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History

The unique image of a Concorde in supersonic flight

by Till Daisd September 24, 2021

The Tornado crew needed the Concorde to slow down from Mach 2 to Mach 1.5–1.6 in order for them to get the shot

The stunning photograph in this post, which was taken in April 1985, is the only image of a Concorde traveling at supersonic speed.

While piloting a Royal Air Force (RAF) Tornado fighter during a rendezvous with the Concorde over the Irish Sea in April 1985, Adrian Meredith captured the shot.

The Tornado could equal Concorde’s cruising speed, but because of the huge rate of fuel consumption, it could only do so for a short period of time.

After several failed attempts, the Concorde was forced to slow down from Mach 2 to Mach 1.5–1.6 in order for the Tornado crew to get the image. To get the Tornado up to that speed as quickly as possible, everything was removed from it.

The Tornado broke off the rendezvous after only four minutes of rushing to catch the Concorde and trying to keep up, while the Concorde landed peacefully at JFK!

On February 7, 1996, Concorde flew from New York to London in 2 hours 52 minutes and 59 seconds, setting a record for the fastest transatlantic flight.

The supersonic passenger jet airliner Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde was a joint British-French project. With seats for 92 to 128 passengers, it had a top speed of Mach 2.04 (1,354 mph or 2,180 km/h at cruise altitude, more than twice the speed of sound). The plane went into service in 1976 and flew for a further 27 years.

Twenty Concorde samples, including six prototypes and development aircraft, were created as part of the combined development and production effort between Aérospatiale and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) by an Anglo-French treaty.

Only two airlines, Air France and British Airways owned and operated Concorde.

Regular transatlantic flights were made by the supersonic airliner from London’s Heathrow Airport and Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport, and Grantley Adams International Airport in Barbados; it completed these flights in less time than other airliners could.

After the disaster of Air France Flight 4590 on July 25, 2000, in which all of the passengers and crew perished, the aircraft was eventually decommissioned in 2003. Aérospatiale and BAC’s successor business, Airbus, stopped providing maintenance assistance for Concorde in 2001, which also played a role in the overall decline of the commercial aviation sector.

Photo by Adrian Meredith / Crown Copyright

September 24, 2021 0 comment

History

The pilot who conceived Operation Bolo, Col. John “JB” Stone, takes one last flight with the Wolf Pack

by Till Daisd September 24, 2021

written by Till Daisd

Col. John “JB” Stone came up with the idea for the strategy that would later play a crucial role in aviation history over a few inexpensive beers with Olds and careful consideration of the available resources

The Wolf Pack’s founding in 1967 under Robin Olds’ leadership is well known, although some people might not be aware of the origin of the plan to disguise F-4s as F-105s.

Captain John “JB” Stone of the U.S. Air Force (USAF) was given the task of figuring out how the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing (TFW) would counter the threat posed by the North Vietnamese MiG-21s at the time. Over a few cheap beers with Olds and a critical analysis of the materials at hand, he came up with the idea that would eventually play a crucial role in the history of aviation.

On January 2, 1967, F-4s from the 8th TFW made their way into North Vietnam from the west using the same altitude, formation, and path as an F-105 bomb attack. Additionally, they had electronic jamming pods for F-105s that they carried and employed. The MiGs approached to intercept what they believed to be an F-105 strike after the North Vietnamese fell for the bait. In order to stop the MiGs from fleeing to China and to orbit their bases, which prevented the MiGs from landing, 366th TFW F-4s arrived in North Vietnam from the east at the same time.

Despite a few issues brought on by the overcast weather, Operation Bolo was a resounding success. With no USAF losses during the 12-minute encounter, F-4 aircrews downed seven MiG-21s and injured two others or over half of the operating force of the Vietnam People’s Air Force (VPAF).

Four days later, two more MiG-21s were brought down by a different trick, this one imitating an F-4 reconnaissance aircraft. For several months, these severe losses significantly decreased MiG activity.

The narrative of JB Stone comes full circle on his recent visit to Kunsan after 51 years have passed.

In the Olds room at Kunsan, JB talked to the Airmen of the Wolf Pack about Operation Bolo and shared his experiences, knowledge, and stories with them.

He took to the skies once more with the Pack. His flight was hosted by the 80th Fighter Squadron “Juvats,” which is another instance of how the narrative has come full circle since JB’s son flew with the Juvats in the late 1990s.

Photo by USAF

Source: Kunsan Air Base, Republic of Korea Facebook page

September 24, 2021 0 comment

History

“The Bastard,” the only SR-71C ever built

by Till Daisd September 23, 2021

written by Till Daisd

Because it was a hybrid made of the first YF-12A’s rear fuselage and a functional engineering mockup of an SR-71A forward fuselage created for static testing, SR-71C S/N 61-7981 was known as “The Bastard.”

The intriguing video in this post was recorded at Hill Air Force Base (AFB) in June 2016, and it features SR-71C, “The Bastard,” S/N 61-7981, the final SR-71 to be produced and the only C model Blackbird ever made. Its hybrid construction, which combined the rear fuselage of the first YF-12A (S/N 60-6934) with a functioning engineering model of an SR-71A forward fuselage made for static testing, earned it the moniker “The Bastard”.

After the second of the two B-model trainers crashed on January 11, 1968, a new plane was constructed to take its place. On March 14, 1969, the C model took off for the first time from the Lockheed facility in Palmdale, California, with Lockheed test pilot Steve Belgeau serving as the reconnaissance systems officer and Blackbird Chief Project Pilot Robert J. Gilliland at the controls. On September 3, 1970, it was handed over to the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Beale AFB, California, following flight testing.

The aircraft only had 556.4 flight hours, not counting the 180.9 hours accumulated when it was still registered as YF-12A S/N 60-6934, when it made its final flight on April 11, 1976, and was taken out of service on June 24, 1976. At the Lockheed facility in Palmdale, California, it was subsequently processed for long-term storage.

