Author

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.

History

The former SR-71 Blackbird pilot who flew a Russian Tu-22M3 Backfire to become the first NATO serviceman

by Till Daisd January 6, 2024

written by Till Daisd

The USAF’s 8th Air Force Commander and former SR-71 Blackbird pilot, Lt.-Gen. Thomas J. Keck, became the first NATO serviceman to fly a Russian Tu-22M3 Backfire long-range bomber on August 22, 2001

A wave of democratic reform surged across some former Eastern Bloc countries in the mid-1980s. Gradually, democratic reforms also started to emerge in the Soviet Union.

Significant changes occurred in the USSR’s foreign and home policies and the military field following Mikhail S. Gorbachov’s ascension to power in 1985. All of this resulted in the Berlin Wall’s fall, the Warsaw Pact military bloc’s dissolution, and the signing of new arms reduction treaties.

Two Crew Members killed in Tu-22M3 Backfire Supersonic Bomber crash in Murmansk Region — Tupolev Tu-22M3 Backfire

The Soviet MoD created albums with different views and performance data of many kinds of Soviet weapons and military hardware, including combat aircraft, in accordance with the agreements made with the West. Every basic type and version of Soviet Air Force fixed-wing aircraft and helicopter was photographed from different angles, including the upper view; in every picture, an obligatory scale ruler was positioned close to the aircraft to define its dimensions and enable the use of surveillance satellite imagery to track the aircraft’s presence at specific airbases. Comprehensive data on Soviet military hardware, including its accurate Soviet designations, were sent to the NATO command.

Gradually, the absolute secrecy that had surrounded the Soviet Armed Forces started to dissolve.

In their book Tupolev Tu-22M Soviet/Russian Swing-Wing Heavy Bomber, Yefim Gordon and Dmitriy Komissarov tell how this showed Russia’s willingness to be transparent in military politics and their non-aggressive intents toward their former Cold War adversaries.

Shaw-SR-71 — Photo on the left: Thomas J. Keck (pilot, left) and Timothy J. Shaw (RSO, right) in front of their SR-71 Blackbird. Photo on the right: in 2001 Lt. Gen. Thomas J. Keck was commander of the USAF’s 8th Air Force

A six-person American military delegation led by Lt.-Gen. Thomas J. Keck, Commander of the USAF’s 8th Air Force and a former SR-71 Blackbird pilot, accepted an invitation from the Russian Ministry of Defense on August 20, 2001, and traveled to Russia for six days in order to promote military contacts. On August 22, the delegation went to the 43rd TsBP I PLS of Long-Range Aviation at Dyagilevo AB, among other Russian Air Force bases. There, the general became the first NATO serviceman to fly the Backfire on a familiarization flight in a Tu-22M3 long-range bomber.

Live bomb drops were part of the sortie at a practice range. In an initiation procedure sometimes imposed on new arrivals, the Russian pilots offered Keck a shot of vodka after landing at Dyagilevo, then grabbed his arms and legs and swung him, bumping his behind against the aircraft’s nosewheels. Lt.-Gen. Keck took all this with good humor, as similar traditions existed back home. ‘Sometimes you get very wet being dunked in water; sometimes your necktie is cut off; sometimes even the tail of your shirt is cut off’, he said. (As a former SR-71 pilot, Keck referred to the tie-cutting ceremony as one of many traditions perpetuated by Blackbird crews.)

‘I was very impressed with everything from the beginning, from the ground crew preparing the aircraft to the aviators in the sky, the ones who make it all happen’, Thomas Keck told reporters after meeting the then Russian Air Force Commander-in-Chief Army Gen. Anatoliy M. Kornukov in Moscow. ‘The opportunity to see your units firsthand and fly your aircraft has been incredible — something I will never forget for the rest of my life.’ Kornukov said that, apart from the official side of the visit, the unofficial meetings with pilots and air force officers were also important and pledged friendship between Russian and US military aviation professionals. ‘Our meetings are a guarantee that we will not be looking at each other through the crosshairs of a gunsight, but rather facing each other like we do now’, he said.

Tupolev Tu-22M Soviet/Russian Swing-Wing Heavy Bomber is published by Schiffer Publishing and is available to order here.

Photo by U.S. Air Force and Dmitriy Pichugin via Wikipedia

January 6, 2024 0 comment

Cold War

The F-15E Strike Eagle’s 2000-lb laser-guided bombing of an Iraqi Mi-24 during Operation Desert Storm

by Till Daisd January 5, 2024

written by Till Daisd

One of the most unique air-to-air kills in aviation history is ascribed to “Chiefs” from 335th Tactical Fighter Squadron (TFS, now known as 335th Fighter Squadron, FS) during Operation Desert Storm F-15E Strike Eagle #89-0487, or “487” for short

The F-15E Strike Eagle was created to satisfy the US Air Force’s (USAF) requirement for air-to-ground missions. It took off for the first time in December 1986 from St. Louis. In addition to having an infrared targeting and advanced navigation system, which enables the Strike Eagle to fly at night or in bad weather at a low altitude while maintaining a high speed, the Strike Eagle can carry 23,000 pounds of air-to-ground and air-to-air weaponry, shielding it from enemy defenses.

April 1988 saw the delivery of the F-15E’s first production model to the 405th Tactical Training Wing at Luke AFB in Arizona.

