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History

When a Luftwaffe Me 262 flew over Stalag Luft III, the Allied POWs were so startled that they worried Germany may yet win WWII

by Till Daisd June 23, 2023

The prisoners who operated the gun turrets claimed that they couldn’t spin their turrets quickly enough to take one of those creatures out

The Me 262 Schwalbe, which was created from a 1938 concept by the Messerschmitt company, was the first operational turbojet aircraft. On July 18, 1942, it made its first jet-powered flight and quickly outperformed conventional aircraft.

When a Me 262 attacked a British photo-reconnaissance Mosquito flying above Munich on July 25, 1944, it became the first jet aircraft to be used in combat. The German jet was very effective as a fighter against Allied bomber formations. The astounding speed of the Luftwaffe’s new aircraft shocked the Allies.

‘My father was a bomber pilot in WWII,’ Patrick Crowley, who worked for a NASA subsidiary, says on Quora.

‘He was shot down at the beginning of 1944 and spent most of the rest of the war in Stalag Luft III, located in Sagan, Poland. Yes, that Stalag Luft III where The Great Escape came from. Dad was a scrounger in the camp, like Hendley, the James Garner character.

‘Anyway, there must have been some Luftwaffe airfields not far from the camp because every once in a while the POWs would see German fighter planes overhead, not patrolling but apparently training or testing out new maneuvers or new equipment. It was a variety of aircraft, the usual Bf-109s, Focke Wulfs, and so on.

‘From one of the hidden radios in the camp, they heard about the landings at Normandy, and everybody (at least the prisoners) were cheered up by the news. The war was progressing and their side was winning. If they could just hang on for a while longer they’ll be freed and be able to go home. The German guards didn’t seem to be aware of D-Day though. Probably it wasn’t being reported over Nazi radio.’

Crowley continues;

‘Not long after the news of the Allied beachhead, something new happened. The German guards were chattering excitedly and pointing up into the sky.

‘Then the prisoners heard a screeching noise, very loud, and an aircraft with odd, swept-back wings screamed by overhead.

‘It was faster than any fighter plane they’d ever seen. Faster than the P-51s. Faster than the Mosquitoes.

‘But what was more, it didn’t have any visible method of propulsion. No propellers!

‘The gun turret operators among the prisoners said that there was no way they could rotate their turrets fast enough to shoot one of those things down.

‘The mood in the camp went decidedly downhill – for the prisoners at least. The guards, who were all Luftwaffe themselves, were ecstatic. Finally, here they could see one of the new Wunderwaffen (wonder weapons) that the high command had been promising them.

‘The prisoners saw it as a huge stumbling block that at best would prolong the war and their captivity and at worst might turn the tide once again and they could lose the war.’

Crowley concludes;

‘But, as fate would have it, the Me 262s were too late and too few. There were never enough of them and even though they were too fast to shoot down in the air, they were finicky to maintain and didn’t make that much of a difference.

‘But the aircrew in captivity had seen the beginning of the jet age and my father, for one, never forget the feeling of astonishment and woe to see such a thing in enemy hands.’

Photo by U.S. Air Force and Revell via 3DJake

June 23, 2023 0 comment

History

The Sopwith fighter was a powerful weapon in the proper hands, but unforgiving with students

by Till Daisd June 16, 2023

written by Till Daisd

For the Sopwith Camel, training fatalities (380) were almost equal to combat fatalities (420)

On December 22, 1916, the Camel—the most famous of the Sopwith fighters—made its debut. It was renowned for its sharp right turn and two Vickers machine guns that fired quickly and simultaneously into the propeller. According to Mark C. Wilkins in his book, British Fighter Aircraft in World War I, grouping all the weight on the CofG up front (guns, pilot, fuel, engine) combined with the gyroscopic effect of the rotary, enabled the Camel to make a very hard and fast right turn—which could also result in a spin rather quickly if the pilot wasn’t paying attention (this could also be useful in combat by the experienced pilot).

The Camel’s nose climbed when you turned left and dove when you turned right, just like the French Nieuports. The following is what future RAF Marshal Arthur Harris had to say: “If you wanted to go into a left turn you put on the full right rudder, and if you let go of the stick it looped!”

The Camel was a powerful weapon in the proper hands, yet it was harsh to unskilled or uninitiated users. Combat deaths (420) and training deaths (380) were nearly equal, making it crucial to complete training as soon and effectively as possible. This led to the insight that these fatalities may be much decreased if trainees could possibly learn the Camel with an accomplished instructor on the same aircraft.