The aircraft was given to the Hill Aerospace Museum by the Air Force in April 1990 after Utah Senator Orrin G. Hatch’s intervention, and the museum immediately started organizing its transfer from Beale AFB to Hill AFB.

In order to establish the best approach to disassembling, packaging, and transporting the aircraft, representatives from the museum, the Air Force Heritage Foundation of Utah, the 67th Aerial Port Squadron, and the 405th Combat Logistics Support Squadron (CLSS) flew to California in July 1990.

Then, in August 1990, a sixteen-person crew from the 405th CLSS traveled to California and disassembled the plane into three main parts and other minor parts, including a J58 engine and start cart, palletizing them all for transportation on a C-5 Galaxy cargo plane. However, no cargo aircraft was immediately available to bring the disassembled parts back to the base after the operation was over. All activities would have to wait.

The majority of the palletized components were retrieved from Beale AFB by officials from the 67th Aerial Port Squadron and the 405th CLSS in the spring of 1991, leaving only the larger portions that needed to be transported by cargo aircraft. One year after the dismantling process started, in August 1991, air transport was ultimately organized using a C-5 from Travis AFB.

The airplane parts were assembled in a sizable hangar owned by the 405th CLSS for reassembly and restoration once all the pieces had finally arrived on base. The challenging two-month process of putting the aircraft back together involves volunteers, Air Force Reservists, and numerous active-duty personnel. The finished airplane was transported to the museum and shown there on October 16, 1991.

Source: U.S. Air Force

Photo by U.S. Air Force

September 23, 2021 0 comment

History

When North Korea attacked an SR-71 Blackbird with SA-2 SAMs.

by Till Daisd September 23, 2021

written by Till Daisd

Maj. Maury Rosenberg, the SR-71 pilot, and Maj. E. D. McKim, the RSO, were heading southwest on their final pass over the DMZ when North Korea launched two Soviet SA-2 SAMs at their aircraft

The Lockheed A-12 and YF-12A aircraft were the basis for the long-range, high-tech, strategic reconnaissance aircraft known as the SR-71, also known as the “Blackbird.” The first SR-71 to enter service was delivered to the 4200th (later 9th) Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Beale Air Force Base, California, in January 1966. The SR-71’s first flight took place on December 22, 1964.

It streaked across hostile skies, gathering intelligence in a couple of seconds because of its extraordinary speed. It could survey 100,000 square miles of the Earth’s surface per hour from an altitude of 80,000 feet.

A hostile action has never resulted in the loss or damage of an SR-71. It was quite challenging for enemy radars to locate the aircraft. The leading edges and vertical rudders of the SR-71 were made of composite material and used the original stealth technology. Asbestos and epoxy were used to give high-temperature resistance and radar-absorbent properties that decreased the radar cross-section (RCS).

The RCS was further decreased by the use of an antiradar coating made of iron ferrites on the leading edges, as explained by former Blackbird pilot Col. Richard H. Graham, USAF (Ret.), in his book The Complete Book of the SR-71 Blackbird: The Illustrated Profile of Every Aircraft, Crew, and Breakthrough of the World’s Fastest Stealth Jet.

The SR-71 effectively became the first stealth aircraft. According to Ben Rich, who led Lockheed Skunk Works from 1975 to 1991, the SR-71’s design reduces the RCS by 65%, and the iron ferrite radar-absorbing coating reduces it by an additional 35%. The RCS of the SR-71 depicted a target that was less than 10 square meters in size at cruising speed and altitude. For purposes of reference, the RCS of an F-15 fighter is around 100 square meters. Even if the SR-71 could be located on radar, the time it took for a missile to lock onto it and make a successful kill wasn’t simply enough.

That time an RA-5C Vigilante took a picture of a SA-2 surface to air missile passing just 104 feet from its belly — SA-2 Surface-to-Air Missile on display in the Southeast Asia War Gallery at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.

On Wednesday, August 26, 1981, a single missile shot at an SR-71 was publicly acknowledged by the US government. Maj. Maury Rosenberg, the pilot of the SR-71, and Maj. E. D. McKim, the RSO, were heading southwest on their final pass over the DMZ when North Korea launched two Soviet SA-2 surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) at their aircraft.

Major McKim was the first to detect something unusual thanks to his DEF system, which immediately jammed the missile’s guidance system and lit up his cockpit displays. DEF devices were carried in SR-71’s chine bays and were designed to jam or spoof any radar or SAM system as appropriate. After informing Major Rosenberg of his DEF indicators, he quickly glanced to the right to catch a glimpse of the approaching missiles. As a result of the incident, crews are much more cautious when crossing the Korean DMZ in the future.

North Korea, at that time, denied American accusations that its military had fired SAMs at the SR-71.

On August 29, 1981, Henry Scott Stokes reported for the New York Times, “North Korea said nothing about whether such an attack had been made in what it defines as its own airspace. Issuing its first direct statement on the incident, the official North Korean press agency charged that the SR-71 had violated ‘the territorial air of the northern half of our republic,’ meaning North Korea […].

“Since 1977, however, North Korea has maintained that its military borders extend 50 miles to sea from its eastern and western coasts. It describes its territorial limit as 12 miles from shore. The United States officially recognizes a limit of only 3 miles.

“The North Korean statement charged that the SR-71 mission was part of ‘maneuvers to aggravate tension and start a new war in Korea.’ It accused the United States of fabricating a story about a missile attack and of ‘groundlessly slandering’ North Korea.

Stokes continues: “North Korea’s denial came in a sentence in which the Pentagon’s term ‘international airspace’ was rendered as ‘above high seas.’ ‘According to foreign reports,’ the statement said, ‘the U.S. Defense Department announced on Aug. 26 that the high-altitude reconnaissance plane of the U.S. Air Force, SR-71, seemed to be attacked by a North Korean missile above high seas, groundlessly slandering us.’ “

“The Pentagon announcement on Wednesday did not directly accuse the North Koreans of shooting at the plane as it flew in ‘South Korean and international airspace.’ It said, ‘If a missile was launched, it could have originated from any one of a number of missile sites in North Korea.’