During Operation Desert Storm, which was launched between January 17, 1991, and February 28, 1991, with the intention of freeing Kuwait from the Iraqi invasion, the F-15E was used for the first time in combat. One of the most unique air-to-air kills in aviation history was attributed to F-15E Strike Eagle #89-0487, or “487” for short, from the 335th Tactical Fighter Squadron (TFS, now known as the 335th Fighter Squadron, FS) “Chiefs” during this combat.

The first air-to-air kill for an F-15E Strike Eagle took place on February 14, 1991, during an air encounter by Capts. Richard T. Bennett, pilot, and Daniel B. Bakke, weapon systems operator (WSO).

“On one flight, we used a laser-guided bomb [LGB] to shoot down a helicopter,” Bennet explained to Barry D. Smith for his article Tim Bennett’s War. “This occurred on February 14, Valentine’s Day. The mission was a Scud CAP [combat air patrol] in northwestern Iraq. During the Scud CAPs, we would look around with either the FLIR targeting pod or the radar to find the mobile Scuds. My wingman had twelve Mk. 82s, and I had four GBU-10s-2,000-pound LGBs-four AIM-9s, and two external fuel tanks. I was leading the flight.

“Our CAP time on this mission was 1:00 to 3:00 in the morning. We went up and hit the tanker, then proceeded north. Our patrol area started up at Al Qaim, near the Syrian border, and ran east about halfway to Baghdad, south to just beyond H-2, and then back to the Syrian border.

“The weather was bad that night, with clouds from about 4,000 feet to about 18,000 feet. We were cruising above the weather, waiting for AWACS [an E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft] or someone else to pass us some coordinates on some Scuds.

“AWACS gave us a call and said that a Special Forces team was in trouble. They had been found by the Iraqis, who were moving to cut them off. We had ten to fifteen Special Forces teams in the general area looking for Scuds. This team was about 300 miles across the border.

“Five Iraqi helicopters were in their area-about fifty miles to our west. As we headed in their direction, I put my wingman in a four-mile trail formation behind me because I had to go down through the weather. When I was about fifty miles from the team, Capt. Dan Bakke, my back-seater, began working the radar to look for the helicopters. We got contacts on them moving west to east, just like the AWACS had said.

“Dan and I started talking about what we were going to do. We knew there were helicopters down there, but if we were going to shoot them down, we wanted confirmation that they were bad guys. We called up AWACS, call sign Cougar, and asked them if there were any friendly helicopters in the area. The AWACS controller said, ‘We don’t have any friendlies in the area. Any helicopters you find, you are cleared to shoot.’

“We got a little closer and kept going down to get below the weather. I wanted to confirm, one more time, before we lost contact with AWACS, that these were definitely bad guys and not some of our Special Forces helicopters coming to get the team. We had a few based in Syria that would have been following the same general course and could have gotten to the area fairly quickly. AWACS confirmed there were no friendlies in the area.

“We continued to press in and were down to about 2,500 feet along the major road between Baghdad and the Syrian border. That area was always hot with a lot of AAA. I was working the radar, and Dan was working the high-resolution FLIR in the targeting pod to find the helicopters. When we popped out of the clouds fifteen to twenty miles from the team, Dan could see the helicopters with the pod. They were moving pretty much abreast, with the lead out in front in the middle. They were still moving west to east. They were moving and stopping at regular intervals.

“There was also a group of troops on the ground to the east of the team. We started getting AAA fire from these troops. To us, it looked as if they were trying to herd the team with the helicopters into the troops to the east. The helicopters were keeping an even distance from each other, and we figured they might be dropping off troops to help herd the team.

“The image on the pod was good enough to identify the helicopters as probable [Mi-24] ‘Hinds,’ five to ten miles out. Hinds can carry troops and are heavily armed with rockets and machine guns. As soon as the helicopters picked up and started moving, we were getting hits off them on the radar. The radar would stay locked on them when they were on the ground because the moving rotor blades were picked up.

“Dan and I discussed how we wanted to conduct the attack. We decided to hit the lead helicopter with a GBU-10 while he was on the ground. If we hit him, he would be destroyed. If he moved off before the bomb landed, it would still get the troops he just left on the ground. It would also give the other helicopters something to think about, which might give the team a chance to get away in the confusion. We would then circle around and pop the others as we could. We passed our plan to our wingman and told him to get the first helicopter he saw with an AIM-9.

“By this time, we were screaming over the ground, doing about 600 knots–almost 700 mph. The AAA was still coming up pretty thick. Our course took us right over the top of the Iraqi troops to the east of the team.

F-15E Mi-24 killer — F-15E Strike Eagle #89-0487 armed for a close air support mission over Afghanistan.

“[…] Dan was lasing the lead helicopter. We let the bomb go from about four miles out while the leader was on the ground. Because of our speed, it had a hell of a range on it-more range than an AIM-9. I got AIM-9 guidance going and uncaged a Sidewinder. I was ready to fire the missile as soon as we were in range.

“Just as we released the bomb, the airspeed readout on the radar showed the target at 100 knots and climbing. The lead chopper had picked up and started moving. I said, ‘There’s no chance the bomb will get him now,’ even though Dan was working hard to keep the laser spot on him. I got a good lock with my missile and was about to pickle off a Sidewinder when the bomb flew into my field of view on the targeting IR screen.

“There was a big flash, and I could see pieces flying in different directions. It blew the helicopter to hell, damn near vaporized it.

“We sat there for a few seconds, just staring. By that time, the AAA was getting real heavy and the other helicopters were starting to scatter. I told my wingman to put three Mk. 82 500-pounders on that same spot to get any troops that the helos dropped off.