Lt. Col. L. A. Strange, a member of the Central Flying School, wrote in Recollections of an Airman: “In spite of the care we took, Camels continually spun down out of control when flown by pupils on their solos. At length, with the assistance of Lt. Morgan, who managed our workshops, I took the main tank out of several Camels and replaced [them] with a smaller one, which enabled us to fit in [a] dual control.”

The guns were taken out, the oil and fuel tanks were combined into one, made smaller, and moved to a new location directly behind the firewall to provide for the weight of a second person. Training flights often lasted less than 30 minutes, thus a greater capacity tank was not required.

A smooth transition from a rich mixture, required for takeoff, to a progressively leaner mixture with higher altitude was the fatal flaw with inexperienced Camel pilots. Too frequently, a new pilot would fail to lean out the mixture at the proper moment, causing the engine to stall at a low altitude, which generally led to a serious or deadly crash. All the major flight schools received The “Training Camel,” as it became known, and it dramatically reduced training accidents.

American fighter pilot Elliott White Springs, who flew Camels with the 148th Aero Squadron, said the following of them:

“A tricky little biplane … they would do about 90 mph level but you couldn’t fly level because they would shake your teeth out in forty seconds by the clock. You had to climb or glide. But they could fly upside down and turn inside a stairwell. They would stall at 15,000 feet and lose 1,000 feet in a turn. But they were deadly below 5,000 feet if you could suck the Fokkers down to that level.

“… We picked up the castoff rebuilt Camels from Aire. No new Camels had been built since January [1918] when they became obsolete and were replaced by SEs, Dolphins, Bentleys, and Snipes. But that summer they were still the workhorses below 15,000 feet. Camel … [was at a] disadvantage … where speed and height were paramount, but in a dogfight down low nothing could get away from it … a Camel could make a monkey out of an SE or a Fokker at treetop level but it couldn’t zoom and it couldn’t dive. The Dolphin was worthless because the motors were too unreliable and the Bentleys [engines] and Snipes didn’t get to the front until too late.”

British Fighter Aircraft in World War I is published by Casemate Publishing and is available to order here.

Camel pilots explain why the iconic Sopwith fighter was a formidable weapon in the right hands but unforgiving with students — Lt. Elliott W. Springs of Lancaster, SC 148th American Aero Squadron and his wrecked plane.

Photo by Airwolfhound from Hertfordshire, UK via Wikipedia and U.S. DoD

June 16, 2023 0 comment

History

The F4U Corsair’s arrival in the South Pacific and the story of Ken Walsh, the first “Corsair ace”

by Till Daisd June 15, 2023

written by Till Daisd

The US Navy created the F4U Corsair as a carrier-based fighter, but there was no immediate plan to give it to the Marines

Nothing more represented Marine fighter aviation during World War II than the Vought F4U-1 Corsair, which would eventually replace the F4F Wildcat as the preferred aircraft of Marine fighting squadrons.

According to Bill Yenne’s narrative in America’s Few, Marine Aces of the South Pacific, Corsair’s entry into the South Pacific Area (SOPAC) did not follow a meticulous plan but rather happened practically by accident. The Marines were not meant to be the first to engage in combat with the remarkable new Corsair, just as they were not meant to be the first line of air defense in the South Pacific in the first place.

The US Navy created the aircraft as a carrier-based fighter with no imminent plans to give it to the Marines.

On aircraft carriers, Corsair’s enlarged nose made takeoff and landing difficult because it reduced forward visibility. The Corsair’s plans drastically shifted at this point. The Corsair, which was the most promising aircraft in every other way, was given to the Marines after the US Navy made the decision late in 1942 to limit the aircraft to land-based operations while techniques for carrier operations were developed.

The later F4U-1A and F4U-1D Corsair versions, which replaced the original F4U-1’s faceted “birdcage” canopy with a one-piece “blown Plexiglas” bubble canopy that had significantly improved view, eventually addressed the previous Corsairs’ poor visibility.

The Bent-Wing Bird proved to be the appropriate aircraft at the appropriate time when serving with the Marines in the Solomons. It was fast; the second American fighter (after the USAAF’s P-38 Lightning) to be capable of traveling at speeds higher than 400 mph, it was about 100 mph faster than the Wildcat and about twice as fast as a Zero.

Moreover, it possessed a range that was twice as big as the Wildcat, considerably increasing the operational range of Marine aviators in the Solomons. The Corsair, in contrast to the Wildcat, had the range to conduct combat missions all the way to Bougainville to engage the Zeros there at the top of the Slot.