“But Dean Fischer, the State Department spokesman, said yesterday that the United States had been able to confirm that North Korean forces ‘fired a missile at a U.S. Air Force plane flying in South Korean and international airspace’ in a routine mission similar to those conducted in the region for years.

“On Aug. 14, North Korea complained that SR-71s had intruded into North Korean airspace eight times this month. ‘The flight patterns are only over South Korea and international airspace,’ an American military official said at the time. ‘They don’t go over North Korea.’

“A United States military spokesman said in Seoul today that North Korea had objected to an American proposal for a special meeting of the Korean Military Armistice Commission at Panmunjom tomorrow to discuss the plane incident. He said North Korea had proposed that it be held Sept. 5.”

Stokes concludes: “The incident came a week after two American F-14’s shot down two Soviet-built Libyan Su-22s during maneuvers in the Gulf of Sidra off Libya. That case also involved disputed territorial limits.”

That time North Korea fired SA-2 SAMs at SR-71 Blackbird

Remarkably, although there have been stories of over a thousand SAMs being fired at the SR-71, Rich claims that the actual number is closer to one hundred in his book. Graham claims that this number is more accurate.

Photo by U.S. Air Force

September 23, 2021 0 comment

History

The story of the six-on-six missile shot test

by Till Daisd September 23, 2021

written by Till Daisd

The six-on-six missile shoot was seen as a major success because it showed that the AIM-54 Phoenix missile and the F-14 Tomcat were both ready for active service

The F-14 Tomcat, designed toward the end of the 1960s as a multimission fighter capable of both dogfighting against the most agile fighters and defending U.S. Navy Carrier Battle Groups (CVBG) from raids carried out by Soviet bombers armed with long-range cruise missiles, was equipped with the AWG-9, the most powerful radar ever mounted on a fighter.

The AIM-54 was the largest, deadliest, and longest-range air-to-air missile in the world out of all the weapons that the AWG-9 could support. The Phoenix corrected many flaws in the earlier missiles and added a number of new capabilities, including those that were present in the AIM-7 Sparrow.

As detailed in the book Tomcat! The Grumman F-14 Story by Rear Admiral Paul T. Gillcrist, the first advancement made by the AIM-54 was a significant increase in range from the Sparrow’s 15 miles to an astonishing 100 miles (160 km). As a result, the Phoenix was the perfect weapon to counter the threat posed by Soviet bombers and their cruise missiles. The second new capability introduced by the AIM-54 was strictly linked to its radar: the AWG-9 had the unprecedented ability to track 24 targets and attack 6 of them simultaneously.

The F-14 was the first fighter in the world to be able to engage several aerial targets at once thanks to its armament system. Once more, the Phoenix was the first “fire and forget” missile, making it unnecessary for the Tomcat to maintain radar lock on the target while the AIM-54 was flying in its direction. This capability was made feasible by the tiny Phoenix radar, which guided the missile in its final moments of flight. The fourth innovation was the AIM-54’s strong resilience to countermeasures, a crucial quality in any contemporary air-to-air combat situation.

How the F-14 Tomcat sharpened his teeth: the story of the six-on-six missile shot test

Instead, the so-called “end game,” which is essentially when any other missile, after its rocket motor has burned out, starts to lose speed quickly, providing the target with the chance to maneuver and lowering the probability of the missile’s kill. This was the most significant flaw that the Phoenix system solved.

The Phoenix’s “end game” performance has significantly improved as a result of its unusual trajectory following the launch. The AIM-54 rocket motor reached 80,000 feet at a speed between Mach 4 and Mach 5 because it performed better at high altitudes. The Phoenix began to descend when the rocket motor failed, transforming the altitude into velocity and keeping its ability to turn against a moving target.

An extensive test campaign was carried out between 1972 and November 1973 to evaluate the performance of the new Phoenix capabilities. Even though this test campaign resulted in the most expensive series of air-to-air missile test firings in history, it was necessary to show off the power of the Tomcat weapons system as well as to determine the fate of the F-14 since it was designed around the AIM-54 concept.

Two aircraft, the F-14A-15-GR, BuNo 157983 (the fourth Tomcat built), and the F-14A-40-GR, BuNo 157988 (the ninth Tomcat built), participated in the live missile firing program.

On April 28, 1972, Tomcat began firing AIM-54 missiles at various (simulated) targets, including cruise missiles, high-altitude bombers, and fast-maneuvering fighters. One shot was also fired from a very far distance—120 miles (193 km)—when an F-14 engaged and shot down a target drone.

On November 21, 1973, when the infamous “six-on-six missile shot” occurred, the final test was carried out. The Pacific Missile Test Center, formerly known as the current Naval Air Warfare Center, was based at Point Mugu. On that day, Commander John R. “Smoke” Wilson Jr. and his Radar Intercept Office (RIO) Lieutenant Commander Jack Hawver, the crew who carried out the entire Phoenix test campaign, took off from there with their F-14 equipped with a full Phoenix load: four were on pallets in the semi-submerged wells in the underside of the fuselage, and two more AIM-54s were mounted one on each wing station pylon. This time, they had to fire six missiles at six distinct targets simultaneously.

Wilson and Hawver launched all six missiles in 38 seconds once they reached a height of 25,000 feet. Three QT-33s (the drone version of the old jet trainer), two BQM-34A aerial targets, and one BQM-34E were the targets for the AIM-54 missiles. Wilson fired the first Phoenix missile, followed by Hawver with the second through fifth missiles, and then Wilson once more with the final AIM-54.

Four targets, which were simulated bombers (two QT-33s, one BQM-34A, and one BQM-34E), were hit directly while the missiles were flying in unison under the supervision of the Tomcat’s fire control system. The Phoenix radar broke the lock on the other BQM-34A due to a failure at the flight control module, and the final AIM-54 missed the final QT-33 due to a Phoenix radar antenna malfunction.

The test ended with a score of four direct hits, with one AIM-54 missing its target due to the BQM-34A avionics failure, as the following video (which is the original six-on-six missile shot clip) demonstrates.