“We beat up the area with bombs and were going to circle around and come down on them again. I popped up above 10,000 feet and talked to AWACS to tell them what was going on. They said, ‘I understand you visually ID’ed that as an Iraqi helo.’

“I said, ‘No, it’s still dark out here, but I saw a FLIR image of what I took to be a Hind.’

“At that point, my stomach hit the floor. I told AWACS to get the AWACS commander on the radio. Dan and I were thinking, ‘We hit a friendly helo.’ But when we got the AWACS commander on the air, he confirmed that there were no friendlies in the area.

“With that confirmed, I told Dan, ‘OK, let’s go back down and get the rest of the helos.’ We got down low and the AAA was just as bad as before. The helicopters scattered and were running north. My wingman and I were sorting them out and waiting to get within AIM-9 range. We were about ten miles behind and closing fast.

“I was running in on them and getting ready to be a hero and knock a few more down when, all of a sudden, I started seeing flashes on both sides of us. I thought, ‘What have they done? Here we are in the middle of a bunch of SAMs!’

“Then it hit me: Those weren’t SAMs. They were bombs! AWACS had sent another flight in and told them to drop bombs on a set of coordinates. Those coordinates happened to be us!”

Bennet concludes:

“I figured we had pushed our luck far enough, and we got the hell out of there. AWACS gave the orders to that other flight on another frequency. If it had been on ours, I would have heard the bombers’ side of the conversation and could have canceled the drop. I decided we had had enough for one day, but our night wasn’t over yet. We still had fifteen minutes left on our Scud CAP and were directed to a site near H-2. We found a mobile Scud on a launchpad, attacked it, and then headed home.

“The Special Forces team got out OK and went back to Central Air Forces headquarters to say thanks and confirm our kill for us. They saw the helicopter go down. When the helos had bugged out, the team moved back to the west and was extracted.”

Today, “487”is still assigned to the same squadron it made history with in 1991. It’s the Chiefs’ flagship and still has a small green star adorned on the aircraft’s port side representing that moment in the squadron’s history.

F-15E Driver explains how he shot down an Iraqi Mi-24 attack helicopter with a 2000lb laser-guided bomb — The green star on Aircraft #89-0487 represents an air-to-air victory achieved during Operation Desert Storm.

Photo by Master Sgt. Lance Cheung, James D’Angina and MSGT STEVEN TURNER / U.S. Air Force

January 5, 2024 0 comment

F-14 Tomcat

Tomcat RIO Recalls when He and His Pilot had to Eject from their F-14 because the Arresting Gear Failed when They Landed Aboard the Aircraft Carrier

by Till Daisd January 4, 2024

written by Till Daisd

It was later determined that the mishap was caused by one of the four cables was not set to the correct F-14 Tomcat weight

Dave “Bio” Baranek enjoyed a successful and satisfying 20-year career in the Navy, starting with assignments to F-14 Tomcat squadrons and the elite TOPGUN training program, and later assignment to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the US 7th Fleet. At one point, he commanded an F-14 Tomcat fighter squadron, responsible for nearly 300 people and 14 aircraft worth about $700 million. He completed his career with 2,499.7 F-14 Tomcat flight hours and 688 carrier landings. His logbook also records 461.8 flight hours in the F-5F Tiger II.

While serving as a TOPGUN air-to-air combat instructor in 1985, he had the unusual experience of flying aerial sequences used in the film “Top Gun,” starring Tom Cruise and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson. He also served as a dialogue advisor on the project, and took some of the few available photographs of the movie’s black F-5 fighters in flight.

He retired from the Navy in 1999.

In 2010 Bio decided to make an outstanding gift to the aviation geeks worldwide when, publishing his first book Topgun Days: Dogfighting, Cheating Death and Hollywood Glory as One of America’s Best Fighter Jocks, he revealed the adrenaline experienced by US Naval Aviators and Naval Flight Officers (NFOs) during their day to day life in a Fleet Squadron.

As described in the chapter “Rocket Rider,” on Dec. 19, 1981 Bio experienced one of the most exciting moments of his 3 ½ year assignment to Fighter Squadron (VF) 24 Fighting Renegades. On that day he and Commander Bill Switzer (then VF-24 Commanding Officer, CO) were scheduled to fly a series of 2v2 radar intercepts, F-14 Tomcats against A-7 Corsairs. Baranek and Switzer completed their mission and at 5:15 PM were ready to land aboard their aircraft carrier USS Constellation (CV-64), sailing in the Indian Ocean.

But just after they slammed onto the flight deck, Bio realized that something was wrong. As Baranek recalls “I should have been thrown forward into my shoulder straps by the sudden deceleration of the trap, but instead I was still sitting upright. […] We rolled along the deck. There was some resistance slowing us down, but nowhere near enough to bring Renegade 205 to a stop. In a normal trap, the arresting wire plays out like a fishing line under tension, and the rollout of several hundred feet of cable takes about two seconds. […] Then there was one last feeble tug, but we continued rolling toward the end of the landing area. We were traveling about fifty knots – too fast to stop, too slow to fly. Skipper Switzer called, ‘Eject! Eject!’ His voice had taken on a new urgency, almost impatience – What are you waiting for? His hand was on the stick, still trying to fly, so it was my job to pull the handle that would eject both of us.”

Bio reacted on Switzer’s first syllable, yanking the yellow-and-black striped ejection handle. Once Baranek pulled the handle, everything that followed was automatic as he explains in detail. “When the ejection sequence control mechanism determined the canopy had cleared the aircraft, the rocket in my seat fired. I instantaneously experienced an acceleration force of about 20 g – outside the recommended operating range of the human brain-and blacked out for a few seconds.”