Major William Gise commanded the VMF-124, the first active Corsair squadron. On February 12, 1943, they arrived at Kukum Field (“Fighter 2”) inside the Henderson Field complex, and the same day, they flew their first mission, escorting a search and rescue PBY. The Corsairs and VMF-124 faced their baptism of fire over the course of the following two days, but things did not go as planned. They were involved in the “St. Valentine’s Day Massacre,” which became famous in the records of SOPAC air operations.

The “accidental” arrival of the legendary F4U Corsair in the South Pacific and the story of Ken Walsh, the first man to become a “Corsair ace” — The first U.S. Marine Corps Vought F4U-1 Corsair of Marine Fighting Squadron VMF-124 Whistling Death on Guadalcanal, Feb. 13, 1943. It had arrived on Guadalcanal on the morning of Feb. 12 led by their commanding officer, Major William Gise. VMF-124 flew its first mission before lunch that day, with twelve F4Us escorting a PBY Catalina on a 350 km mission to pick up two downed pilots at Sandfly Bay, Vella Lavella.

Japanese losses were minimal, maybe as low as two, compared to American losses of 15 aircraft, including two Corsairs, during the sorties of February 13 and 14. Although the enemy may have left Guadalcanal, they were still a formidable force in the Solomons. VMF-124 gradually assessed how to take advantage of Corsair’s advantages in combat with the Zeros.

The Marine aviators on Guadalcanal had frustratingly little contact with the enemy up until April 1st. Air-to-air combat possibilities were less frequent during operations from the spring of 1943 compared to the almost daily contacts that occurred in the fall of 1942.

The first “Corsair ace,” Kenneth Ambrose Walsh of VMF-124, achieved his first aerial victories on April 1. The Imperial Japanese Navy Air Force (IJNAF) returned to the offensive in a major way on this day. The operation known as I-Go Sakusen, a two-week air onslaught against Allied positions from New Guinea to Guadalcanal, was started by Fleet Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, commander of the IJN Combined Fleet and the man responsible for the attack on Pearl Harbor.

On April 1st, Ken Walsh was in the air commanding a VMF-124 flight on a combat air patrol mission over the Russell Islands, prepared to halt an approaching IJNAF strike force.

Zeros attacked a flight of USAAF P-38s because they were blind to the VMF-124 Corsairs flying over them. Walsh directed his flight in a diving attack that brought down two adversary fighters. On May 13, he added three more in a subsequent round of battle, making the one-time “flying private” the first Corsair ace. These were only the first chapters of amazing tales for both Walsh and the Corsair.

America’s Few, Marine Aces of the South Pacific is published by Osprey Publishing and is available to order here.

Photo by U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps

June 15, 2023 0 comment

History

The Ki-43 Hayabusa pilot who claimed the downing of four USAAF P-38 Lightning in a fight never happened

by Till Daisd June 12, 2023

written by Till Daisd

In Japan, Warrant Officer Shiromoto Nauharu Hayabusa’s alleged exploits as a pilot over the Solomon Islands on January 31, 1943, have become legendary.

The Japanese started constructing an airfield at Munda, nearly midway between Guadalcanal and Rabaul, in late 1942, nearing the end of the Guadalcanal campaign. On Kolombangara Island, which is only fifteen miles from Munda and is immediately recognizable by its unusual 5,000-foot conical volcanic mountain, a smaller emergency strip at Vila was built. About 10,000 Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) and Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) personnel would eventually occupy these two locations, which they were told to defend to the death, as detailed by Michael John Claringbould in his book Pacific Adversaries Volume One.

On January 31, 1943, a coordinated fighter sweep over the region was started from Guadalcanal at midday by the US Army Air Forces (USAAF), US Navy (USN), and US Marine Corps (USMC). Such coordinated efforts were not uncommon, and on this particular day, they included eight 67th FS P-39s, four 44th FS Warhawks, two 339th FS P-38 Lightnings, and Grumman F4F Wildcats from VMF-112 and VMO-251 in addition to these other aircraft: a truly unusual combination of airpower even for this theater!

At a height of around 20,000 feet and with excellent sight, the American formation descended toward the conspicuous Kolombangara feature. Their objective was to shoot down any hostile aircraft they came across near Munda or Vila. The fighters flew over Vila and were met by AAA, but there was no aerial opposition. They moved toward Munda since the small grassy airfield appeared to be deserted.