The six-on-six missile shoot was seen as a significant success because it showed that the AIM-54 Phoenix missile and the F-14 Tomcat were both ready for active service.

Photo by U.S. Navy

September 23, 2021 0 comment

History

Remembering the retirement of the F-117 Nighthawk with Martians, Bandits, and UFOs

by Till Daisd September 22, 2021

written by Till Daisd

The F-117 Nighthawk was so covert that it was referred to it as a UFO in Nevada legend

The F-117 Nighthawk, a highly classified aircraft that Nevadan folklore referred to be a UFO, has been retired for ten years.

The Nighthawk pilots were referred to by the call sign “Bandit,” and each pilot earned their number after their first solo flight, according to Tech. Sgt. Robert Barnett, Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs, in the article Remembering the F-117 Nighthawk. According to Wayne Paddock, a former F-117 maintainer currently based at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico, some of the maintainers were also given a call sign.

“The people who maintained the coatings on the aircraft, radar absorbent material were classified as material application and repair specialists (MARS). MARS morphed into Martians,” Paddock said, “MARS was a shred out from the structural repair/corrosion control career field.”

UFOs, Bandits and Martians: remembering the F-117 Nighthawk retirement — Retired Air Force Col. Jack Forsythe in front of the flag F-117 at Tonopah Air Force Base, Nev., after the last mission on Apr. 22, 2008. Forsythe led the four-ship formation that flew the Nighthawk to its resting place.

The F-117’s technology was created in the 1970s to allow for the attack of valuable targets while avoiding adversary radar detection. It could reach a top speed of 684 mph and had two engines and up to 5,000 pounds of various internal storage.

According to Yancy Mailes, director of the history and museums program for Air Force Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, and a former F-117 maintainer, it was the first aircraft created as a low-observable, steady, and hence precise platform.

“It was the marriage of the GBU-27 to the F-117 that had a laser designator in its nose that made it such a precise, deadly platform,” Mailes said. “It was best demonstrated during Operation Desert Storm when pilots snuck into Iraq and dropped weapons down the elevator shaft of a central communications building in Iraq.”

On June 18, 1981, the first Nighthawk took to the skies, and the 4450th Tactical Group, the first F-117A unit (later renamed the 37th Tactical Fighter Wing in October 1989), reached initial operating capability in October 1983.

When two F-117s from the 37th TFW targeted military targets in Panama during Operation Just Cause in 1989, the Nighthawk was first used in combat. The aircraft was used in Operation Desert Shield as well.

Retired Col. Jack Forsythe recalls being thrilled to fly a Nighthawk for the first time when stationed at Holloman AFB in 1995.

“It was a unique experience,” he said. “It’s probably the same feeling that a lot of our (single seat) F-22 (Raptor) and F-35 (Lightning II) pilots feel today.”

On April 22, 2008, the Nighthawk entered retirement after 25 years of service. The four-ship formation was led by Forsythe to Palmdale, California, where Lockheed Martin employees bid their goodbyes.

“We lowered the bomb doors of each aircraft and people signed their names to the doors,” Forsythe said. “It was really just kind of neat; they had designed it, built it, and maintained it for these 25 years, so it really hit home – the industry and Air Force partnership that made the Nighthawk great. I think the four of us were just really struck by that and have some really great memories of that flight.”

To honor American airpower, the maintainers painted the American flag across the whole underside of his F-117.

“I think we all recognized that this was something historic,” he said. “We retired an airplane that people still reference today. We really understood that so it was a sentimental flight, to say the least. It was a great weapon system, very stable, and easy to fly. It’s still a memorable experience.”

Photo by Staff Sgt. Jason Colbert and Senior Master Sgt. Kim Frey / U.S. Air Force

September 22, 2021 0 comment

History

The Short Stirling and the Hamburg fire raids

by Till Daisd September 20, 2021

written by Till Daisd

“We were not aware at that time of the firestorm, but we did realize that the target was well and truly alight, for as we looked back even halfway across the North Sea we could see the smoke,” Chris Dickenson, Short Stirling flight, engineer

The formidable Short Stirling was the first of the RAF’s three four-engined heavy bombers to enter service in August 1940. Before the type was officially decommissioned in July 1946, the Royal Air Force (RAF) manufactured and flew a total of 2371 units. The Stirling was at the forefront of the British night bombing campaign against Germany from its first operation in February 1941. The RAF’s largest wartime bomber was deployed by 12 squadrons at the height of its operational service with Bomber Command in 1943 before unacceptably high losses necessitated its retirement to second-line tasks.

The preparations for destroying Hamburg using all of the RAF’s available heavy bomber squadrons, including the nine Stirling units in No 3 Group, were laid out in an order that “Bomber” Harris gave to all of his heavy bomber groups on May 27, 1943. A series of nighttime strikes with maximal effort were to be supplemented by daytime attacks by heavy bombers from the USAAF’s Eighth Air Force.

The RAF’s raid planners were familiar with Hamburg because Bomber Command had attacked it 98 times since the war’s start. With a population of more than 1.5 million, it was the second-largest city in Germany, and its complete destruction would have a negative impact on the Third Reich’s industrial and civilian morale.

In the book Short Stirling Units of World War 2, Jonathan Falconer explains why Hamburg was a crucial choice as a target for two tactical factors. First off, the city’s location at the entrance of the Elbe river meant that it would be easily visible on H2S radar screens even if it was beyond of Oboe range (although this was of little help to the Stirling crews as their aircraft were not so equipped).

Second, the city was a perfect testing ground for the RAF’s top-secret new radar jamming device, codenamed “Window,” because it was protected by 15 radar-equipped defense boxes and night fighter stations in the Kammhuber Line (the name the Allies gave to the German high air defense system established in July 1940 by Oberst Josef Kammhuber).