Bio and Switzer were recovered by one of the SH-3 Sea King rescue helicopters of the ship and it was later determined that the mishap was caused by one of the four cables (the one engaged by Switzer and Bio’s Tomcat) was not set to the correct F-14 weight.

For this reason, as you can see in the following video (which is the footage of the actual incident) since the arresting gear mechanism was completely overwhelmed, the cable snapped and the Tomcat (Renegade 205, F-14A BuNo 159623) went over the side. And in Topgun Days we get an instant-by-instant description by one who personally experienced it.

Photo by Dave “Bio” Baranek

January 4, 2024 0 comment

SR-71-penultimate-Mildenhall-18-01-1990-Copy

Cold War

The slowest Lockheed Blackbird speed ever recorded

by Till Daisd January 4, 2024

written by Till Daisd

The backseater later indicated a slow speed of 155 knots; the pilot saw 152 knots or 175 mph. The SR-71 at that point was gently floating down; control certainly would have been lost completely had not Blackbird pilot Brian Shul firewalled the throttles

One of the most sophisticated members of the Blackbird family, the SR-71 (along with the A-12 and YF-12) was created by a team of Lockheed personnel under the direction of Clarence “Kelly” Johnson, who was vice president of Lockheed’s Advanced Development Company Projects at the time. Known as the “Skunk Works,” this unit is now part of Lockheed Martin.

Beginning in the late 1950s, the A-12 reconnaissance aircraft—which made its first flight in April 1962 and remained classified until 1976—served as the model for the Blackbird. The YF-12A interceptor variant was first made public by President Lyndon Johnson on February 29, 1964, which was more than six months after it made its first flight. The SR-71 completed its first flight on Dec. 22, 1964.

The Blackbird was built to reach altitudes of up to 85,000 feet and cruise at “Mach 3+,” which is just over three times the speed of sound or more than 2,200 miles per hour.

Probably the most common question regarding the “Blackbird family” when discussing them is how high and fast they actually fly.

But what about the slowest Blackbird speed ever recorded?

‘I was flying the SR-71 out of RAF Mildenhall, England, with my backseater, Walt Watson. We were returning from a mission over Europe and the Iron Curtain when we received a radio transmission from home base,’ remembers Brian Shul, former SR-71 Blackbird pilot, in his book Sled Driver.

Rex Lowe, former USAF Staff Sergeant, explains what happened later on Quora.

‘The aircrew was asked to make a low level pass of a British airfield where cadets were training. Having difficulty actually sighting the field, though navigation was dead on, the pilot, Brian Shul, realized the aircraft was below advertised flying airspeed, he lit the burners and darted off. The backseater later indicated slow speed of 155 knots, pilot saw 152 knots or 175 mph. The aircraft at that point was gently floating down, control certainly would have been lost completely had not Shul firewalled the throttles.’

This is most likely the slowest Lockheed Blackbird has ever flown.

However, after landing, Shul and Watson were met by their commander.

Shul remembers;

‘We were both certain he was reaching for our wings. Instead, he heartily shook our hands and said the commander had told him it was the greatest SR-71 fly-past he had ever seen, especially how we had surprised them with such a precise maneuver that could only be described as breathtaking. […]Walt and I both understood the concept of “breathtaking” very well that morning and sheepishly replied that they were just excited to see our low approach.’

Photo by courtesy of Robin Harbour

January 4, 2024 0 comment

Humor

The U-2 pilot who took part in O Club parties wearing fake bad teeth to joke about the ozone level effect

by Till Daisd January 3, 2024

written by Till Daisd

Buddy Brown (Buddy is not a nickname; it’s his real name) was one of a handful of men in the entire world to be picked to fly the U-2 and then the SR-71

Built in complete secrecy by Kelly Johnson and the Lockheed Skunk Works, the original U-2A first flew in August 1955. Early flights over the Soviet Union in the late 1950s provided the president and other US decision-makers with key intelligence on Soviet military capability. In October 1962, the U-2 photographed the buildup of Soviet offensive nuclear missiles in Cuba, touching off the Cuban Missile Crisis. In more recent times, the U-2 has provided intelligence during operations in Korea, the Balkans, Afghanistan, and Iraq. When requested, the U-2 also provides peacetime reconnaissance in support of disaster relief from floods, earthquakes, and forest fires, as well as search and rescue operations.

The U-2R, first flown in 1967, was 40 percent larger and more capable than the original aircraft. A tactical reconnaissance version, the TR-1A, first flew in August 1981 and was structurally identical to the U-2R. The last U-2 and TR-1 aircraft were delivered in October 1989; in 1992, all TR-1s and U-2s were designated as U-2Rs. Since 1994, $1.7 billion has been invested to modernize the U-2 airframe and sensors. These upgrades also included the transition to the GE F118-101 engine, which resulted in the re-designation of all Air Force U-2 aircraft to the U-2S.

Buddy Brown (Buddy is not a nickname; it’s his real name) was one of a handful of men in the entire world to be picked to fly the U-2 and then the SR-71.

It would be an understatement to say he was a good pilot.

The story of Buddy Brown, the U-2 pilot that took part to O Club parties wearing fake bad teeth to joke about the ozone level effect on U-2 drivers — Buddy Brown in front of an SR-71 Blackbird Mach 3 spy plane

He experienced in his life critical historical moments. He took it all in stride, somewhat nonchalant about his achievements, remembering to work hard and play hard.