A lone “Nagoya-type Zero” was spotted at 13,000 feet approximately east of Munda at 14:15 hours. On this lone foe, a pair of Airacobras made an overhead pass before it banked and hid between cumulus clouds to avoid battle. It turned out to be a 1st Sentai Mark I Hayabusa (Nakajima Ki-43, Allied reporting name: Oscar), piloted by Warrant Officer Shiromoto Nauharu, assigned to Captain Kanaya Yoshihiro’s No. 3 chutai, which had just recently moved into a temporary residence at Munda from its new base at Ballale Island.

A whole chutai of Hayabusas led by Captain Fujita Juro, chutaicho of the No. 3 chutai of the 11th Sentai, had joined Kanaya’s fliers on January 29, 1943. To familiarize the unit’s less experienced pilots with the Solomons area, Fujita had brought a dispersed group of eleven Buka Hayabusa. Also, they would relieve Kanaya’s chutai, who would soon return to Ballale.

The runway at the Munda airfield was rather short and had little room for dispersal. The two Hayabusa units and a dozen Ki-48 Sokei light bombers of the 45th Sentai were housed in the same little area. The Ki-48s hurried to evacuate Munda after alerting them to the approaching Americans. Only one Hayabusa was able to take off in the chaos on the little, dusty runway: Shiromoto.

Shiromoto was one of the youngest pilots to take part in the Nomonhan Incident against the Soviets in 1939 at the age of 25. Together with the remainder of the 1st Sentai, he had also battled for Malaya and Singapore before arriving in Rabaul on January 9, 1943. Shiromoto subsequently reported that he pursued a large enemy formation of twenty aircraft, attacked it, shot down two Lightings, and brought to the collision of another pair.

Only two Lightnings, though, flew over Munda that day, and neither of them even saw a Japanese fighter, much less engaged one. Shiromoto’s distant aerial behavior briefly diverted other US pilots before they passed overhead of Munda. Unfortunately, a low cloud blocked their view, making it impossible for them to see the about twenty Hayabusa scattered throughout the airfield. The Americans left for Guadalcanal in order to avoid being subjected to AAA fire from an ostensibly empty field and the lack of any aviation threats.

Once the Americans had departed, a gloating Shiromoto returned to Munda and wowed his friends with how his aerial prowess had thwarted a significant American fighter assault. Even today, Japanese tradition honors Shiromoto for his alleged bravery and inventiveness despite the absence of any Japanese witnesses.

In the meantime, the retreating Sokei bombers left Munda and arrived at Kahili airfield on the southern edge of Bougainville. They arrived back in Munda a little while later, and Australian Coastwatcher John Keenan witnessed them travel across the Vella Gulf around 1730 hours with binoculars. The twin-engine bombers were described by him as “transport planes bound for Vila.” In one respect, Keenan was right; the Sokei had made use of their time in Kahili to collect supplies.

Shiromoto finished a tough war in New Guinea with the 11th Sentai after his imagined exploits on January 31, 1943, and he arrived back in Japan in September of that same year. He was arrested by Russians in Korea in 1945, and they punished him for his involvement in Nomonhan by imprisoning him in Siberia until 1947.

Pacific Adversaries Volume One is published by Casemate Publishing and is available to order here.

Photo by Jack Fellows via Warfare History Network and Stumanusa own work via Wikipedia

The Story of the Ki-43 Hayabusa pilot that claimed the shooting down of four USAAF P-38 Lightnings in an air battle that never was

June 12, 2023 0 comment

History

The Air Warrior Combat Memorial, honoring ace pilot Robin Olds and air power, unveiled by the USAF Academy.

by Till Daisd June 10, 2023

written by Till Daisd

As commander of cadets from 1967 to 1970, Robin Olds was a “triple ace” with 17 victories in both World War II and the Vietnam War. He served in the military for 30 years before retiring from the Air Force in 1973.

At the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, a $1.4 million memorial commemorating the first 100 years of aerial combat was inaugurated on October 1, 2021.

According to Ray Bowden, U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs, in the article “Academy honors air power, ace pilot Robin Olds with the memorial,” the Air Warrior Combat Memorial, which is located close to North Gate and Stadium Boulevards, includes a bronze statue of Brig. Gen. Robin Olds, a former commandant of cadets and pilot, as well as a model of an F-4 Phantom aircraft and displays highlighting the development of air power since World War I.

According to Greg Knedler, vice president of the class and constituent development for the school’s fundraising arm, the Academy Foundation, 368 donors together covered the full cost of the memorial, with the class of ’71 contributing 90% of it.