On the night of July 24–25, a force of 791 bombers, including 354 Lancasters, 239 Halifaxes, 120 Stirlings, and 68 Wellingtons, made their first attack on the city. As each aircraft approached Hamburg across the North Sea, bundles of “Window” were thrown down its flare chute, and as was expected, the German early warning radar systems broke down. More than 2396 tons of bombs were dumped on the undefended city during the hour-long operation. Only 12 bombers, including three Stirlings, failed to return, thanks to the “Window” effect.

The Short Stirling and the Hamburg fire raids — A Royal Air Force flight of No. 1651 Heavy Conversion Unit Short Stirling aircraft flying southwest, with the outskirts of Waterbeach (UK) in the foreground and Cambridge in the distance.

On the night of July 25–26, 705 aircraft from Bomber Command’s squadrons attacked Essen while the shock of “Window” was still fresh in people’s minds. Among the 26 bombers that did not return, seven aircraft from Stirlings had a poor performance.

Hamburg residents were suffering in an unexpected heatwave since late July had been much hotter than anticipated. The weather on the 27th was significantly warmer than it had been the previous days, and Harris ordered 727 bombers to attack the city that night using largely the same strategies as on the 24th and 25th. The Stirling and Halifax aircraft’s capacity for incendiary to high explosives was boosted for operational reasons, a move that resulted in unexpectedly greater destruction than before.

That night, the crew of Flt Sgt “Speedy” Williams’ No 75 (NZ) Sqn in Stirling EH936/W brought 20 small bomb containers (SBCs) with them. Chris Dickenson, a flight engineer, wrote “smoke up to 16,000 ft.” in his logbook. A vast number of fires started to spread as a result of the heatwave’s high temperature, low humidity, and concentrated bombing. These fires eventually joined forces and sucked in all the available oxygen with the intensity of a storm, and the conflagration that resulted became known as a “firestorm.”

It burnt out of control for several hours as a result of about 2300 tons of bombs, and the blaze only died down once every flammable material had been reduced to ashes. In the firestorm, about 40,000 residents died, and in the days that followed, 1.2 million people fled the city.

Chris Dickenson remembered: “We were not aware at that time of the firestorm, but we did realize that the target was well and truly alight, for as we looked back even halfway across the North Sea we could see the smoke.”

The second raid’s casualties, with just 17 aircraft, represented a very low 2.2% mortality rate. Only one Stirling didn’t make it back.

On July 29-30, 777 aircraft launched a third night attack on the still-burning city. The extremely intensive bombing set off numerous fires, but fortunately for those who were remaining in Hamburg, no firestorm developed. By now the city’s defenses had recovered from their initial paralysis, with night fighters and flak claiming 28 of the attacking force. At 3.6 percent of the force, of which four were Stirlings, this level of casualties was nonetheless considered acceptable by the statisticians of Bomber Command’s Operational Research Section.

740 aircraft launched the fourth and last raid of this catastrophic string of assaults on the night of August 2-3. (329 Lancasters, 235 Halifaxes, 105 Stirlings, 66 Wellingtons, and five Mosquitoes).

The operation quickly devolved into a disaster for the RAF when a big thunderstorm over Germany produced towering cloud formations that reached as high as 20,000 ft. Due to their subpar height performance, several of the attacking forces turned around early or, like the Stirlings, bombed alternate objectives. Unfavorable weather is certainly to blame for some of the 30 lost planes. Among the missing were three Stirlings.

In the four raids, more than 8600 tons of bombs were thrown on Hamburg. Together, they showed the terrible results of repeated area bombing and nearly sent the Nazi leadership into a panic. The impact of these bombings, according to Reich Armament Minister Albert Speer, could only be compared to a significant earthquake, and more severe assaults against six more German cities would have brought Germany to its knees. However, “Bomber” Harris missed this chance because he was reluctant to take the chance of having his men return repeatedly to the same targets.

Photo by Charles E. Brown and Ian Dunster via Wikipedia

September 20, 2021 0 comment

History

The first nuclear mission was photographed by this B-29 Superfortress navigator

by Till Daisd September 19, 2021

written by Till Daisd

Tibbets came over to us and said ‘there is a new bomb under construction and, if successful, it will shorten the war’

Tech. Sgt. Brandon Shapiro first published the following story under the title Atomic Exposure: USAAF Navigator Photographed First Nuclear Missions.

Russell Gackenbach, 93, was sitting on his floral-patterned sofa in a small one-bedroom apartment in Clearwater, Florida, looking through a photo album that had original photographs of some of the most iconic people and moments in American military history.

“This is me and Tibbets (Col. Paul Tibbets, pilot of the Enola Gay),” Gackenbach said, as he pointed to two U.S. Army Air Force officers standing next to one another. “This was me and Necessary Evil, the plane I flew on as we dropped the bomb on Hiroshima (Japan).”

Russell Gackenbach was the navigator aboard the B-29, Necessary Evil, one of three Superfortresses that flew the atomic bomb mission over Hiroshima, Japan on Aug. 6, 1945. Gackenbach, whose duties included documenting the event with his camera, is the last surviving member of the mission. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Brian Ferguson)

Gackenbach connected name to face and story to picture as if it were yesterday. Even though it had been 70 years, the vivid details of his story and the sincere tone in his voice revealed how dearly held each of those people and occasions were to him.

Gackenbach was a second lieutenant who flew into the heart of Japan on August 6, 1945, where “Little Boy,” a 9,000-pound uranium-235 atomic bomb, was dropped on Hiroshima. He was also an aircraft navigator and photographer. The mission was the first time a nuclear weapon had been used in conflict, which was unknown to him at the time.

Before “The Bomb”

Gackenbach, a Pennsylvania native, joined the Bethlehem Steel Company in 1941 as an inspector of military bombs and shell casings after earning his high school degree from Allentown High School. Shortly after, Gackenbach, at 20 years old, made the decision to join the U.S. Army Air Corps in order to fulfill his childhood dream of becoming a pilot.

“I was originally classified for training as a pilot; however, during school, I was unable to conduct my solo flight in the allotted time and was eventually ‘washed out’ of the program,” said Gackenbach. “Then, I was sent to navigation school where I earned my wings and my commission.”