Buddy was stationed in Alaska as a U-2 pilot, where he became friends with a dentist, Dr. McCallum. McCallum made false teeth that were really decayed, looking for the pilots to wear over their good teeth! At parties at the officers’ club, the doctor would introduce them as the new U-2 pilots and then nonchalantly ask if the high altitude had in any way affected them.

Buddy and his pilot friends almost always reply ‘’the ozone has really affected our teeth!’’

Then they would slowly smile,… showing off their bad teeth. This would always get a big response. ‘The teeth were so bad that people, when they were talking to you, would never look at you in the face again, fearing that you would think that they were staring at your (fake) bad teeth!’ Brown recalls.

This is hilarious. This is an example of the caliber and personality of these extremely talented pilots. They were fearless and loved to have fun.

Check out the Born into the Wilde Blue Yonder Facebook pages for further Blackbird photos and stories.

Photo by U.S. Air Force

January 3, 2024 0 comment

Cold War

SR-71 pilot tells when he revealed Blackbird’s true top speed

by Till Daisd January 3, 2024

written by Till Daisd

‘At some point in the evening, the F-111 guys began to press me, in a good-natured way, for classified information about the SR-71. Probably the most frequently asked Blackbird question is, how high and how fast does it really fly?’ Gil Bertelson, former SR-71 Blackbird pilot

No reconnaissance aircraft in history has operated globally in more hostile airspace or with such complete impunity as the SR-71, the world’s fastest jet-propelled aircraft. The Blackbird represented the highest point in aviation technology development during the Cold War due to its performance and operational accomplishments.

The SR-71 could cover 100,000 square miles of land per hour while traveling at Mach 3+, or three times the speed of sound, or more than 2,000 mph, at an altitude of 80,000 feet.

Now, the question that people ask most often when discussing the SR-71 Blackbird is probably, “How high and how fast does it really fly?“

In the book SR-71 Blackbird Stories, Tales and Legends by Richard H. Graham, Lieutenant Colonel (Ret) Gil Bertelson, a former SR-71 pilot, recalls:

‘When I first joined the SR-71 program, there was one permanent operating location for SR-71s at Kadena AB. The unit at Kadena was known as Detachment 1 (or Det 1) of the 9th SRW. Habus were deployed to Det 1 for six weeks at a time, and each crew made the trip four to six times a year. About twice a year, there was a requirement to temporarily activate an additional Det at RAF Mildenhall in England. Although we’d had two SR-71s permanently stationed at RAF Mildenhall since 1981, it wasn’t until April 5, 1984, that Prime Minister Thatcher formally announced SR-71s would be permanently based at Mildenhall. This unit was known as Det. 4 of the 9th SRW. Dets 2 and 3 of the 9th SRW were U-2 operating locations at Osan AB, Korea, and RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus, respectively.

The incredible story of the SR-71 Blackbird that flew an eleven-hour-long mission from Kadena to the Persian Gulf and back

‘There was a significantly different flying environment between the two detachments. The weather was almost at opposite ends of the spectrum. The missions were not quite as “routine” as many of the Okinawa missions.

‘Because of the more demanding missions at Mildenhall, each new SR-71 crew had to fly its first operational sorties at Kadena. Every SR crew lobbied long and hard to get on the schedule for Mildenhall. And London was not far away!

‘Frank Stampf, my RSO crewmate on the SR-71, and I were fortunate to get on the schedule for Mildenhall after only two trips to Okinawa. For both of us, it was like going home. Just before entering the SR-71 program, Frank had been stationed at RAF Alconbury for about four years as an RF-4 crew dog. And I had been stationed at RAF Lakenheath for a couple of years. As the “crow flies,” Alconbury is only 30 miles from Mildenhall, and Lakenheath is only 3 miles from Mildenhall. We were both anxious to visit the old flying buddies we had known and worked with in our careers before we became Habus.

‘On one occasion, I arranged to meet several of my F-111 friends at Lakenheath Officers’ Club for dinner. We met in the bar and had a few drinks (as a real, live, dyed-in-the-wool teetotaler, I assume I was drinking grapefruit juice or 7-Up). We shared numerous laughs while trying to outdo each other with tales of unequaled courage and great feats of airmanship. I’m sure our hands were getting a good workout—pilots gesticulate a lot!

‘At some point in the evening, the Aardvark (F-111 nickname) guys began to press me, in a good-natured way, for classified information about the SR-71. Probably the most frequently asked Blackbird question is: How high and how fast does it really fly? That question was being actively pursued that night at Lakenheath.

‘I need to back up about a year and a half to set the stage as to why they seemed intent on pushing that particular question. In most Air Force buildings, at least the flying squadron buildings I used to frequent, there were numerous locations where the base fire marshal had posted information regarding fire classifications and appropriate reactions upon discovering different types of fires. These posters were displayed in the restrooms, in the halls, near the duty desks, in the crew briefing rooms, and next to all of the fire extinguishers. I can’t remember all the specifics other than there was one fire classification identified as a category or type 3.

‘At some point in my application for assignment to the SR-71, I was requested to go to Beale for my “tryout” for the Blackbird program. The whole process, from departing Lakenheath until returning back to Lakenheath took about two weeks. During the visit to Beale, I heard and read a number of times that the unclassified speed of the SR-71 was listed as Mach 3-plus. A “3+” patch is displayed on flight suits worn by SR-71 squadron crewmembers.

