing the Independence-class ships on mine countermeasure missions means the service said it only needs 15.

LCS is a fast, agile, focused-mission platform designed for operation in near-shore environments yet capable of open-ocean operation. It is designed to defeat asymmetric “anti-access” threats such as mines, quiet diesel submarines and fast surface craft. The LCS class consists of two variants, the Freedom variant and Independence variant.

According to the US Navy, the Independence Variant features a unique trimaran construction is unique to the US Navy and lends the ship some unique characteristics. Its flight deck is the largest of any current surface combatant, and its hangar bay is able to hold two MH-60 helicopters.

Photo by U.S. Navy

January 30, 2024 0 comment

USS-Key-West-at-periscope-depth

Former US Navy Submarine Officer explains why the periscope is raised when submarines dive

by Till Daisd January 30, 2024

written by Till Daisd

‘There are a number of reasons for it… First, because the procedure says it should be,’ David Kirk, former US Navy Submarine Officer

The periscope is the eye of the submarine. It was invented and developed solely for the purpose of providing a means to view the surface without fear of detection by surface craft.

Why is the periscope raised when submarines dive?

‘There are a number of reasons for it…,’ David Kirk, former US Navy Submarine Officer / Strike Warfare Officer, says on Quora.

‘First, because the procedure says it should be.

‘Now as to why?

The Officer of the Deck (OOD) is required to continue a visual search of the horizon to ensure no enemy threat aircraft or surface ships detect them until they are submerged.
The OOD needs to visually verify that the main ballast tanks (MBT) vents properly opened and are venting. If one fails the tank will not properly fill with water and it can affect reserve ballast and also affect further damage control efforts in several casualties. The OOD announces “Venting Forward” then looks aft and reports “Venting Aft”.
By procedure, The OOD needs to report when the ‘decks are awash’ so the chief of the boat can close the MBT vents.
By Procedure, the OOD needs to report when the scope’s under so the entire ship’s control party is aware and so the Chief of the Watch (COW) can lower any remaining masts or antennae that the OOD may have wanted raised… Having scope under means the Diving officer of the Watch (DOOW) can use a larger down angle to proceed to depth without fear of the screw coming out of the water.

He continues;

USS-Chicago — The Los Angeles Class Attack submarine USS Chicago completes a training maneuver off the coast of Malaysia.

‘Submariners live and die by written procedures. They break them out before every evolution and use them as checklists. In a casualty they perform their immediate actions then breakout the procedures and audit their actions. The OOD does a reread of it before going on watch if he knows he/ she’s expecting to do some procedure – I read the dive or surface procedure before every almost every watch where I was expected to be involved even after years of doing it. The crew, when they’re poking holes in the ocean, before they talk about sports or liberty will break out procedures and train on them. Senior enlisted ensuring junior enlisted are aware of the reasons behind each step and teaching the many pitfalls that happen when procedures aren’t followed verbatim.

‘To give you some insight. If in the middle of doing an evolution you determine the procedure is flawed. You place the ship or the reactor into a safe condition. Stop the procedure, go back to the appropriate officers and chiefs to rewrite the procedure, then train on the procedure, and then attempt the procedure.

‘It sounds insane to most people but to a submariner it is the best way to ensure that a mistake doesn’t occur. Early in the submarine force for the US Navy… Sailors treated submarines like surface ships and relied on tribal knowledge, and the ‘all knowing’ senior NCO’s and often times ships sank next to the pier as things were forgotten or missed. It is much harder to, in procedural error sink a surface ship, because it is never intended to submerge.

‘Between 1905 and 1935 probably 20 or so ships were sunk and raised pier-side. Many times, the crew got off but a few times sailors or officers died. Which is why the submarine warfare patch and later pin was developed to identify those sailors who lived with that extra risk. It grew into a formal qualification program and became emulated by the aviators, spec warfare and eventually even the surface warfare community in the 1970’s.’

He concludes;

‘Procedures don’t replace common sense nor intuition but enhance it by ensuring you are not missing a simple step with grave consequences. Also, the Duty officer, the OOD (Officer of the Deck), the Engineering duty officer or EOOW (Engineering officer of the watch) are the stop gaps to ensure that procedures and contradictory procedures don’t result in damage or loss of life.’

USS-Key-West-at-periscope-depth-1 — The Los Angeles Class Attack submarine USS Key West at periscope depth.

Photo by Photographer’s Mate 1st Class Kevin H. Tierney / U.S. Navy

January 30, 2024 0 comment

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