Gackenbach was sent to Wendover, Utah after obtaining his navigator certification and finishing the radar operators course in Boca Rotan, Florida. Young Gackenbach set off on an incredible voyage there, just seven months after getting his commission, that would alter the course of history.

Boeing B-29 Superfortress “Bockscar” interior view of the cockpit. (U.S. Air Force photo)

“In September of ‘44, we were approached by an unfamiliar colonel who stressed that he was ‘forming an elite group that was to be made up from the best in the Air Corps,’” said Gackenbach. “The missions were to be dangerous and if anyone was not able to deal with the secrecy of the group, they may leave.”

Gackenbach accepted without hesitation, was interested in the chance, and was honored by the opportunity. Gackenbach and his crew saw Tibbets for the first time shortly after; it was at this point that they finally received a picture of what the mission would entail.

“Tibbets came over to us and said ‘there is a new bomb under construction and, if successful, it will shorten the war,’” recalled Gackenbach. “He was not able to tell us exactly what it was or any more details about it. He informed us that we were going to be under tight security, our movements would be limited, and we need to learn to keep our mouths shut.

“Before he left he pointed to a sign posted up on the outside of the gate, which read ‘what you see here when you leave here, let it stay here’ –and he meant that.”

Preparing for the unknown

The newly formed crews were working nonstop to switch from 15 mission-specific B-29 Superfortresses that had been equipped to carry the new atomic bombs to the B-17 Flying Fortress.

They tirelessly trained from Wendover Field from September 1944 to April 1945, before packing up their operation and moving to the Marianas island of Tinian in May.

“Fat Man” atomic bomb at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. One of these bombs was dropped by the B-29 Bockscar over Nagasaki, Japan, on Aug. 9, 1945, near the end of World War II. (U.S. Air Force photo)

The 4th Marine Division took possession of the island on August 1st, 1944, following a brutal campaign to reclaim it from 9,000 Japanese soldiers.

The 20th U.S. Army Air Force now called Tinian, Saipan, and Guam home after 15,000 Seabees constructed six 7,900-foot runways to accommodate the B-29.

“The transition to the Marianas put us about seven and a half hours away from Japan; although we were in a new location, we trained the exact same way had been doing in the states,” said Gackenbach. “Our only focus was to follow orders and polish our skillset for what we were told was to be a perfect mission.’”

The group practiced for almost a year, dropping inert test bombs made by the 216th AAF Base Unit, a special ordinance group, that they called “pumpkins.” In order to provide information on ballistics, electrical fusing and detonators, release mechanisms, and the impact on the flying characteristics of the aircraft, inert bombs were dropped by B-29s during training.

Missions of preparation continued up until August 5, 1945, the day before the first atomic bomb was dropped.

New weapon, new mission, new world

The crews assigned to the bombing mission were called in on August 5. Once there, they underwent a search and were instructed to empty their pockets before going to the briefing area. Only the information required for the flight—the route, the targets, and their specific job assignments—was provided at the briefing.

“We did not know what type of bomb we had; did not know what type of blast to expect; did not know the effect of it,” said Gackenbach. “The only thing we were told was, ‘don’t fly through the cloud.’”

The allocated crews gathered the following morning for a last-minute special mission brief; they worked out the details and quickly ate breakfast. The Enola Gay, the Great Artiste, and the Necessary Evil were three B-29s that departed for Japan’s southern coast at around three in the morning.

Russell Gackenbach, back center, was the navigator aboard the B-29 Superfortress, Necessary Evil, and is the last surviving member of the three crews that flew the atomic bomb mission over Hiroshima, Japan on Aug. 6, 1945. He is pictured with the Necessary Evil crew during training at Wendover Field, Utah in 1944. (Courtesy Photo)

“As we approached Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, the Enola Gay and The Great Artiste went forward, as we stayed behind and did a looping 360-degree turn,” recounted Gackenbach. “When we came out of the turn, the radios went dead; and when the radio went dead, we were alerted, ‘bomb bay doors open, bombs away.’”

In an effort to get as far away from the bomb as possible, the Enola Gay and The Great Artiste immediately performed diving spins to the right. The bomb detonated in front of Gackenbach and the Necessary Evil as they trailed the first two aircraft. Gackenbach held a camera up to his eye and pressed the shutter as a massive mushroom-shaped cloud boiled upward.

Russell Gackenbach, the navigator aboard the B-29 Superfortress, Necessary Evil, holds a photo he took during the atomic bombing mission over Hiroshima, Japan on Aug. 6, 1945. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Brian Ferguson)

“The delay between our aircraft was planned; we were to document the event,” said Gackenbach. “The photographs seen around the world were ones I had taken approximately one minute after detonation, at a height of 30,000 feet, roughly 16 miles from the city.”

The aircrew was aware that this was no ordinary bombing operation from the first practice flights until they arrived over the target, but nothing could have prepared them for what they saw 47 seconds after the command of “bombs away.”

“We were awestruck; we didn’t know what to say, or do, or anything. We made three turns around the cloud and headed home to Tinian,” said Gackenbach. “I did not hear the word atomic until the next day.”

The crews didn’t realize the extent of the tragedy until days later, when Hiroshima photos were presented to them; only then did they fully comprehend the catastrophic impact of the weapon they had used.

“Bockscar” en route to Japan with the atomic bomb on board. (U.S. Air Force photo)

“We never really talked about what we did—I stayed mute for a very long time. Even during our reunions, we only talked about each other and the time we spent together,” said Gackenbach.

On November 1, 1945, military planners set the date for Operation Olympic, the invasion of Kyushu, the home island of the Japanese. The invasion of Honshu, the largest island in Japan, would occur after it in 1946.

Given the remarkable American casualties in the struggle for Okinawa that spring—one-third of the invading force was killed, wounded, or missing—the U.S. government estimated that 1 million Americans would die and be injured in an assault on the Japanese home islands.