USAF Academy unveils Air Warrior Combat Memorial honoring ace pilot Robin Olds and air power — Above: The $1.4 million Air Warrior Combat Memorial was unveiled with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the U.S. Air Force Academy, on Oct. 1, 2021. The memorial, near North Gate and Stadium boulevards at the base, features a statue of the former commandant of cadets and ace pilot, Brig. Gen. Robin Olds, an F4 Phanton aircraft model and displays highlighting the advances of air power since World War I. Top image: United States Air Force Academy graduates, family members, and staff tour the just-unveiled Air Warrior Combat memorial at the Academy, Oct. 1, 2021. The $1.4 million memorial features a model of the F4 Phantom aircraft and a statue of ace pilot and former Academy commandant of cadets, Brig. Gen. Robin Olds.

The memorial is the culmination of an 11-year fundraising and design effort organized by the Class of ’71, according to retired Col. Frank Morgan, a 1971 Academy graduate and project chair.

After the class’s 40th reunion in 2011, “We were eating pizza and having a beer,” he said. “That’s how this started. We all knew we needed to do something.”

Morgan claimed that graduates from the Academy’s classes of ’63 and ’69 as well as private contributors all helped to the fundraising campaign. The Academy’s commandant of cadets and fighter pilot, Brigadier General Paul Moga, graduated from the institution in 1995. He claimed that Olds is the prototype for air power. Beside his office are pictures of each Academy commandant, but Olds’ picture is the one the commandant focuses on the most.

He chuckled, “I feel his eyes tracking me. According to Moga, Olds set a positive example for all Airmen and cadets with his “deep commitment to the Air Force, air power, and Airmen.” He claimed that the memorial serves as an illustration of the “grit, discipline, innovation, and courage” cadets must possess in order to succeed as warfighters.

Olds served as the commander of cadets from 1967 to 1970 and was a “triple ace” with 17 victories in World War II and the Vietnam War. He served in the military for 30 years before retiring from the Air Force in 1973.

Because his father served as a World War I pursuit pilot, a personal assistant to Brig. Gen. Billy Mitchell, and the commander of the first B-17 squadron, Robin Olds grew up surrounded by military aviators and airplanes. At West Point, where he studied, Robin Olds’ innate fearlessness helped him succeed on the football field; in 1942, he was chosen as an All-American tackle. Olds completed his studies in 1943, then he attended aviation training before flying the P-38 in Europe.

As a risk-taking pilot and natural leader, Olds distinguished out. He became the 479th Fighter Group’s first ace within a few months after downing five hostile aircraft. He received a major promotion and 434th Fighter Squadron command while he was just 22 years old. As the unit switched to P-51s, Olds continued his success, and he concluded the war with 12 victories.

Olds assumed control of the 8th TFW at Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base in the fall of 1966. Because of Olds’ charisma and bravery, his people admired him, and the “Wolfpack” became the USAF’s most effective MiG-killing wing in Southeast Asia under his command. The Red River Valley Fighter Pilots Association, which facilitated communication between USAF wings in Southeast Asia and developed into an enduring fraternal group, was also founded in large part thanks to Olds.

Robin Olds MiG Kill — Col. Robin Olds painting a victory star on the F-4 he was flying on May 4, 1967, when he shot down a MiG-21.

Olds took the initiative and flew on the most dangerous missions, sharing the risks with his aircrews. He was the first USAF pilot to use F-4s in Southeast Asia and achieve four combat wins. For his bravery in battle, he received numerous awards, including the Air Force Cross for a mission in August 1967 during which he led a strike force against North Vietnam’s fiercely guarded Paul Doumer Bridge.

Olds’ greatest accomplishment was organizing and directing Operation Bolo, which forced North Vietnamese MiG-21 pilots into an unfavorable air battle. Public access to the Air Warrior Battle Memorial is available during base visiting hours.

Photo by Trevor Cokley / U.S. Air Force

June 10, 2023 0 comment

History

The Hawaiian Air Depot scheme: the most peculiar B-17 Flying Fortress livery from WWII

by Till Daisd June 9, 2023

written by Till Daisd

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, it was decided that all B-17 Flying Fortress bombers stationed in Hawaii need better camouflage than the USAAC olive drab scheme

From December 1941 through the beginning of March 1942, both sides engaged in daily aerial combat in the South Pacific. A few understrength squadrons of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) put up a spirited fight as Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) flying boats and land-based bombers penetrated over huge distances.

The greatest impact, nevertheless, came from the aircraft carriers’ superior power.