Remembering Gil Bertelson, the SR-71 driver that saw three sunrises on one particular Blackbird mission

‘When I arrived back to Lakenheath, I was really pumped up and excited about the prospects of being selected to fly the SR-71. I didn’t want to forget the experiences I had at Beale or to lose sight of my goal. To help me remember and to keep my attention focused on what I wanted to do, I began adding a black grease pencil + sign to all of the 3s on the fire code posters. There were many added + signs around the base that the very diligent safety officer in 493rd Tactical Fighter Squadron actually called the base fire marshal to get information about this “new classification.” When he was told there was no such thing as a code 3+, he finally figured it out and started looking for me. I was given a “cease and desist” order and one by one, he began erasing my “unauthorized” + signs.

‘Now back to the “O” Club a year and a half later. My dinner partners remembered the fuss over the posters and figured now was an appropriate time and place to get the real scoop as to how high and how fast the Blackbird really did fly. They were curious as to what kind of speed that little + sign actually equated to.

‘I played along for a while, dragging out the inevitable answer of Mach 3-plus, which, when all was said and done, was all I really could tell them anyway. I finally got them leaning in toward me as we sat around the dinner table. I did a pretty good acting job as I began nervously looking around the room be sure no one else was eavesdropping on what they thought would be a classified conversation.

‘I have to momentarily divert again. A wonderful aviation poem was written the early days of powered flight. The author is John Gillespie Magee Jr. The poem is entitled “High Flight.” Some of you may remember this poem being recited by Orson Wells late in the evening by TV stations that were about to sign off the air for the night. Yes, there actually was a time when television didn’t operate 24 hours a day. As Orson Wells recited this poem with his marvellously deep and resonant voice, the final TV pictures for the day were that a T-38 dashing in and out of clouds and doing aileron rolls, etc. It was a combination of sight and sound that stirred the blood and emotions of everyone who had the slightest interest in airplanes and the wonders of flight. The poem is as follows:

“Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,

And danced the skies on laughter, silvered wings;

Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth

Of sun-split clouds—and done a hundred things

You have not dreamed of—wheeled and soared and swung

High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,

I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung

My eager craft through footless halls of air.

Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue

I’ve topped the windswept heights with easy grace

Where never lark, or eagle flew.

And while with silent, lifting mind I’ve trod

The high untrespassed sanctity of space,

Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.”

‘Back to the “O” Club again. With the guys leaning in to hang on every word I was about to speak, I said something like, “You’ve got to promise not to tell a soul what I am going to tell you now. If you do, I’ll deny it till the day I die. I’m sure you know I shouldn’t be talking about this at all. You know how high the pile will be that they’ll stick me in if you tell anyone else.” As they gathered closer to make sure they didn’t miss anything, I said, “I can’t specific numbers, but I can give you a point of reference you can use to figure it out. You know the part in ‘High Flight’—where it talks about putting out your hand to touch the face of God?” Well,” I added, “when we’re at speed and altitude in the SR, we have to slow down and descend in order to do that.”

‘So, the word’s out. Feel free to share this information with anyone you’d care to tell. You can even use me as the source document. I’m retired now, so who cares?’

Photo by Lockheed Martin and U.S. Air Force

January 3, 2024 0 comment

History

The final mission out of Vietnam before Saigon fell was flown by this C-130A Hercules

by Till Daisd January 2, 2024

written by Till Daisd

Before Saigon fell, on April 29, 1975, C-130A Hercules with tail number 56-0518 completed the final mission out of Vietnam

C-130A Hercules, tail number 56-0518, completed the final mission out of Vietnam on April 29, 1975, just before Saigon fell.

On August 23, 1957, 56-0518 was admitted into the US Air Force (USAF) inventory. According to Master Sgt. Jeff Walston, the 913th Airlift Group was initially stationed at the 314th Troop Carrier Wing at Sewart AFB, Tennessee, as mentioned in the article Last “Herk” out of Vietnam. It was in service with multiple Air Force units from 1964 to 1972. The aircraft was sent to the South Vietnamese Air Force on November 2, 1972, as part of the Nixon administration’s effort to support that nation’s defense through the Military Assistance Program against the communist forces who were invading the country from the North.

The day before Saigon fell, on April 29, 1975, North Vietnamese forces destroyed almost every aircraft on the Tan Son Nhut Air Base flightline, totaling over 100 aircraft. The only C-130 to escape destruction was 0-5-1-8.

Maj. Phuong, a South Vietnamese instructor pilot, and his crew were getting ready to take away the last operational aircraft from the demolished Tan Son Nhut air base.

Hundreds of fleeing refugees scrambled in a frenzy to board this last operational C-130, their only hope for freedom. The throng pressed themselves into every nook and cranny, to the point that the humans positioned on the rear ramp prevented it from closing.

The loadmaster alerted Phoung, who had little choice except to slowly taxi the aircraft forward before using the brakes and forcing the passengers forward. The ramp closed.

It would require all of Phuong’s flying skill and more runway than was available to get the laden aircraft off the ground, but the C-130 managed to take to the skies.

Phoung was lost over the Gulf of Siam, delaying his intended 80-minute flight to the safety of Thailand. After locating a map and making adjustments, the C-130 touched down at Utapao Royal Thai Air Base in Thailand three and a half hours later.

There were 452 people on board in total, 32 of whom were in the cockpit. The airplane needed to use every foot of the runway in order to take off because it was overloaded by at least 10,000 pounds. On this historic flight, no lives were lost.