Instead, the August 9 atomic bomb missions of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended World War II with Japan’s unconditional surrender on August 14, 1945.

“Looking back at the event 70 years later, I still believe the right decision was made and I think that President Truman knew that as well. Can you imagine if people found out we had a device that would save millions of lives and did not use it? He would have been in a peck of trouble,” Gackenbach said.

Gackenbach, the sole survivor of the first atomic attack, continues to this day to visit schools and cities, shaking hands and sharing his firsthand experience of one of the most pivotal events in American military history.

When asked if he would do things differently, he responds with a stoic: “I do not regret the part I played in it; it was the right decision.”

Photo by U.S. Air Force

September 19, 2021 0 comment

History

When the Hunter pilot who flew over Tower Bridge to commemorate the RAF’s 50th anniversary

by Till Daisd September 19, 2021

written by Till Daisd

“I’d had absolutely no idea that Tower Bridge would be there. It was easy enough to fly over it, but the idea of flying through the spans suddenly struck me. I had just ten seconds to grapple with the seductive proposition that few ground attack pilots of any nationality could have resisted. Years of fast low-level strike flying made the decision simple . . . ,” Alan Pollock, former RAF Hunter pilot

On April 5, 1968, Royal Air Force (RAF) Hunter pilot Alan Pollock engaged in unauthorized low-flying over some London landmarks before flying through the span of Tower Bridge across the Thames. This occurrence is known as the Hawker Hunter Tower Bridge incident. His actions were intended to honor the 50th anniversary of the RAF’s formation and to protest the Ministry of Defense for failing to recognize it.

Due to British Defense Minister Duncan Sandys’ 1957 Defense White Paper, the British defense industry experienced a shift in emphasis from manned aircraft to guided missiles in the 1960s. Low morale prevailed throughout the aerial services of the British armed forces, and the British aircraft industry had fallen into general decline.

Pollock admired the RAF and believed a flypast over London would be a fitting way to mark its 50th anniversary. There had been a few parades and an official supper, but no flypast. He thought that this was a terrible slight.

“One thing that was in the Air Force’s blood was that you celebrated in the air, not on the ground,” Pollock, now 82, says in an article that appeared in the Daily Mail.

He was serving with No. 1 Squadron, the RAF’s oldest squadron, at the time. As a result, he felt it was his duty to take the initiative in making sure the half-centenary was appropriately observed. Pollock made the decision to put on his own flypast.

On April 4, he and three other Hunter pilots from his squadron had flown from their base at West Raynham in Norfolk to RAF Tangmere in Sussex, the former home of No. 1 Squadron, where they were helping to celebrate the base being given the freedom of the city of Chichester. He decided that the following day, on their way back, he would make a detour over the capital.

On April 4, he and three other Hunter pilots from his squadron had flown from their base in West Raynham, Norfolk, to RAF Tangmere, the former location of No. 1 Squadron, where they were taking part in the base’s celebration of Chichester’s independence. He decided to take a detour through the city on their return trip the following day.

“It was worth flying over London, even if I was going to get court-martialled,” Alan says. At the very least, a trial would give him a chance to have his say on the problems facing the Air Force.

On the morning of April 5, not long after takeoff, Alan separated himself from the other Hunters.

By typing out coded messages on his radio transmitter, he informed his fellow pilots that he had lost visual contact and that he was having trouble sustaining spoken communication.

The story of the Hunter pilot who performed a flypast through Tower Bridge to mark RAF's 50th anniversary — Fg Off Tony ‘Bugs’ Bendell being briefed during an IV(AC) Squadron Sylt Armament Practice Camp by Fg Off Alan Pollock (right in dyed, rifle green 26 (AC) Sqn flying suit) probably in March 1958

He arrived at Heathrow Airport in a short amount of time, flying low to avoid commercial aircraft, and made a right turn to head for Richmond Park and then the Thames.

As Pollock recalls, flying over the river would be the safest and quietest route through the capital. “I went over the Thames because I didn’t want to cause any trouble.”

Keeping to the middle of the river and keeping an eye out for helicopters, he descended to a height of around 150 feet before starting to fly over the bridges.

Angry by defense budget cuts and what he perceived to be the Labour government’s involvement in the lack of anniversary celebrations, Pollock made his way to Downing Street and Parliament. He could see Westminster in the distance as he crossed the Vauxhall Bridge. He turned on Hunter’s throttle and started three low, loud circuits of Parliament just as Big Ben signaled noon.

“I put the power on then. I thought: ‘Stuff it, let them hear some noise!’ The funny thing was that at the time, they were discussing noise abatement.”

Iain Duncan Smith’s father, the Spitfire ace Wilfred Duncan Smith, reportedly claimed Pollock later that he heard his engines from the sixth story of the Ministry of Defense building while he spoke to Sir John Grandy, chief of the Air Staff, according to Daily Mail.

Sir John looked up towards the sky, trying to see the plane. Duncan Smith had to put him right, telling him, “No, look down there!”

Meanwhile, Alan was searching for Downing Street. ‘I wanted to make a noise over No. 10 as well. I didn’t have a target map so I couldn’t see where it was.’

As he flew over the RAF Memorial beside Whitehall and continued downstream into the city, he waved Hunter’s wings in homage. The airplane safely passed over London Bridge, Hungerford Bridge, Waterloo Bridge, Blackfriars Bridge, and Southwark Bridge.

Then he was in for a surprise. ‘There, staring me in the face, was Tower Bridge. I’d forgotten it was there!

Later, he described his choice to fly through Tower Bridge in the book Empire of the Clouds: When Britain’s Aircraft Ruled the World.

“Until this very instant, I’d had absolutely no idea that, of course, Tower Bridge would be there. It was easy enough to fly over it, but the idea of flying through the spans suddenly struck me. I had just ten seconds to grapple with the seductive proposition that few ground attack pilots of any nationality could have resisted. My brain started racing to reach a decision. Years of fast, low-level strike flying made the decision simple…”

Pollock added: “Right at the last minute, as my cockpit canopy was just below the bridge and the girders were all around me, in that microsecond I remembered I’d got a tail fin behind and I thought: ‘I’m going to lose the fin!’”