Ships from the US Navy (USN), including a carrier task force, were traveling to the Fiji region in February 1942. According to Michael Claringbould and Peter Ingman in South Pacific Air War Volume 1, the USN was given 12 US Army Air Corps (USAAC) B-17E Flying Fortresses for the purpose of keeping an eye on them. These heavy bombers would be perfect for service in the Pacific because of their long range. Six aircraft from the 88th Reconnaissance Squadron (RS), one from the 38th RS, and five from the Bombardment Squadron were among the aircraft allotted, which were all stolen from Hawaii’s 7th Air Force (BS). The 14th RS, a composite squadron that had been redrawn, was assigned as its primary mission the defense of supply lines to Australia.

The Hawaiian Air Depot scheme, the most peculiar B-17 livery of the conflict, was worn by about half of these bombers. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, it was decided that all fortresses stationed in Hawaii required camouflage that was more effective than the USAAC olive drab scheme that was applied at the factory. As a result, all Fortresses then stationed at Hickam Field and others that traveled through the Hawaiian Air Depot (HAD) throughout December 1941 were quickly outfitted with an unofficial camouflage scheme. The design, which used the topside hues olive drab, dark sand, rust brown, light sand, and blue-grey, lacks official orders or technical requirements due to its ad hoc nature.

The simple availability of paint stocks at the depot at the time led to the selection of the colors. All HAD aircraft, unusually, also had the distinctive USAAC red and white striped rudder, without the prewar dark blue leading edge, and with “US ARMY” painted in bold, dark blue lettering on the undersides of the wings. A few weeks after arriving in Australia, the unusual rudder marking on all of 14’s RS Fortresses would be painted over in olive drab because it was felt that the marking made the aircraft stand out too much.

Major Richard “Dick” Carmichael, a 28-year-old University of Texas graduate and “ring knocker” (a Westpointer), headed the young, colorful squadron. Carmichael had a somber memory from his time as the 11’s BS deputy commander when he and his commanding officer had drowned while in a boating accident in Lake Yellowstone. Carmichael held onto the hull for hours before being rescued, barely making it to tell the tale. Afterward, he was given the position of leader.

The colorful Fortresses took off from Hickam Field and staged their way to Nadi airfield on Viti Levu, the main island of Fiji. A wide runway appreciated the characteristic colonial ambiance and the attractive, rising, green karst escarpment in the distance. The Fortresses would launch a series of prolonged searches and reconnaissance missions to a 700-mile range from this New Zealand-managed area. The B-17s completed 16 missions in five days in the middle of February.

South Pacific Air War Volume 1 is published by Casemate Publishing and is available to order here.

Photo by Casemate and War Thunder

The story of the Hawaiian Air Depot scheme, the most unusual B-17 Flying Fortress livery of World War II — The foremost B-17E Fortress sports the colourful Hawaiian Air Depot (HAD) scheme on a patrol from Nadi, Fiji, in mid February 1942.

June 9, 2023 0 comment

History

F-15E used a 2000-pound laser-guided bomb to bring down an Iraqi Mi-24 attack helicopter

by Till Daisd June 8, 2023

written by Till Daisd

“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,” Richard T. Bennett, F-15E Strike Eagle Driver

The F-15E Strike Eagle is a two-seat, dual-role, fully integrated fighter for all-weather, air-to-air, and deep interdiction missions that was created to replace the General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark.

During Operation Desert Storm, the campaign that took place between January 17, 1991, and February 28, 1991, with the goal of rescuing Kuwait from the Iraqi assault, the F-15E saw its first action. The 335th Tactical Fighter Squadron (TFS, now 335th Fighter Squadron, FS) “Chiefs” F-15E Strike Eagle #89-0487, sometimes known as “487,” is credited with one of the most unusual air-to-air kills in aviation history during this combat.

On February 14, 1991, Capt. Richard T. Bennett, a pilot, engaged in an air battle. Weapon systems operator (WSO) Daniel B. Bakke achieved the first air-to-air victory for an F-15E Strike Eagle.

“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 and 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.

F-15E Driver explains how he shot down an Iraqi Mi-24 attack helicopter with a 2000lb laser-guided bomb — Mil Mi-24 Hind gunship

“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 from 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.

“[…] 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 the 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 really heavy and the other helicopters were starting to scatter. I told my wingman to put three Mk. 82 500-pounders in 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 the 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 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.

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

June 8, 2023 0 comment

History

Lightning vs Spitfire: Mach 2 interceptor struggled to prevail against the WWII aircraft in mock dogfights

by Till Daisd June 7, 2023

written by Till Daisd

“We did find that the piston-engined fighter presented a very poor target to infra-red homing missiles, especially from the rear aspect,” Wing Commander John Nicholls, former Lighting Pilot.