Following the landing, the aircraft was reclaimed by the US Air Force and subsequently assigned to the Oklahoma Air National Guard in 1976. In 1979, the aircraft was assigned to Nashville, Tennessee’s 118th Tactical Airlift Group (ANG). The aircraft, which was retired to Little Rock AFB in 1989, is on display at the main gate. It was originally assigned to the 62d Troop Carrier Squadron and the 314th Troop Carrier Wing.

Photo by U.S. Air Force

January 2, 2024 0 comment

Cold War

The US Navy A-4 pilot who fell asleep on a cross-country flight and was woken up by ATC

by Till Daisd January 1, 2024

written by Till Daisd

‘This one pilot had made the Yuma run in a TA-4J on Friday and was returning to Jacksonville on Sunday. Due to the time zone shift it’s likely that he was tired,’ David Tussey, former US Navy A-7E Corsair II pilot

According to a 2013 survey conducted by a pilots’ union, almost half of airline and commercial pilots fall asleep while piloting an aircraft. Out of the 56% of pilots who acknowledged sleeping, 29% said to the British Airline Pilots Association (Balpa) that they wake up to discover their fellow pilot dozing.

What about military pilots? What happens if a fighter jet pilot falls asleep while flying?

‘Here’s a sea story, or as they say, “this is a no-shitter”,’ David Tussey, former US Navy A-7E Corsair II pilot, says on Quora.

‘I had just arrived at NAS Cecil Field in 1974 to begin training in the A-7E. There was also an A-4 squadron stationed there, VA-45.

‘One weekend, an A-4 pilot (whose name I can’t definitively recall) was scheduled to make a “parts run” to MCAS Yuma where the A-7 RAG squadron had a detachment. Ready-to-replace parts were often loaded in an external store and ferried out to the Yuma detachment over the weekend, returning with a load of the replacement items. Fun stuff and good cross-country flying.

‘When you returned from MCAS Yuma to NAS Cecil Field in Jacksonville, FL, you almost always arrived at night due to the three-zone time difference. Often quite late at night, depending on when you depart the west. It’s nearly a full “across the US flight” from Arizona to Florida.

‘This one pilot had made the Yuma run in a TA-4J on Friday and was returning to Jacksonville on Sunday. There’s no evidence he was intoxicated; in fact, he was pretty straight-laced, but due to the time zone shift, it’s likely that he was at least tired.

‘The flight from Yuma to Jacksonville in a TA-4J requires two legs, with a refueling stop mid-way at, say, Tinker AFB in Oklahoma City or a similar military base located in the mid-west.

‘On the second leg of the flight that Sunday evening, with the autopilot flying the airplane due east and night falling, the pilot apparently fell asleep. ATC could not raise radio contact and started treating the aircraft as a lost radio incident as the aircraft crossed Louisiana and into northern Florida.

‘However, as the aircraft approached Jacksonville, it did not descend to land (weather was VFR). Instead, the aircraft continued to fly straight-and-level right over Jacksonville and out over the Atlantic Ocean.

‘Well, now ATC is in a panic—has the pilot become incapacitated? What’s gone wrong here?

‘FINALLY, about 50 miles out over the Atlantic, ATC awakened the pilot, who finally woke up and astonishingly acted like nothing had happened!! He turned the airplane around, and despite being way, way too low on fuel DID NOT declare an emergency!

‘He overflew two military airports on his way back to NAS Cecil, …and low and behold finally made it back to NAS Cecil Field, landed safely, taxied into the flight line. Shut down the aircraft. Filled out the paper work and went home… just another day at the office.

‘From when the pilot awakened until he landed at NAS Cecil Field was well over 150 miles, all with the low fuel light illuminated, and well over 30 minutes.

‘Scared the living bejeezus out of everyone.

‘When the details of this emerged, as you can imagine, the Squadron CO, Jax Approach, CO of NAS Cecil Field, were absolutely livid. The Squadron CO even went so far to dip the fuel tank (used a stick to measure the fuel remaining) and found there was 4 gallons left. FOUR GALLONS! What really fried the CO’s ass was that this pilot never declared an emergency despite the extreme low fuel state, and overflew two perfectly good military divert bases instead of landing immediately.

‘Not sure what happened after that. There was no damage done to Navy property, just some very poor judgment and headwork, followed by a major, major ass chewing.

‘But man, that was quite the story around Naval Aviation and particularly at NAS Cecil Field, always ending with a “he did what?”.’

Photo by U.S. Navy

January 1, 2024 0 comment

History

SR-71 vs. A-12: Project Nice Girl

by Till Daisd December 31, 2023

written by Till Daisd

Code-named “Nice Girl,” the recon fly-off between the A-12 and the SR-71 took place between October 20 and November 3, 1967

Unofficially referred to as the “Blackbird,” the SR-71 is a sophisticated, long-range strategic reconnaissance aircraft. Dec. 22, 1964, saw the first SR-71 flight, and in January 1966, the 4200th (later 9th) Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Beale Air Force Base (AFB), California, received the aircraft. On January 26, 1990, the US Air Force (USAF) retired its fleet of SR-71 aircraft due to rising operating expenses and a dwindling defense budget.

For almost 24 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. The SR-71 was derived from the A-12 Oxcart, another Mach 3 high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft.

The CIA operated the A-12, but its operational lifetime was short-lived because the CORONA reconnaissance satellite, which was first launched in June 1959, began providing worldwide imagery without much of the risk associated with airborne reconnaissance. The A-12 was retired in 1968 as a result of the SR-71 joining the US Air Force (USAF) at the same time. Why did the A-12 Oxcart lose out to the SR-71 Blackbird?