The Hunter made it through somehow. A cyclist on the bridge lost control of his bike out of fear and tore his trousers. The Tower Bridge Watchman, George Tapper, was nearby. “There was the most thunderous roar. I looked up and, whoomph, a big silver jet roared by,” he recalled.

He flew inverted over numerous airfields (Wattisham, Lakenheath, and Marham) while traveling to his base at RAF West Raynham, where he was formally arrested by Flying Officer Roger Gilpin an hour later. He was aware that his flying privileges would likely be revoked as a result of this show.

In the immediate aftermath of the incident, his unit was posted to North Africa without him while he remained in charge.

Alan’s unit received hundreds of congratulations messages from RAF colleagues and the members of the public, as well as a barrel of beer from British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC).

An all-party motion of support, tabled in the House of Commons, was signed by six MPs (four of whom had been in the RAF).

Then, for medical reasons, he was invalidated from the RAF. This prevented Pollock from explaining the reason behind his stunt and maybe obtaining public support, leading to a court-martial and embarrassing the government.

Pollock was the first pilot to do it in a jet aircraft, even though earlier pilots had flown beneath the upper span of Tower Bridge.

Photo by Michael Rondot via collectair.co.uk, Alan Pollock image Royal Air Force via Jever Steam Laundry, Tower Bridge image and Mike Freer – Touchdown-aviation via Wikipedia

September 19, 2021 0 comment

History

On May 17, 2018, the illustrious B-17F Memphis Belle was placed on public display at the National Air Force Museum

by Till Daisd September 18, 2021

written by Till Daisd

The B-17F Memphis Belle is a symbol for the countless bomber crews, maintainers, and others who supported the bomber mission and whose dedication and sacrifice helped end World War II

On May 17, 1943, one of the most famous icons of World War II was reported back to work precisely 75 years after its crew completed their final mission in the war against Nazi Germany.

The B-17F Memphis Belle, the first U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) heavy bomber to complete 25 missions over Europe and return to the United States, was placed on public display at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force on May 17, 2018, according to Rob Bardua’s article, National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, in the article B-17F Memphis Belle to be placed on public display on May 17, 2018, at National Museum USAF.

The aircraft’s name is a tribute to the Memphis, Tennessee, native Margaret Polk, the pilot’s girlfriend during the war. Morgan picked the now-famous image from a George Petty graphic that appeared in Esquire magazine in 1941.

Flying in the 324th Bomb Squadron of the 91st Bomb Group (Heavy), the Memphis Belle and its crew of 10 flew their first combat mission on Nov. 7, 1942. USAAF heavy bombers sometimes flew without an escort for a portion of their missions until the introduction of long-range fighters later in the war. It was exceedingly unlikely that a bomber crew would complete their minimum 25 missions when confronted with swarms of enemy aircraft, lethal antiaircraft fire, and a shortage of friendly fighters in the target area.

The crew of the “Memphis Belle”® after their 25th mission: (l to r) TSgt. Harold Loch (top turret gunner/engineer), SSg.t Cecil Scott (ball turret gunner), TSgt. Robert Hanson (radio operator), Capt. James Verinis (copilot), Capt. Robert Morgan (pilot), Capt. Charles Leighton (navigator), SSgt. John Quinlan (tail gunner), SSgt. Casimer Nastal (waist gunner), Capt. Vincent Evans (bombardier), and SSgt. Clarence Winchell (waist gunner).

With their 25th combat mission against the naval yard in Lorient, France, on May 17, 1943, the crew of the Memphis Belle beat the odds. This raid was Belle’s 24th combat mission, which is interesting because the original crew occasionally flew missions on other 91st BG (H) B-17s (and others took the Belle on some missions also). In order to strike Kiel, Germany, on May 19, the Memphis Belle conducted its 25th combat mission while being manned by a different crew.

Museum volunteer Beverly Smith walks visitors through the Behind the Scenes Tour of the restoration area. The Memphis Belle is one of the restoration projects that visitors can view.

After they returned to the country in June 1943, the crew of the Memphis Belle flew the aircraft throughout the country for three months to raise money for the war effort and boost morale. After the Bond tour and the 1944 William Wyler documentary film The Memphis Belle, which included actual action footage, the aircraft, and its crew gained notoriety. When a big-budget movie of the same name was released in 1990, their notoriety rose.

Boeing B-17F-10-BO “Memphis Belle” in flight.

Many people view the tale of the Memphis Belle as a timeless representation of all the heroic USAAF bomber crews that fought Nazi Germany during World War II. The Memphis Belle, which had spent decades on display in Memphis, finally made its way to the National Museum of the United States Air Force in October 2005 in need of a full restoration. The Memphis Belle will be meticulously conserved and restored by museum specialists over the course of several years, including corrosion treatment, the complete outfitting of missing equipment, and precise markings.

(From left to right) 88th Air Base Wing Engineering Equipment Operator Chris Moon and National Museum of the United States Air Force Restoration Technicians Tim Ward and Greg Hassler unload the fuselage of the B-17F “Memphis Belle” into the museum’s restoration hangar.

The Memphis Belle is a national treasure, according to Jeff Duford, curator of the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, and it serves as the focal point of a brand-new, significant exhibition in the gallery’s WWII section.

The ”Memphis Belle” on tour at Patterson Field, Ohio.

“The B-17F Memphis Belle is an icon that represents the thousands of bomber crews, maintainers, and others supporting the bomber mission, whose service and sacrifice helped win WWII,” said Duford. “Work is underway to showcase the aircraft in the WWII Gallery, and the surrounding exhibit will include interactive displays, rare archival film footage, and many personal artifacts which have never been seen before by our visitors.”

The B-17F “Memphis Belle” is readied for restoration at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.

Additional source: National Museum of the U.S. Air Force

Photo by U.S. Air Force

September 18, 2021 0 comment

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