The interesting image in this post shows a Spitfire PR XIX PS853 parked next to an English Electric Lightning Mach 2 fighter plane at RAF Binbrook in 1963.

In that year, PS853 was flown in a series of test flights against Lightnings from Binbrook by Wing Commander John Nicholls, who served as the Officer Commanding the Air Fighting Development Squadron under the Central Fighter Establishment (CFE). He wrote about the reason for these unusual sorties, as well as the flights themselves, in Alfred Price’s 1974 book Spitfire At War (later made available in John Dibbs and Tony Holmes’ book Spitfire The Legend Lives On). He was a veteran of combat in Malaya in the Spitfire XVIII and a MiG killer while on exchange with the USAF during the Korean War.

‘This was at the time of the Indonesian confrontation and, since the Indonesian Air Force operated a large number of P-51 Mustang fighters, we were very interested in discovering how best a Lightning might engage such an aircraft. In the RAF we did not have any Mustangs, but at Binbrook, we did have our Spitfire with a performance that was, in many respects, similar. Thus it came about that our Spitfire came to be involved in a short battle trial pitted against a fighter that was her successor by three generations.

‘Of course, from the start we knew that the Lightning could overtake the Spitfire by nearly 1,000 mph – there was no need to run a trial to prove that. But we did find that the piston-engined fighter presented a very poor target to infrared homing missiles, especially from the rear aspect. And, since the Lightning would therefore very likely have to follow up its missile pass with a gun attack, a high overtaking speed would have made accurate firing very difficult. On the other hand, if the Lightning pilot slowed down too much he could end up playing the slower and more maneuverable fighter’s dogfighting game and lose. None of this was new – we had learned the same thing during trials between the Lightning and the Hunter. Another problem was that if the Spitfire pilot had sufficient warning of the attack he could spin around to meet it head-on – and thus present the most difficult target of all.

‘In the end, we evolved a type of attack that was the antithesis of all I had learned from my own operational experience of fighters-versus-fighters combat over Korea. Instead of trying to get above the enemy and diving on him to attack, we found it best to use the Lightning’s very high power-to-weight ratio to make a climbing attack from behind and below. From that angle the field-of-view from the Spitfire was poor, there was a good chance of achieving surprise and the infra-red source gave the best chance for missile acquisition. If the Lightning pilot did not acquire the target or bring his guns to bear on his first pass he could continue his steep climb – which the Spitfire could not possibly follow – and when out of range he could dive and repeat the process. Using such tactics, we felt that in the end, a competent Lightning pilot could almost always get the better of an equally competent Spitfire (or Mustang) pilot.

‘Almost certainly that trial at Binbrook was the final operational act carried out in earnest in the Spitfire’s long career.’

PS853, which had been completed on September 5, 1944, joined the BBMF in Coltishall, Norfolk, in April 1964. Four years later, it took part in The Battle of Britain filming.

Spitfire The Legend Lives On is published by Osprey Publishing and is available to order here.

Lightning Vs Spitfire: why the iconic Mach 2 interceptor struggled to win mock dogfights against the legendary WWII plane during the trial flights conducted by the RAF between the two types

Photo by Crown Copyright

June 7, 2023 0 comment

History

The urban legend of Kelly Johnson receiving a bag containing $30M. to pay the first six CIA U-2s

by Till Daisd June 6, 2023

written by Till Daisd

The contract for the first six U-2s the CIA bought is the subject of an urban legend

David Peters, an SR 71 pilot, was accepted into the program in 1976 and continued flying until his retirement in 1986. His hometown is Tacoma, Washington. It was 1967 when he first saw the SR 71. He was flying F-4s when they ran out of fuel and had to land at Navy Fallon in Nevada. He witnessed something there that he had never seen before. It just so happened that John Storie and George Bull, two SR-71 pilots, were flying the “B” type at the time and had to land due to a fuel issue. Dave said to his backseater, “Someday I’m going to fly that plane.”

In Lockheed’s “Skunk Works” in Burbank, California, a group led by Clarence L. “Kelly” Johnson developed and produced the U-2 to carry out surveillance missions in perfect secrecy. The first flight of this single-engine aircraft, which had sailplane-like wings suitable for the thin atmosphere over 55,000 feet (over 70,000 feet for subsequent models), took place in August 1955. After going into operation in 1956, its employment was kept a secret until a surface-to-air missile shot down a U-2 aircraft being flown by a civilian over Soviet territory on May 1, 1960.