Code-named “Nice Girl,” the recon fly-off between the A-12 and the SR-71 took place over the United States from October 20 to November 3, 1967. It involved refueling and flying identical routes one hour apart on three different days, and both aircraft completed the entire sortie with collection sensors operational.

The SR-71 performed well on the first attempt, but the A-12 had an issue. The situation was the opposite on the second day. Both aircraft completed the trip successfully on day three. That day, there was an undercast over the northern region (from California to Kentucky); therefore, the SR-71 was able to collect ELINT and SLR data while the A-12 could only take pictures of the clouds. Both increased speed and altitude over the Gulf of Mexico after receiving air refueling. The weather was CAVU from New Orleans to the San Francisco area, and both aircraft were able to provide all of the data they needed for the evaluation.

The aircrews that took part in the program were:

Lt. Col. Al Hichew and I, Maj. Tom Schmittou, flew mission #1.
Maj. John Storrie and Maj. Coz Mallozzi flew mission #2 Maj.
Bill Campbell and Capt. Al Pennington flew mission #3.
Jack Weeks flew all three A-12 missions.

The first two flight days were inconclusive. Intelligence evaluators concluded that the SR-71 was a better overall investment after the third day of flying. While the A-12s’ cameras were superior due to their wider swath and higher resolution, the SR-71 was able to gather a greater variety of intelligence than the CIA aircraft. These additional sensors included side-looking airborne radar, infrared detectors, and ELINT-collection devices required for the SR-71 post-nuclear strike reconnaissance mission.

The conclusion was that they picked the SR-71 to continue flying. The A-12s were retired. The A-12s were put in hangars until 1984.

Check out the Born into the Wilde Blue Yonder Facebook page for further Blackbird photos and stories.

Photo by Lockheed Martin and U.S. Air Force

December 31, 2023 0 comment

Carriers

Brazil sinks Sao Paulo aircraft carrier even though the ship is full of asbestos

by Till Daisd December 30, 2023

written by Till Daisd

Despite protests from the Brazil’s Minister for Environment, the Brazilian Navy said on the evening of on Feb. 4, 2023 it had begun to sink the decommissioned aircraft carrier São Paulo, packed with an undetermined amount of asbestos and other toxic materials

Despite protests from the Brazil’s Minister for Environment, the Brazilian Navy said on the evening of on Feb. 4, 2023 it had begun to sink the decommissioned aircraft carrier São Paulo, packed with an undetermined amount of asbestos and other toxic materials, about 220 miles off the country’s northeastern coast.

The news release from the service did not give details of the operation, and it was not clear whether the ship had gone down. Naval officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

On Jan. 13, 2023 a team of technical experts found the former warship in poor condition: as reported by Alert 5 the inspection found a new breach in the vessel, an increase in the flooding level, and corrosion compared to the inspection conducted four months earlier.

The Sao Paulo was under tow 20 nautical miles from the Port of Suape, in Pernambuco.

The Brazilian Navy said they intended to send the vessel to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean by using explosives to open breaches in the ship. This has raised environmental concerns as the former aircraft carrier still have tons of asbestos materials on board.

The aircraft carrier was sold by the Navy to the Turkish shipyard Sök Denizcilik and Ticaret Limited and left Brazil in August last year to be broken up in Turkey.

The decommissioned aircraft carrier has been floating offshore for three months. Since Turkey refused it entry to be scrapped there, the Brazilian Navy said on Feb. 1, 2023 that is had been decided to sink the ship in the Atlantic Ocean in waters under Brazil’s jurisdiction.

As reported by the CNN the Sao Paulo did not get past the Gibraltar straits after having been towed by a tug to Europe. It was returned across the Atlantic after Turkey decided it was an environmental hazard.

The Brazilian Navy explained in a statement that the ship has not been allowed to dock at Brazilian ports because it is taking on water and is at risk of sinking.

The service added that it had no choice but to scuttle the ship in water about 5,000 meters (16,400 feet) deep 350 kilometers (217 miles) off-shore within Brazil’s exclusive economic zone despite a request by Environment Minister Marina Silva not to sink the carrier.

According to the statement the site is far from environmental protection areas and free of undersea communication cables.

“Given its deteriorating floating condition and the inevitability of uncontrolled sinking, there is no other option but to jettison the hull and sink it in a planned way,” it said.

The Navy had planned to scuttle the carrier on Wednesday at sea but public prosecutors sought to stop the sinking in Brazilian waters citing the environmental threat it poses, including tonnes of asbestos used for paneling inside the ship.

A federal judge on Wednesday afternoon denied their request for an injunction arguing that the Navy had weighed the environmental impact against other factors.

According to Navy Recognition, Sao Paulo is a Clemenceau-class aircraft carrier that was first commissioned in 1963 by the French Navy as Foch and was transferred in 2000 to Brazil, where she became the new flagship of the Brazilian Navy. The vessel displaces 32,800 tons, has a length of 265 meters and a crew of 1,920 sailors. It is able to accommodate 39 aircraft: 22 jets and 17 helicopters. In Brazilian Navy service these were: A-4KU Skyhawks (that the Brazilian Navy re-designated AF-1 and AF-1A Falcões), AS 532 SC Cougars, HB 350 & HB.355 Ecureuils, and SH-3 Sea Kings. Photo by Rob Schleiffert Sao Paulo at sea via Wikipedia

December 30, 2023 0 comment

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