The urban legend of the brown bag with $30 million in cash delivered to Kelly Johnson to pay for the first six CIA U-2 spy planes — David Peters in SR-71’s cockpit

The deal for the first six U-2s that the CIA bought is the subject of an urban legend. Kelly Johnson received a call from the CIA while he was in his office. He received instructions to meet a man at a specific Georgetown restaurant. He would be in the back, they claimed, and wear a pink carnation as a lapel. He received a time and date. Johnson arrived, and sure enough, a sketchy-looking figure was seated in a booth near the back.

The man was wearing a trench coat with a pink carnation pinned to the lapel, along with a fedora. Johnson claims that after approaching the man and sitting down, the man simply stared at him for a short while. “We will take six for 30 million,” he continued. Johnson felt something on his leg and looked down after they continued to stare at each other for a moment. When he looked up, the man had left and there was a sizable brown paper bag under the table. He searched the bag and founds bundles of $100,000 dollars. “Kelly you’re a*s is dead.” Johnson reportedly thought as his first thought. Brown bag in Georgetown, downtown Washington, DC, contains $30,000,000 in cash.

U-2s — Above: Initial U-2 testing was done at a remote dry lake in Nevada nicknamed “The Ranch.” Disassembled aircraft were airlifted in pieces from Lockheed’s Burbank, Calif., plant to the Ranch and assembled there. Note that these CIA aircraft carry fictional National Advisory Council for Aeronautics (NACA) insignia and numbers. Top image: Clarence L. “Kelly” Johnson, chief designer at Lockheed’s secret “Skunk Works” facility, initially designed the U-2 around the F-104 Starfighter fuselage.

The only federal employee with spending authority over unvouchered government funds is the director of the CIA.

Peters recalls; ‘I obviously can’t prove the story but Kelly told it to me when I was just starting the program. He and Bill Parks were there for a ceremony dedicating Kelly Johnson Street at Beale. My backseater Ed Bethart and I were assigned to escort them. The only time he was under control was the actual ceremony. So, Ed and I had the unbelievable pleasure of escorting them anywhere Kelly wanted to go for about nine hours. The majority of that time the four of us alone.’

Check out Linda Sheffield Miller’s, (Col Richard (Butch) Sheffield’s daughter, Col. Sheffield was an SR-71 Reconnaissance Systems Officer) Facebook Page Habubrats for amazing Blackbird photos and stories.

Photo by U.S. Air Force and David Peters

June 6, 2023 0 comment

History

The real reason for the P-51B/C/D Mustang’s range

by Till Daisd June 4, 2023

written by Till Daisd

The P-51 Mustang was mostly used as a long-range escort fighter because of its superb range and maneuverability

One of the best and most well-known fighters employed by the US Army Air Forces (USAAF) in World War II was the P-51 Mustang. The USAAF received the first batch of P-51A fighters in March 1942.

The first P-51B/C Mustangs powered by Merlin entered action in Europe in December 1943. These P-51s gave the US bombing campaign against Germany the desperately needed long-range, high-altitude escorts. The P-51D became the main long-range escort fighter for the USAAF when it began to arrive in large numbers in Europe in the spring of 1944.

The Mustang was the first single-engine aircraft based in Britain to enter Germany, arrive in Berlin, and fly with heavy bombers over the Ploiesti oil fields in Romania thanks to its prowess in long-range escort duty. How did the venerable Mustang manage to complete such distant escort missions? Its drop tanks are not the reason.

‘Lots of planes could carry drop tanks: P-47, P-40, P-38, etc.,’ says James Gibson, former MP&P Engineer at Boeing, says on Quora.

‘The real secret to the Mustang’s range was not the laminar flow control wing or the Merlin engine. It was the addition of a fuselage tank behind the cockpit halfway through the production of the P-51B. This additional internal tank increased fuel capacity by 85 gallons: original P-51Bs only had 184 gallons in the wings. The addition increased total fuel to 269 gallons or some 30%. Further adding two 75 gal drop tanks you reached 419 gallons. The later D&H models carried 110 gal drop tanks for 489 gallons.

‘But when you carried so much fuel you had to be aware of which tanks you were using at which point in the flight. On take-off, you used the rear fuselage tank. This tank affected the center of gravity of the plane. You didn’t want to tangle with a 109 or a Focke Wulf when carrying fuel in the rear tank. So you burned it first and then switched to the drop tanks about halfway to Berlin.’

Gibson concludes;

‘You would then burn off the drop tanks, hopefully before engaging enemy fighters. But if they struck early you could drop those tanks and thus be clean and maneuverable. This was the fight profile that allowed the Mustangs maximum range and best performance when over target.’

Photo by U.S. Air Force

June 4, 2023 0 comment

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